Indian bourses continue to trade in positive territory

Key benchmark indices continued to trade in positive territory in the afternoon session led by gains in frontline blue chip stocks. Sentiments got some support with report that the GST council at its 10th meeting, chaired by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and comprising of representatives of all states and union territories cleared the Compensation Law that will legally provide for the Centre making up for any loss of revenue to states in first five years of rollout of Goods and Service Tax (GST) regime. The council’s nod has paved the way for the law to be tabled in Parliament in the second half of the budget session beginning March 9. Besides, appreciation in Indian rupee coupled with bouts of buying in Telecom, Metal, Utilities and Basic Materials sector stocks, too supported the market. Meanwhile, data released by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) showed that FDI inflows into India increased by 18 percent to a record $46.4 billion in 2016 even though global economic growth remained weak. In scrip specific development, Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) was up by over three percent after signing two pacts with Jharkhand utilities for providing financial assistance of Rs 15,150 crore.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, taking cues from the US markets. However, investors remained cautious ahead of key US Federal Reserve events, including minutes of the last policy meeting and speeches by five heads of US Federal Reserve’s regional banks.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 28530.58, up by 61.83 points or 0.22% after trading in a range of 28419.27 and 28554.30. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.65%, while Small cap index was up by 0.74%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.64%, Metal up by 1.55%, Utilities up by 1.32%, Basic Materials up by 1.20% and Realty up by 1.14%, while there were no losers on BSE sectoral front.

The top gainers on the Sensex were GAIL India up by 3.19%, Tata Steel up by 2.91%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.89%, TCS up by 1.72% and Power Grid up by 1.70%. On the flip side, ITC down by 0.71%, Axis Bank down by 0.59%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.58%, ONGC down by 0.57% and HDFC down by 0.50% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with the digital transactions increasing rapidly after demonitisation move on November 9, 2016, a sum of Rs 27,000 crore so far has been saved through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme and about 35 per cent people have taken to the debit card, RuPay card and e-wallet services for making payments in Haryana.

The Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Krishan Pal Gujjar, has said that 100 Digi Dhan Melas were being organised in the country and so far, 56 such melas have been held to encourage people to adopt cashless transaction system for making payments. He also urged the people to make digital transactions to realise the dream of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and also encourage others to adopt this system.

Gujjar noted that the main aim of Digi Dhan Mela is to give people message of ‘Mera Mobile-Mera Bank-Mera Batua’. Besides, Haryana Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma also expressed his hopes that such events would inspire people to adopt digital payment methods.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8840.85, up by 19.15 points or 0.22% after trading in a range of 8809.80 and 8847.40. There were 30 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Idea Cellular up by 3.26%, GAIL India up by 3.19%, Tata Steel up by 2.99%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.89% and BPCL up by 1.83%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 0.81%, Hindalco down by 0.76%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.72%, ITC down by 0.69% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.65% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in green; KOSPI Index increased 3.81 points or 0.18% to 2,084.39, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI rose 4.07 points or 0.24% to 1,711.75, Jakarta Composite surged 13.65 points or 0.26% to 5,364.59, Nikkei 225 added 16.46 points or 0.09% to 19,251.08, Shanghai Composite increased 28.03 points or 0.88% to 3,230.10 and Hang Seng was up by 132.3 points or 0.55% to 24,166.04.

On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted was down by 26.72 points or 0.27% to 9,753.20.