Markets continue to trade higher; Realty, Energy counters lead the rally

Indian benchmark indices continued to trade higher in the noon session on account of buying in blue chip stocks. Sentiments remained upbeat with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement that India’s GDP can grow by 7-8 percent if the global economy picks up. He also said the government is hopeful of implementing from July 1 the Goods and Service Tax (GST) to help check tax evasion. Some support also came in from reports that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 356.64 crore on March 22, 2017. Meanwhile, Realty stocks gained traction as the government announced a credit-linked interest subsidy (CLSS) scheme for home loans, leading to savings of more than Rs 2 lakh, or up to Rs 2,000 on EMIs.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly higher on Thursday, taking some cues from a steady Wall Street. Investors are awaiting a vote in the US Congress on health care legislation that is seen as a bellwether for the capacity of the administration of President Donald Trump to deliver on campaign promises for tax and regulatory reform. Further, Japan's Nikkei was flat with positive bias despite a weaker yen, as a political scandal dented investors’ sentiments. Overnight, the Nasdaq gained 0.5% and the S&P 500 closed higher, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat, after all three touched their lowest levels in about five weeks earlier in the session.

Back home, stocks from Oil & Gas, Realty and Energy counters were supporting the markets’ uptrend, while those from FMCG counters were adding to the underlying cautious undertone. In scrip specific development, Som Distilleries & Breweries soared after the company started the supply of Black Fort Beer to Karnataka. Furthermore, Petron Engineering Construction gained after the company received Letter of Intent (LoI) from Shree Cement, Beawar, Rajasthan for civil work at their cement plant at Gulbarga, Karnataka for a total contract value of approximately Rs 21.00 crore.

The market breadth remained optimistic, as there were 1653 shares on the gaining side against 775 shares on the losing side, while 143 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 29285.00, up by 117.32 points or 0.40% after trading in a range of 29198.08 and 29315.18. There were 24 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index, while one stock remained unchanged.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.85%, while Small cap index up by 1 %.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 1.45%, Realty up by 1.26%, Energy up by 1.21%, Capital Goods up by 1.21% and Industrials up by 1.15%, while FMCG down by 0.11% was the sole losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were GAIL India up by 2.02%, Tata Motors up by 1.80%, NTPC up by 1.56%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.33% and Hero MotoCorp up by 1.31%. On the flip side, ITC down by 0.66%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.50%, TCS down by 0.17%, HDFC Bank down by 0.16% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.07% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, moving a step forward for the timely implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the cabinet has approved amendments in the Customs and Central Excise Act, relating to abolition of cesses and surcharges on various goods and services. The cabinet has also given green signal to amendments in the Customs Tariff Act and the Central Excise Tariff Act along with repealing of the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985 and provisions relating to Acts under which cesses are levied.

The new amendments to the Customs Act, 1962, seeks to provide furnishing of information relating to import or export of goods by specified persons to enable analysis and detection of cases of under or over-valuation in imports and exports and it will also help  to check misuse of export promotion schemes.

The cabinet noted that amendments or repeal of various provisions of other Acts which will no longer be relevant consequent upon roll out of GST will result in cleansing of the irrelevant portions from the Statute Book and reduce multiplicity of taxes.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 9068.35, up by 37.90 points or 0.42% after trading in a range of 9048.60 and 9076.35. There were 40 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were GAIL India up by 2.11%, BPCL up by 2.03%, Tata Motors up by 1.92%, Wipro up by 1.59% and Yes Bank up by 1.50%. On the flip side, Eicher Motors down by 1.41%, Bosch down by 0.86%, ITC down by 0.64%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.53% and BHEL down by 0.21% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI rose 0.16%, KOSPI Index increased 0.33%, Taiwan Weighted gained 0.08%, Jakarta Composite jumped 0.48% and Nikkei 225 was up by 0.16%. On the other hand, Shanghai Composite declined by 0.31% and Hang Seng was down by 0.36%.