Nifty settles above 10k mark for the first time; Sensex ends at record high

Wednesday turned out to be a historic day of trade for Indian equity benchmarks, with Nifty settling above magical five-digit mark of 10,000 for the first time ever on the back of positive sentiments flow among the market participants during the ongoing corporate earnings season. Sentiments remained up-beat since morning, as markets started the session in green with report that the government approved an addition of 7.47 lakh new registration applications under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime. Traders also took some encouragement with private report that Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) pumped in over $25.4 billion into the Indian equity and debt market segments thus far in calendar year 2017 (CY17). The flows have come in on expectation of a revival in India's economic growth and recent government-backed reforms, especially in the banking sector.

It was the last leg of trade where markets extended its northward journey and ended above the all time closing high levels, with traders taking support with report stating that a team of officers, led by the commerce secretary, is holding detailed consultations with states to clear the bottlenecks that are hampering exports. Traders shrugged off private brokerage firm report which highlighted that retail inflation in India is expected to rise noticeably from trough in June to 4.4 percent in the second half of this year, driven mostly by food prices and the base effect. The report added that although inflation has bottomed, in the medium term it is expected to see a significant uptrend and rise above the RBI's target.

Firm opening in European counters too aided sentiments with all the indices trading in green, as investors geared up for a rate decision from the US Federal Reserve and continued to digest earnings reports. Asian markets ended mostly in green, as investors awaited the Federal Reserve’s policy decision later in the day for more clues on its tightening plans.

Back home, power stocks remained on buyers’ radar, as the Ministry of Power said that outstanding liabilities of power distribution companies to central public sector undertaking power producers have halved under the Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana. Moreover, the banking and telecom stocks remained buzzing, as the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said 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.

The NSE’s 50-share broadly followed index Nifty gained over fifty points to end above its psychological 10,000 support level, while Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index -- Sensex surged by over one hundred and fifty points to conquer its crucial 32,300 mark. The broader markets too traded with traction and ended the session with a gain of around quarter a percent. The market breadth was evenly divided, as there were 1,362 shares on the gaining side against 1,324 shares on the losing side, while 175 shares remain unchanged.

Finally, the BSE Sensex surged 154.19 points or 0.48% to 32,382.46, while the CNX Nifty was up by 56.10 points or 0.56% to 10,020.65.

The BSE Sensex touched a high and a low of 32,413.63 and 32,226.08, respectively and there were 22 stocks on gaining side as against 8 stocks on losing side, while one stock remain unchanged on the index.

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.18%, while Small cap index was up by 0.28%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.74%, Utilities up by 0.91%, Capital Goods up by 0.89%, Healthcare up by 0.80% and Bankex was up by 0.74%, while Telecom down by 0.39%, TECK down by 0.37% and IT was down by 0.20% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 2.22%, Sun Pharma up by 2.08%, ICICI Bank up by 2.07%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.94% and Hindustan Unilever up by 1.79%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 2.90%, Asian Paints down by 1.43%, TCS down by 0.62%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.32% and Bajaj Auto down by 0.24% 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 traded in a range of 10,025.95 and 9,965.95. There were 30 stocks in green as against 21 stocks in red on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Yes Bank up by 5.82%, Vedanta up by 2.44%, IndusInd Bank up by 2.44%, Sun Pharma up by 2.40% and Tata Steel up by 2.31%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 2.95%, Zee Entertainment down by 1.49%, Asian Paints down by 1.40%, ACC down by 1.14% and Ambuja Cement down by 1.08% were the top losers.

The European markets were trading in green; France’s CAC increased 41.56 points or 0.81% to 5,202.64, UK’s FTSE 100 gained 45.31 points or 0.61% to 7,480.13 and Germany’s DAX was up by 46.23 points or 0.38% to 12,310.54.

Asian equity markets ended mostly in green on Wednesday as higher commodity prices and upbeat earnings news from the US helped keep investors’ sentiments buoyant ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision due later in the day. The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, but investors will be paying close attention to the accompanying statement for clues regarding future rate hikes. Japanese shares ended higher as the dollar extended an overnight rally against the yen and long-dated US Treasury yields jumped after US Senate Republicans narrowly agreed to open debate on healthcare reform. Hong Kong shares ended higher as gains by energy and financial shares overcame sluggishness in other sectors hit by profit-taking after the Hang Seng index temporarily breached the 27,000 mark in early trade. Meanwhile, Chinese shares ended little changed on concerns over further regulatory tightening after the China Securities Regulatory Commission said it would maintain ‘normalization’ of initial public offerings.