Markets continue to trade in range; IT pack leads the gains

Indian markets despite some choppiness continue to trade in green in the late noon session and the major benchmarks are up by around a quarter percent. There is not much trigger that could lift the markets higher, though stock markets in the region gained some strength with some investors affirming the performance of US Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in the first presidential debate, warding off the worries of Trump. On the domestic front there was some support with Chief Statistician of India, T C A Anant stating that the Goods and Services Tax (GST), which the Centre is planning to implement from April 1, 2017, will help in calculating the country's GDP in a better way.  However, there was some cautiousness in the market with reports that the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is carrying out a comprehensive review of rules for stock brokers after it recently came across instances of siphoning of funds and securities from investors' accounts.

Back on street, positive start of the European markets has supported the sentiments; however some somberness was being witnessed in telecom space after TRAI raised concern over high rate of call failure between the networks of newcomer Reliance Jio Infocomm and other telecom companies. Capital goods and oil & gas too were showing marginal weakness otherwise all the sectoral indices are in jubilant mood led by IT and healthcare sector stocks.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 28372.65, up by 78.37 points or 0.28% after trading in a range of 28319.79 and 28432.74. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices too were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.45%, while Small cap index gained 0.71%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.99%, TECK up by 0.75%, Realty up by 0.43%, Consumer Durables up by 0.39%, Auto up by 0.31%, while Oil & Gas down by 0.42%, Capital Goods down by 0.33%, PSU down by 0.12% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Asian Paints up by 1.58%, Lupin up by 1.35%, TCS up by 1.30%, Infosys up by 1.24% and Power Grid Corpn. up by 1.11%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 1.44%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.25%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.91%, GAIL India down by 0.72% and Adani Ports &Special down by 0.67% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Income tax department has issued three draft rules and their formats relating to registration, invoice and payment under the goods and services tax (GST) regime, which is expected to be finalized in the second meeting of the GST council to be held on September 30. The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has invited comments on draft rules by September 28.

The draft rules provide for online registration by residents within three days of submission of application, while the Non-residents coming under the purview of GST will be required to electronically submit the application for registration at least 5 days prior to the commencement of business and shall also deposit full tax liability in advance.

The draft rules also provide that if a tax official fails to take action on registration application within a stipulated time frame, the application for grant of registration shall be deemed to have been approved. The applicant seeking registration will have to submit PAN, mobile number, email address on the common portal or through a facilitation centre. The tax authorities will use PAN, one time password and Aadhaar number to verify the details of the applicant.

The government aims to implement the new indirect tax regime Goods and Services Tax (GST) from April 1, 2017, and to that effect the GST Council will hold its second meeting on September 30 and it would finalise rules for GST. The first meeting of the GST Council agreed on issues regarding the exemption limit, dual control and base year for compensation to states. Till now, the CBEC has come out with 17 rules and 26 forms for registration, five rules and one form for invoice and four rules and seven forms for payment.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8752.00, up by 28.95 points or 0.33% after trading in a range of 8733.45 and 8768.50. There were 32 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Aurobindo Pharma up by 2.90% and Zee Entertainment up by 2.09% and Ambuja Cement up by 1.63% and Asian Paints up by 1.60% and TCS up by 1.42%. On the flip side, BPCL down by 2.10%, Tata Power down by 1.85%, Bharti Infratel down by 1.46%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.30% and Hindalco down by 1.17% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in green, KOSPI Index was up by 15.71 points or 0.77% to 2,062.82, Shanghai Composite was higher by 17.74 points or 0.6% to 2,998.17, Jakarta Composite added 22.67 points or 0.42% to 5,374.81, Nikkei 225 increased by 139.37 points or 0.84% to 16,683.93 and Hang Seng surged by 302.89 points or 1.3% to 23,620.81

On the other hand, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was marginally down by 5.28 points or 0.32% to 1,664.22.

The European markets have made a positive start, France’s CAC was up by 24.93 points or 0.57% to 4,432.78, and UK’s FTSE 100 gained 38.1 points or 0.56% to 6,856.14.