Indian bourses continue to trade in positive territory

Key benchmark indices continued to trade in green in afternoon session led by gains in frontline blue chip stocks such as TCS, Hindustan Unilever, ONGC and HDFC among others. Sentiments got some support with report that the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) gave approval for over Rs 11,000 crore projects to improve rural road connectivity in the worst-affected left-wing extremism (LWE) districts from security angle. Besides, recovery in the rupee value also aided the sentiment. The rupee strengthened by 15 paise to 68.10 against the US dollar in early trade at the Inter-bank Foreign Exchange on continued selling of the American currency by exporters and banks. However, there was some cautiousness too with report that over 90 percent of junked notes are already deposited in banks, dimming the expectation that Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will be able to give a substantial dividend to the government. In scrip specific development, JMC Projects gained over eight percent after securing orders worth over Rs 1,457 crore.

On the global front, Asian markets were showing mixed trend, as the crude oil prices slipped after touching its highest level in more than a year overnight. Back home, at present, Sensex and Nifty were trading above the crucial 26,250 and 8,050 levels respectively. The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26256.13, up by 45.45 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 26166.67 and 26429.63. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.76%, while Small cap index was up by 0.79%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 1.02%, Oil & Gas up by 0.83%, IT up by 0.71%, Metal up by 0.64% and PSU up by 0.64%, while Capital Goods down by 0.15% was the lone losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were TCS up by 1.16%, Hindustan Unilever up by 0.91%, ONGC up by 0.87%, HDFC up by 0.70% and Wipro up by 0.62%. On the flip side, Adani Ports &Special down by 1.36%, Sun Pharma Inds. down by 0.80%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.64%, Dr. Reddys Lab down by 0.57% and ITC down by 0.49% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with an aim to discourage cash transactions, Finance Ministry has invited comments from stakeholders on the Watal committee report on promoting digital payments, which has recommended a separate regulator to deal with issues concerning payment.

The ‘Committee on Digital Payments’, chaired by former finance secretary Ratan P Watal, Principal Advisor, NITI Aayog, has said that the overall objective of the government’s digital initiative is to halve the cash to GDP ratio from about 12 per cent to 6 per cent in the next 3 years. Watal also suggested putting a special emphasis on digital payments for recurring low value transactions and reducing custom duties on payments acceptance equipment. The committee was set up on August 23, to review the framework on digital payments to move towards a cashless society and was made public on December 29, 2016. The report suggested a host of fiscal incentives to promote digital transactions and suggested withdrawal of all charges levied by government departments and utilities on digital payments and making it mandatory for government departments and agencies to provide option to consumers to pay digitally.

On making regulation of payments independent from the function of central banking, report said that the Committee weighed two options on how best this can be implemented. The first was to create a new payments regulator and the other to make the current Board for Regulation and Supervision of Payment and Settlement Systems (BPSS) within RBI more independent. The committee has also suggested instituting awards to promote digital transaction. Following submission of the report on December 9, most of the recommendations have already been implemented by the government in its effort to make India a less-cash economy.  

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8054.95, up by 20.10 points or 0.25% after trading in a range of 8020.80 and 8060.55. There were 37 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BPCL up by 1.76%, HCL Tech. up by 1.57%, Idea Cellular up by 1.54%, TCS up by 1.31% and Ambuja Cement up by 1.29%. On the flip side, Adani Ports &Special down by 1.64%, Sun Pharma Inds. down by 0.72%, Eicher Motors down by 0.67%, Aurobindo Pharma down by 0.63% and Larsen & Toubro down by 0.61% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; KOSPI Index increased 1.97 points or 0.1% to 2,026.46, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was up by 3.72 points or 0.23% to 1,634.02 and Hang Seng added 12.92 points or 0.06% to 21,767.66. On the flip side, Nikkei 225 decreased 256.58 points or 1.32% to 19,145.14, Taiwan Weighted declined 48.31 points or 0.53% to 9,153.09 and Shanghai Composite was down by 0.07 points or 0% to 3,102.16.