Markets continue to trade in green in afternoon deals

Benchmark equity indices continued to trade in green in afternoon session, supported by gains in Realty, Banking and Basic Materials sector stocks. Sentiments remained positive with Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das’s statement that the Indian economy will grow 8 per cent next fiscal as the full-year impact of the landmark Goods and Service Tax (GST) will be seen by that time. Some support also came with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley ruling out any surprises in the tax rates in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) that is proposed to be rolled out on July 1 and also asserting that there will be no cascading in goods and commodities, which can even see tax rates coming down a little. The minister also ruled out the possibility of levying tax on agriculture. Besides, firmness in Asian stocks following Emmanuel Macron's victory as France's next president too supported the market. Meanwhile, the rupee recovered 14 paise to 64.23 against the US dollar in early trade on increased selling of the American currency by exporters and banks amid a higher opening in the domestic equity market. In scrip specific development, Bank of India was up by over a percent on receiving its shareholders approval to raise up to Rs 10,000 crore through issue of bonds.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, tracking the gains on Wall Street following the release of better-than-expected U.S. jobs data and on relief after pro-European Union centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron defeated far-right candidate Marine Le Pen to win the closely-watched French presidential election.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 29925.27, up by 66.47 points or 0.22% after trading in a range of 29877.41 and 30016.04. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.56%, while Small cap index was up by 0.53%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.68%, Bankex up by 0.85%, Basic Materials up by 0.80%, IT up by 0.79% and Consumer Durables up by 0.79%, while Metal down by 0.74%, FMCG down by 0.30%, Energy down by 0.23% and Oil & Gas down by 0.20% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank up by 2.70%, ONGC up by 1.96%, Tata Motors up by 1.10%, Wipro up by 1.05% and Lupin up by 0.84%. On the flip side, Adani Ports &SEZ down by 1.55%, ITC down by 0.83%, Tata Steel down by 0.76%, Power Grid down by 0.53% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.51% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia has expressed hope of smooth transition to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime and said that it will make domestic companies more competitive apart from streamlining the taxation for all business activities. He also said that unlike in other countries, the transition to the new tax regime would be smooth in India because there are multiple points of taxation. Hence, the possibility of sudden spurt in inflation is remote.

Explaining the importance of GST for promotion of manufacturing in the country, Adhia said that cascading of taxes along with non-availability of input credit meant that domestically produced goods found it harder to compete with imported ones. He also said that the new tax regime is a multi-point tax on value addition with seamless input tax credit.

Meanwhile, eight state Assemblies have passed the State GST (SGST) Bill during April-May period, as the Centre gears up to roll out the new indirect tax regime from July. The GST Council, headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, had approved the model SGST Bill at its 12th Meeting on March 16 this year. The next GST Council meeting will be held on May 18-19 to fix the tax rates of various commodities.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 9314.75, up by 29.45 points or 0.32% after trading in a range of 9297.95 and 9338.70. There were 31 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Ambuja Cement up by 7.89%, ACC up by 4.57%, ICICI Bank up by 2.73%, Eicher Motors up by 2.60% and Ultratech Cement up by 2.30%. On the flip side, Adani Ports &Special down by 1.74%, BPCL down by 1.35%, Hindalco down by 1.24%, Indian Oil Corp. down by 1.05% and Tata Steel down by 0.95% were the top losers.

Most of the Asian markets were trading in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 3.13 points or 0.18% to 1,765.87, Taiwan Weighted was up by 37.31 points or 0.38% to 9,937.25, Jakarta Composite rose 41.64 points or 0.73% to 5,725.02, KOSPI Index added 51.52 points or 2.3% to 2,292.76, Hang Seng surged 114.82 points or 0.47% to 24,591.17 and Nikkei 225 increased 450 points or 2.31% to 19,895.70.

On the flip side, Shanghai Composite was down by 17.24 points or 0.56% to 3,085.80.