Markets maintain momentum; trade near highs of the day

Indian markets continuing their upbeat momentum were trading near the highs of the day in the early noon session. Nifty after some initial hesitation has reclaimed its historic high of 10000, while the Sensex was showing triple digit gains supported by surge in index heavy-weights such as Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank. Markets which started on a cautious note ahead of expiry of July series futures and options contracts and the outcome of US Federal Reserve policy meet, scheduled for later in the day, seem to have ignored the anxiety successfully, claiming fresh record highs supported by across the board buying.  On the sectoral front, while the metals, realty and energy continued moving up, telecom remained the biggest laggard, as Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that banks have an exposure of Rs 97,681 crore in the telecom sector, which is grappling with financial stress. Total outstanding (funded) advances by public sector banks to the ‘communications’ sector stood at Rs 63,415 crore, while total exposure to the sector worked out to be Rs 97,681 crore.

In scrip specific action, National Fertilizers slumped over 6 percent as the government announced a stake sale through an offer for sale (OFS). Government of India will sell up to 7,35,86,760 equity shares of the company, representing 15 percent of the total paid up equity share capital of the company.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 32349.46, up by 121.19 points or 0.38% after trading in a range of 32226.08 and 32361.61. There were 25 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices too were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.42%, while Small cap index gained 0.65%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.63%, Realty up by 1.42%, Energy up by 0.88%, Capital Goods up by 0.86% and Basic Materials up by 0.85%, while Telecom down by 0.58%, TECK down by 0.28% and IT down by 0.09% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 2.15%, Sun Pharma Inds. up by 1.91%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.60%, Reliance Industries up by 1.37% and ICICI Bank up by 1.32%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 2.73%, Asian Paints down by 1.66%, TCS down by 0.38%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.37% and Bajaj Auto down by 0.30% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Finance Ministry has said that the proposed National Anti-profiteering Authority under Goods and Services Tax (GST) will be accountable for ensuring that the full benefits of a reduction in tax on supply of goods or services flow to the consumers and will bolster consumer confidence. The GST Council has formed a selection committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary to identify and recommend eligible persons for appointment as the chairman and members of the National Anti-profiteering Authority. The Authority is to be headed by a senior officer of the level of a secretary to the government of India and is to have four technical members from the Centre and/or the states.

The authority shall be responsible for applying anti-profiteering measures in the event of a reduction in rate of the GST on supply of goods or services or, if the benefit of input tax credit is not passed on to the recipients by way of commensurate reduction in prices. If the undue benefit cannot be passed on to the recipient, it can be ordered to be deposited in the Consumer Welfare Fund. In extreme cases, the National Anti-profiteering Authority can impose a penalty on the defaulting business entity and even order the cancellation of its registration under GST.

The already notified rules on anti-profiteering measures provide that applications seeking to invoke anti-profiteering measures shall be examined by a standing committee. However, if the application relates to a local matter, when the business is located in only one state, it shall be first examined by a state level screening committee. The standing committee is empowered to refer cases requiring detailed inquiry to director general of safeguards, Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), who shall give recommendation for consideration of the National Anti-profiteering Authority.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10003.10, up by 38.55 points or 0.39% after trading in a range of 9965.95 and 10010.80. There were 34 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Vedanta up by 2.77%, Tata Steel up by 2.34%, Sun Pharma Inds. up by 2.03%, Eicher Motors up by 1.80% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.61%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 2.73%, Asian Paints down by 1.52%, Bharti Infratel down by 1.42%, Zee Entertainment down by 1.32% and Tata Power down by 1.08% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was tad higher by 0.72 points or 0.04% to 1,764.06, Jakarta Composite increased by 2.13 points or 0.04% to 5,815.67, Shanghai Composite was up by 3.06 points or 0.09% to 3,246.75, Hang Seng gained 47.93 points or 0.18% to 26,899.98 and Nikkei 225 increased by 94.96 points or 0.48% to 20,050.16.

On the other hand, Taiwan Weighted declined by 44.04 points or 0.42% to 10,419.11 and KOSPI Index was down by 5.39 points or 0.22% to 2,434.51.