Markets at day’s high; Nifty reclaims 9,650 mark

Indian equity benchmarks added gains in late afternoon session to trade at the intraday highs, as PSU lenders gained after the Reserve Bank of India asked banks to start banktruptcy process against 12 large loan defaulters, raising hopes that reduction of bad debt will start to quicken. Investors' sentiments also remained buoyant after the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council on Sunday unanimously agreed on July 1 rollout of the GST regime and decided on a two-slab structure for taxing lottery tickets. Some support also came with the report that Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is again extending a helping hand to the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in their fight against bad loans. Sebi is planning to ease the acquisition rules to allow investors to buy distressed assets from banks. Meanwhile, net income tax collection till June 15 grew across the country at a healthy 26.2 per cent to Rs 1,01,024 crore from Rs 80,075 crore in the year ago period.

On the global front, European markets were trading in green as investors shifted their attention to political events across Europe. Asian markets were also trading in green. Back home, in scrip specific development, RPP Infra Projects traded higher after the company bagged an order from Tamilnadu Civil Supplies Corporation (TNCSC) worth Rs 51.20 crore. The said order is for the construction of scientific storage godown of 40,000 MT capacity in TNCSC campus at Edamanal village in Sirkali Taluk in Nagapattinam District.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 31296.12, up by 239.72 points or 0.77% after trading in a range of 31163.35 and 31308.06. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.24%, while Small cap index was higher by 0.08%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.84%, Basic Materials up by 0.95%, FMCG up by 0.95%, Energy up by 0.92% and Bankex up by 0.73%, while Healthcare down by 0.42% and Realty down by 0.06% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Adani Ports & SEZ up by 2.95%, Tata Steel up by 2.87%, Reliance Industries up by 1.77%, ITC up by 1.57% and Bajaj Auto up by 1.56%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 0.99%, Dr. Reddys Lab down by 0.79%, Coal India down by 0.67%, Sun Pharma Inds. down by 0.65% and Tata Motors down by 0.65% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order to address any tax issue that can come up in sectors related to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), the department has constituted the Goods and Services Tax (GST) facilitation cell. DIPP has said that the department will be in constant touch with the major industry and business associations relating to it and this cell will also help to facilitate the rollout of GST.

The GST facilitation cell headed by Economic Advisor Sudhansu Sekhar Das will serve as the first point of contact for addressing any issue regarding GST. On the same lines, recently, the Department of Commerce also constituted a similar cell and a help desk to aid exporters and importers.

The new GST regime will subsume central excise, service tax and state VAT among other indirect levies on manufactured goods and services. DIPP looks after policies related to sectors including leather, cement, paper, salt and explosives.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 9654.65, up by 66.60 points or 0.69% after trading in a range of 9614.90 and 9654.75. There were 34 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index, while 1 stock remained unchanged.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Steel up by 3.03%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 2.82%, Hindalco up by 2.74%, Vedanta up by 2.62% and Bharti Infratel up by 1.83%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddys Lab down by 1.03%, ONGC down by 0.87%, Infosys down by 0.79%, Coal India down by 0.78% and Sun Pharma Inds. down by 0.77% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; KOSPI Index increased 9.07 points or 0.38% to 2,370.90, Jakarta Composite increased 10.53 points or 0.18% to 5,734.16, Shanghai Composite increased 21.21 points or 0.68% to 3,144.37, Taiwan Weighted increased 93.87 points or 0.92% to 10,250.60, Nikkei 225 increased 124.49 points or 0.62% to 20,067.75 and Hang Seng increased 298.06 points or 1.16% to 25,924.55. On the flip side, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 5 points or 0.28% to 1,786.31.

All European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 53.62 points or 0.72% to 7,517.16, France’s CAC increased 54.79 points or 1.04% to 5,318.10 and Germany’s DAX increased 131.67 points or 1.03% to 12,884.40.