Markets continue to trade in positive territory

Tracking firm European markets, Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade in positive territory in late afternoon session, on the back of healthy buying in Capital Goods, Power and Realty stocks. Sentiments remained upbeat with the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF’s) report that India’s growth is expected to rebound to 7.2 percent in the financial year 2017-18 and to further 7.7 percent in fiscal 2018-19, following disruptions caused by demonetization. It said that the temporary disruptions (primarily to private consumption) caused by cash shortages accompanying the currency exchange initiative are expected to gradually dissipate in 2017 as cash shortages ease. Some support also came with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement that the government has no plans to tax agricultural income, including that of prosperous farmers, he said that a rich farmer is "a very rare institution" and not the norm. However, broadly negative Asian cues and weak rupee against dollar capped the gains. Meanwhile, markets regulator Sebi has allowed investors to buy mutual fund schemes for up to Rs 50,000 through digital wallets, making it easier for them -- especially the young generation -- to purchase these instruments.

On the global front, European markets were trading in green as investors searched for the next catalyst following the French election, while oil prices edged higher on renewed optimism over a potential extension to OPEC supply cuts. However, Asian markets were trading red. Back home, in scrip specific development, Balaji Telefilms was trading in green after the company’s wholly owned subsidiary -- ALTBalaji entered into a partnership for international online payments with PayPal, the world’s open digital payments company.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 29967.85, up by 41.70 points or 0.14% after trading in a range of 29912.24 and 30017.82. There were 17 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index, while 1 stock remained unchanged.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.20%, while Small cap index was higher by 0.58%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 1.91%, Industrials up by 1.31%, Power up by 1.09%, Realty up by 1.02% and Metal up by 0.97%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.49%, Telecom down by 0.40%, Healthcare down by 0.28%, Bankex down by 0.05% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Larsen & Toubro up by 2.07%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 1.67%, Axis Bank up by 1.25%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.17% and Tata Motors up by 0.97%. On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.41%, Lupin down by 1.92%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.10%, Cipla down by 0.62% and SBI down by 0.55% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, going a step further on the path of digital transactions and cheque payments, the government is planning to amend the Negotiable Instruments Act (NIA) for faster decision in cheque bounce cases. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had made an announcement to this effect in the Budget 2016-17 and the amendments will be tabled in the Monsoon Session of the Parliament.

The Department of Financial Services is in process of getting Cabinet approval for the amendments, ensuring that cheque bounce cases are settled speedily. In proposed amendments, the government is expected to propose a minimum deposit of 20 per cent of the contested amount by an offender at the trail court stage.  At present, there is no mandatory deposit by a defaulter while contesting the charges in any trial court or raising an appeal before the appellate court.

In 2015, Parliament passed amendment to the Negotiable Instrument Act providing for filing of cheque bounce cases at the place where a cheque is presented for clearance and not the place of issue and these amendments had implications for over 18 lakh cheque bounce cases pending in various courts, of which about 38,000 are with the high courts.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 9323.65, up by 9.60 points or 0.10% after trading in a range of 9307.70 and 9338.95. There were 28 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indian Oil Corp. up by 3.02%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.07%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 2.07%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.69% and HCL Tech. up by 1.52%. On the flip side, Indiabulls Housing Finance down by 3.48%, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.68%, Lupin down by 2.02%, Aurobindo Pharma down by 1.96% and Bharti Airtel down by 1.52% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 decreased 52.7 points or 0.26% to 19,843.00, Taiwan Weighted decreased 21.77 points or 0.22% to 9,915.48, Jakarta Composite decreased 6.28 points or 0.11% to 5,701.59 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 1.42 points or 0.08% to 1,766.73. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite increased 1.91 points or 0.06% to 3,080.53 and Hang Seng was up by 311.12 points or 1.27% to 24,889.03.

All European markets were trading in green; France’s CAC increased 17.72 points or 0.33% to 5,400.67, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 23.59 points or 0.32% to 7,324.45 and Germany’s DAX increased 30.59 points or 0.24% to 12,725.14.