Benchmarks trade slightly in green in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks have made a cautious start and are trading slightly in green in early deals on Wednesday. Traders took some encouragement with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement that the government is confident of meeting the April 2017 target to implement the Goods and Services Tax as state finance ministers cooperate to make the single tax reform a reality soon. Appreciation in Indian rupee too aided sentiments. The Indian rupee strengthened for the fifth consecutive session against the US dollar in morning trade and was trading at 66.45 per dollar, up 0.06% in early deals from its previous close of 66.49. However, gains remained capped as investors remained cautious ahead of September derivatives contracts which will expire tomorrow. Report that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 155.76 crore yesterday as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges, too capped up-side.

On the global front, most of the Asian peers were trading in red at this point of time, led by the Japanese market which is down by over a percent as the oil slumped and hopes increased for a rate hike after the good economic data from US. Back home, public sector oil marketing companies (OMCs) BPCL, HPCL and IOC were trading higher on sharp plunge in crude oil prices. Stocks related to infrastructure sector remained on buyers’ radar despite Finance Minister Arun Jaitley stating that the deficit in the infrastructure sector was still 'very large' and stressed the need for investment to pick up in the sector.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 28271.41, up by 47.71 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 28198.30 and 28292.29. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index jumped 0.74%, while Small cap index was up by 0.71%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.15%, Capital Goods up by 0.73%, Healthcare up by 0.70%, Power up by 0.60% and PSU up by 0.56%, while IT down by 0.44%, Energy down by 0.41% and TECK down by 0.19% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were GAIL India up by 1.27%, Axis Bank up by 1.02%, Bajaj Auto up by 0.97%, Power Grid up by 0.94% and Lupin up by 0.91%. On the flip side, Reliance Industries down by 1.42%, Wipro down by 0.61%, Adani Ports &Special down by 0.59%, Infosys down by 0.52% and TCS down by 0.48% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, praising the progress achieved so far on Goods and Services Tax (GST) implementation, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has expressed his confidence that it is ‘reasonably possible’ to meet the April 1, 2017 deadline to roll out the new indirect tax regime as state finance ministers cooperate to make the single tax reform a reality soon. He said that 'There has hardly been an opportunity, in fact there has been none, where I've seen state finance ministers dividing themselves on party lines (as on GST). If this trend goes on, I am quite certain, it may be reasonably possible for us to meet the deadline, however difficult it may be.'

Pointing that states have realized the importance of competitiveness and attracting investments, Finance Minister said that getting the GST through was ‘troublesome’ as it involved completely changing the powers of the Union and the states. It required consensus building so that they had shared sovereignty. He added that the GST progress showed that they have the stamina for reforms.

Now the government is planning to introduce CGST and IGST in the winter session beginning later November. GST, which is considered as the biggest tax reform since the Independence, will include excise and service tax, and various other local levies including VAT and octroi.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8721.55, up by 15.15 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 8703.15 and 8728.00. There were 37 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Idea Cellular up by 2.89%, Aurobindo Pharma up by 1.87%, GAIL India up by 1.22%, Tata Power up by 1.20% and Larsen & Toubro up by 1.09%. On the flip side, Reliance Industries down by 1.39%, Adani Ports & Special down by 0.79%, TCS down by 0.66%, HCL Tech. down by 0.65% and Infosys down by 0.52% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in red; Nikkei 225 declined 263.41 points or 1.58% to 16,420.52, Hang Seng decreased 149.99 points or 0.64% to 23,421.91, Jakarta Composite dropped 25.04 points or 0.46% to 5,394.56, KOSPI Index shed 9.23 points or 0.45% to 2,053.59 and Shanghai Composite was down by 8.47 points or 0.28% to 2,989.70.