Benchmarks trade jubilantly in early deals; Sensex reclaims 27,400 mark

Indian equity benchmarks have made a gap-up opening and are trading jubilantly in early deals on Wednesday, with frontline gauges recapturing their crucial 27,400 (Sensex) and 8,450 (Nifty) levels. Sentiments remained up-beat after the Income Tax (I-T) Department soothed foreign investors’ nerves by putting in abeyance its December 21 circular that amplified their concerns over a potential rise in tax liability. Some support also came with an UN report claiming that India was still the fastest growing large developing economy and that the country would grow by 7.7 percent in the financial year 2017. The United Nations World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) 2017 report has said that India's economy is projected to grow by 7.7 percent in fiscal year 2017 benefiting from strong private consumption and gradual introduction of significant domestic reforms.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green at this point of time, as investors scooped up exporter shares after US President-elect Donald Trump expressed concerns over a stronger dollar. The US markets made a soft closing in last session, coming after a long weekend and the tech-heavy Nasdaq pulled back off the record closing high set last Friday. Back home, there was broad based buying witnessed in the markets and apart from the blue chips, the broader markets too participated strongly in the rally.

The market breadth remained in favor of advances, as there were 1,402 shares on the gaining side against 508 shares on the losing side while 101 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27405.80, up by 170.14 points or 0.62% after trading in a range of 27256.74 and 27413.73. There were 25 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.57%, while Small cap index was up by 0.67%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.47%, FMCG up by 0.89%, Bankex up by 0.82%, Capital Goods up by 0.74% and Auto was up by 0.59%, while there were no losers on the BSE sectoral front.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 1.87%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.71%, HDFC up by 1.39%, HDFC Bank up by 1.30% and Adani Ports was up by 1.24%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 0.94%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 0.46%, Coal India down by 0.24%, NTPC down by 0.23% and Reliance Industries was down by 0.03% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Income Tax Department has eased some tax payment rules under Income Declaration Scheme (IDS) and said that disclosures under the scheme will be considered valid even if the tax amount has been realised by December 5, 2016. The first instalment of taxes was to be paid by November 30.

CBDT has said that it directed to accept the request for condonation of delay in payment of tax payable under the scheme in cases where payment has been made through cheque, RTGS, electronic transfer etc on or before the date of November 30, 2016, but the same has been credited by banks after the due date of November 30, 2016, but on or before the December 5, 2016. The instruction follows representations received from field authorities and stakeholders that there has been delay in payment of first instalment of tax, surcharge and penalty under IDS in some cases owing to some technical errors in the system, non-deposit of cheque by collecting banks, payment made by filling wrong challan and the like.

In order to give an option to domestic black money holders to declare their unaccounted wealth, the government had come out with a 4-month long Income Disclosure Scheme. Under the scheme, the black money holder had to pay 45 percent tax and penalty. The government had also given the option to the declarants of paying tax amount in three instalments. The first instalment of 25 percent was due on November 30, 2016. The second of similar amount is to be paid by March 2017 and the remaining 50 percent by September 30, 2017.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8453.00, up by 55.00 points or 0.65% after trading in a range of 8403.65 and 8456.65. There were 43 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Ambuja Cement up by 2.00%, Tata Steel up by 1.98%, Yes Bank up by 1.82%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.75% and Hindustan Unilever was up by 1.70%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 1.24%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 0.61%, NTPC down by 0.40%, BPCL down by 0.26% and Coal India was down by 0.24% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI rose 4.1 points or 0.25% to 1,667.13, Shanghai Composite gained 8.93 points or 0.29% to 3,117.71, Nikkei 225 added 10.54 points or 0.06% to 18,824.07, Jakarta Composite increased 17.73 points or 0.34% to 5,284.66 and Hang Seng was up by 260.43 points or 1.14% to 23,101.40.

On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted decreased 13.11 points or 0.14% to 9,341.42 and KOSPI Index was down by 1.18 points or 0.06% to 2,070.69.