Markets continue to trade higher in tight band

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade range-bound with positive bias in late afternoon session amid weak European markets. Investors remained optimistic 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 that the new tax regime is likely to lower the cost of commodities and also make tax evasion difficult. Some support also came with Minister of State for Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal’s statement that the Union government may table four Goods and Services Tax (GST) related bills in the Parliament today. Meanwhile, the Union Cabinet revised Alternate Investment Funds (AIFs) norms to give a boost to startups. As per the revisions, AIFs supported by a Fund of Funds for Start-ups (FFS) shall invest at least twice the amount of contribution received from FFS in start-ups. Besides, the government also approved Rs 1,000-crore initial corpus for the FFS. On sectoral front, stocks of oil marketing companies such as Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) were trading in green on declaring Interim Dividend for the Financial Year 2016-17.

On the global front, European markets were trading in red as investors continued to monitor developments surrounding U.S. President Donald Trump's pro-growth agenda. However, Asian markets were trading in green. Back home, in scrip specific development, Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) was trading in green after the company achieved one more milestone by successfully commissioning another 250 MW coal-based thermal unit at the upcoming Bongaigaon Thermal Power Station (TPS) in Assam.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 29260.76, up by 93.08 points or 0.32% after trading in a range of 29198.08 and 29315.18. 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 0.79%, while Small cap index was up by 0.87%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Industrials up by 1.20%, Oil & Gas up by 1.08%, Energy up by 1.04%, Auto up by 0.96% and Metal up by 0.95%, while FMCG down by 0.30% was the sole losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 2.99%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.91%, GAIL India up by 1.88%, NTPC up by 1.65% and Wipro up by 1.50%. On the flip side, ITC down by 1.04%, TCS down by 0.95%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.50%, Asian Paints down by 0.37% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.31% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order to give a boost to startups, the Union Cabinet has revised Alternate Investment Funds (AIFs) norms. As per the revisions, AIFs supported by a Fund of Funds for Start-ups (FFS) shall invest at least twice the amount of contribution received from FFS in start-ups. Besides, the government also approved Rs 1,000-crore initial corpus for the FFS.

The union cabinet also decided that operating expenses for carrying out due diligence, legal and technical appraisals and convening meeting of Venture Capital Investment Committee, among others, would be met out of the FFS to the extent of 0.50 per cent of the commitments made to AIFs and will be debited to the fund at the beginning of each half year, that is April 1 and October 1. Earlier, the cabinet had decided that the FFS shall contribute to the corpus of AIFs for investing in equity and equity-linked instruments of various start-ups at early stage, seed stage and growth stage.

The decision was taken after stakeholders raised certain issues related with AIFs. They said that the process of funding of start-ups by AIFs is long drawn, which starts from pitching by a start- up, commitment by the AIF and then release of funds in tranches. The FFS is being managed and operated by the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI). It contributes to SEBI-registered AIFs that may go up to a maximum of 35 per cent of the corpus of the AIF concerned.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 9063.45, up by 33.00 points or 0.37% after trading in a range of 9048.60 and 9076.35. There were 38 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 3.24%, Yes Bank up by 2.52%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 2.07%, Wipro up by 1.88% and GAIL India up by 1.87%. On the flip side, ITC down by 1.11%, Eicher Motors down by 1.02%, TCS down by 0.93%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.57% and Bosch down by 0.52% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 2.93 points or 0.17% to 1,751.23, Shanghai Composite increased 3.33 points or 0.1% to 3,248.55, KOSPI Index increased 4.42 points or 0.2% to 2,172.72, Hang Seng increased 7.29 points or 0.03% to 24,327.70, Taiwan Weighted increased 8.08 points or 0.08% to 9,930.74, Jakarta Composite increased 30.17 points or 0.55% to 5,564.26 and Nikkei 225 increased 43.93 points or 0.23% to 19,085.31.

All European markets were trading in red, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 12.45 points or 0.17% to 7,312.27, France’s CAC decreased 9.59 points or 0.19% to 4,985.11 and Germany’s DAX decreased 0.27 points or 0% to 11,903.85.