Markets pare some of their gains but still trade in green

The local equity markets have pared some of their gains but are still trading in positive terrain in noon session. Investors have opted to book some profit ahead of Thursday’s March month expiry in the F&O segment. However, both Sensex and Nifty were trading above the crucial 29,400 and 9,100 levels, respectively amid hopes that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) will be implemented on time. The government introduced the supporting legislation for the goods and services tax (GST) in Parliament on Monday, reinforcing expectations that it would make the 1 July deadline for the roll-out of this singular tax reform. Outperforming their larger counterparts, broader markets too are trading in the green with BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap indices gaining 0.65% and 0.82%, respectively. Some support also came with the report that manufacturing activity improved in March after a three months of decline, while various government measures are likely to push up activity in the infrastructure sector going forward. The yearly SBI Composite Index, one of leading indicator for manufacturing activity in the Indian economy, bounced back to above 50-mark level to 50.3 after 3-months of decline. The report also noted that going by the findings, index of industrial production (IIP) growth may continue to be in the positive territory in February and March, this year. However, gains remained capped with the report that India will face a below normal rainfall during the June to September south-west monsoon season. About 70% of India’s rainfall happens in this period and irrigates almost half of India’s farmland, being of particular importance for Kharif crops. There is a fifty percent chance of an El Nino developing in the second half of the monsoon season, which translates into deficit rainfall in the months of July.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green on Tuesday, with higher oil prices and a rebound in the U.S. dollar against the yen driving gains in Australia and Japan. Investors were also looking beyond the failure of the Trump administration to replace the Affordable Care Act, aided by improving macroeconomic data out of the U.S. and Europe. Overnight, the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed lower but had narrowed their losses from earlier in the session, when both hit near-six-week lows.

Back home, stocks from Telecom, Basic Materials and Banking counters were supporting the markets’ uptrend, while those from Oil & Gas and PSU counters were adding to the underlying cautious undertone. In scrip specific development, Bharti Airtel gained after the company completed the secondary sale of over 190 million shares of its subsidiary Bharti Infratel, to a consortium of funds advised by KKR and CPPIB for a total consideration of over Rs 6193.9 crore, executed at a price of Rs 325 per share. Moreover, Aurobindo Pharma jumped after the company received final approval from the US Food & Drug Administration (USFDA) to manufacture and market Meropenem Injection 500 mg/vial and 1 g/vial.

The market breadth remained optimistic, as there were 1528 shares on the gaining side against 875 shares on the losing side, while 156 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 29409.28, up by 172.13 points or 0.59% after trading in a range of 29301.22 and 29442.18. There were 23 stocks advancing against 7 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 up by 0.82%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 0.96%, Basic Materials up by 0.77%, Industrials up by 0.75%, Bankex up by 0.72% and Auto up by 0.71%, while Oil & Gas down by 0.17% and PSU down by 0.08% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Axis Bank up by 2.38%, HDFC up by 1.31%, Sun Pharma up by 1.27%, Tata Motors up by 1.22% and Asian Paints up by 1.11%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 1.16%, GAIL India down by 0.71%, Coal India down by 0.46%, ITC down by 0.37% and Hero MotoCorp down by 0.24% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in the run up to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime to be rolled out from July 1, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) will become operational from June 1, replacing the current Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC). The implementation of new board for indirect taxes-CBIC, will remove need of different commissionerates for service tax, central excise and others and there will be only one body-Commissionerate for GST.

The CBIC will have 21 zones, 101 GST Tax payer Services Commissionerates comprising 15 sub-commissionerates, 768 Divisions, 3,969 Ranges, 49 Audit Commissionerates and 50 Appeals Commissionerates. This will ensure rendering of taxpayer services to all taxpayers through an indirect tax administration structure with a pan-India presence.

At present, the CBEC is the apex policy-making body for indirect taxes in the country. Recently, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley approved the reorganisation of the field formations of the CBEC for the implementation of GST. The CBEC is taking all requisite steps to ensure that the administrative machinery is geared up to address these challenges in the GST regime.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 9103.05, up by 57.85 points or 0.64% after trading in a range of 9080.80 and 9109.75. There were 41 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Axis Bank up by 2.39%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 1.97%, Bharti Infratel up by 1.87%, HCL Tech up by 1.86% and Aurobindo Pharma up by 1.80%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 2.08%, ONGC down by 1.14%, GAIL India down by 0.92%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.48% and Coal India down by 0.46% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; KOSPI Index rose 0.18%, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 0.27%, Hang Seng added 0.56% and Nikkei 225 was up by 1.01%. On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted decreased 0.32% and Shanghai Composite was down by 0.59%.