Indian key indices move into positive terrain; Metal stocks shine

In a volatile session, Indian key indices moved into positive terrain from negative terrain in late afternoon session, tracking higher opening in European counterparts. Investors took encouragement with commerce and industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows into the country increased 23 percent in the first two months of the current fiscal from a year ago. Besides, CBDT Chairman Sushil Chandra’s statement that income taxpayer base moved up substantially to 6.26 crore at the end of the last fiscal, from nearly 4 crore earlier too aided the sentiments. Some support also came with the report that summer monsoons in the country have strengthened over the past 15 years, reversing a 50-year dry period during which northern and central India received relatively little rainfall. Meanwhile, Niti Aayog has made a strong case for boosting savings and investments with a view to push the country’s economy into a higher growth trajectory.

On the global front, European markets were trading higher, as investors monitored earnings and awaited the start of a two-day policy meeting of the Federal Reserve. Asian markets were also trading in green. Back home, in scrip specific development, Aurionpro Solutions was trading in green after its subsidiary Cyberinc signed a global OEM partnership agreement with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) for powering Isla, its advanced web malware isolation system. The collaboration with HPE will enable Cyberinc to aggressively sell and deliver Isla, backed by HPE's advanced go to market infrastructure and efficient fulfilment supply chain.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 32284.44, up by 38.57 points or 0.12% after trading in a range of 32196.86 and 32374.30. There were 15 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.59%, while Small cap index was up by 0.16%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 2.43%, Metal up by 0.73%, Bankex up by 0.51%, TECK up by 0.49% and Realty up by 0.46%, while Capital Goods down by 0.55%, Industrials down by 0.40%, FMCG down by 0.21%, Auto down by 0.16% and Utilities down by 0.10% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 2.02%, Axis Bank up by 1.52%, TCS up by 1.29%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.05% and HDFC Bank up by 1.01%. On the flip side, Lupin down by 1.90%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 1.62%, Tata Motors down by 1.38%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.85% and Coal India down by 0.78% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, on back of host of measures taken by the government post demonetization to increase tax base, income taxpayer base moved up substantially to 6.26 crore at the end of the last fiscal, from nearly 4 crore earlier. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairman Sushil Chandra said that with the enactment of the amended Benami law, the tax officials have found out clusters and persons who have invested money in real estate without filing tax returns.

Chandra said that the depertment is working on widening of the tax net which remains as a challenge before the taxmen, adding that they will start working on expanding the process of e-assessment and the next step would be to undertake complete scrutiny on systems so that assessees don’t have to visit tax office.

CBDT Chairman made clear that Non-resident Indians (NRIs), expats, as well as foreigners with investments in private equity in India will have to give details of their bank accounts only when a refund is due to the assessee. Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia also appreciated the growth of the Income Tax department, saying that of the last 25 years, in 11 years the Income Tax department has achieved a growth rate of 20 per cent and even a growth rate of 30 per cent in the year after demonetisation is considered modest.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 9974.85, up by 8.45 points or 0.08% after trading in a range of 9949.10 and 10011.30. There were 25 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index, while 1 stock remained unchanged.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indiabulls Housing Finance up by 2.99%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.29%, Bharti Infratel up by 2.01%, Vedanta up by 1.98% and Axis Bank up by 1.42%. On the flip side, Zee Entertainment down by 2.03%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.82%, Lupin down by 1.77%, HCL Tech. down by 1.68% and Tech Mahindra down by 1.55% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Jakarta Composite increased 0.82 points or 0.01% to 5,802.40, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 1.21 points or 0.07% to 1,763.20, Taiwan Weighted increased 1.87 points or 0.02% to 10,463.15 and Hang Seng increased 5.22 points or 0.02% to 26,852.05. On the flip side, Nikkei 225 decreased 20.47 points or 0.1% to 19,955.20, KOSPI Index decreased 11.63 points or 0.47% to 2,439.90 and Shanghai Composite decreased 6.91 points or 0.21% to 3,243.69.

All European markets were trading in green; France’s CAC increased 30.38 points or 0.59% to 5,158.08, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 51.39 points or 0.7% to 7,429.12 and Germany’s DAX increased 57.78 points or 0.47% to 12,266.73.