Benchmarks trade modestly in green in afternoon session

Indian benchmark continued to trade modestly in green in the afternoon session led by gains in frontline blue chip stocks such as Sun Pharma, Bajaj Auto, Larsen & Toubro, Asian Paints and Maruti Suzuki among others. Sentiments got some support after NITI Ayog vice-chairman Aravind Panagariya termed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's demonetisation scheme as a “frontal attack” on black money and said that more such actions are in store to curb corruption. Meanwhile, GST hopes brightened somewhat after both states and the Centre cleared the modest GST law amid indications that the Centre is willing to look at some of the measures to help states tide over the temporary disruption post demonetization. Besides, appreciation in Indian rupee against dollars also supported the sentiments. The rupee appreciated 14 paise in noon deals to trade at 67.85 against the dollar on increased selling of the US currency by exporters and banks. In scrip specific development, Tata Metaliks was up by around 3 percent after completing the amalgamation of its pipes unit with itself.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red after Wall Street fell for a second day as ahead of the Christmas holiday. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26005.52, up by 25.92 points or 0.10% after trading in a range of 25872.38 and 26031.03. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.36%, while Small cap index was up by 0.25%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 0.72%, Consumer Durables up by 0.65%, Oil & Gas up by 0.54%, PSU up by 0.21% and Metal up by 0.20%, while IT down by 0.69%, TECK down by 0.60%, Realty down by 0.33%, FMCG down by 0.26% and Power down by 0.17% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma Inds. up by 2.28%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.83%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.00%, Asian Paints up by 0.98% and Maruti Suzuki up by 0.86%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 1.33%, Tata Motors down by 1.32%, ITC down by 0.99%, Wipro down by 0.91% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.77% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order to achieve the April 1 target of the final GST rollout, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council chaired by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has cleared the model GST law at the first day of the meeting and will discuss contentious issue of dual control of assesses at the second day of its ongoing meeting.   

At the first day of meeting, the council has reached broad consensus on certain issues, apart from those that are related to dual control or territorial definition. The three GST bills such as Central GST (CGST), Integrated GST and State Compensation Law need to be approved by the Council before they can be tabled in the Parliament. The C-GST law refers to the central GST law, which will be complemented by state GST laws and an integrated GST law that deals with inter-state delivery of goods and services.

Though, a lack of consensus on the issue would make it impossible for the government to implement GST by April 1, 2017, but it is constitutionally mandated to implement it before September 16, 2017.GST, which is considered as the biggest tax reform since Independence, will subsume excise and service tax, and various other local levies including VAT and octroi.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7983.35, up by 4.25 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 7942.05 and 7991.20. There were 29 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Sun Pharma Inds. up by 2.31%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.89%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.24%, Grasim Industries up by 1.04% and Bosch up by 0.99%. On the flip side, HCL Tech. down by 1.68%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.49%, Eicher Motors down by 1.46%, Tata Power down by 1.40% and Tata Motors down by 1.30% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 105.24 points or 0.49% to 21,530.96, Taiwan Weighted declined 40.11 points or 0.44% to 9,078.64, Shanghai Composite shed 27.86 points or 0.89% to 3,111.70, Nikkei 225 was down by 16.82 points or 0.09% to 19,427.67 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI dipped 3.69 points or 0.23% to 1,619.51.On the flip side, KOSPI Index increased 0.17 points or 0.01% to 2,035.90 and Jakarta Composite was up by 28.02 points or 0.56% to 5,070.89.