Sensex, Nifty pare gains in late afternoon session

Indian equity indices pare some of their gains in late afternoon session but remain in green, with Nifty trading above the 9,750 mark. Sentiments were positive with the private report indicating that India is expected to see a modest recovery in GDP growth at 6.6% for the April-June quarter as compared to 6.1% in January-March, which was affected by demonetization. Besides, foreign direct investment (FDI) in India zoomed 37% during the first quarter (April-June) of fiscal year 2017-18 to touch $10.4 billion, also supported the markets to remain in green. However, some gains were trimmed with Credit rating agency Care Ratings’s latest report that India Inc.’s profits dipped by 15.7% to Rs 87,475 crore in the first quarter of the fiscal year 2017-18, mainly due to destocking of goods by companies before execution of Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime from July 1, 2017.

On the global front, European markets were trading in green as investors awaited the annual central banking conference in Jackson Hole later this week. Asian markets were also trading in green. Back home, in scrip specific development, ONGC was trading higher after the company received an in-principle approval to acquire the government’s 51.11% stake in Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL). The board of directors of the company at its meeting held on August 21, 2017 has approved for the same. Last month, the government had approved sale of its 51.11% stake in oil refiner HPCL to India’s largest oil producer ONGC.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 31293.19, up by 34.34 points or 0.11% after trading in a range of 31241.50 and 31484.28. There were 17 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index, while 2 stocks remained unchanged.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.58%, while Small cap index was down by 0.73%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 1.21%, Energy up by 0.76%, Healthcare up by 0.69%, PSU up by 0.10% and TECK up by 0.07%, while Realty down by 1.44%, Power down by 1.03%, Utilities down by 0.82%, Consumer Durables down by 0.79% and Consumer Disc down by 0.79% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 3.12%, Lupin up by 2.00%, Sun Pharma up by 1.67%, ONGC up by 1.52% and Wipro up by 1.09%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 1.95%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.61%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 0.80%, Tata Steel down by 0.59% and TCS down by 0.49% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, clarifying the Goods and Services tax (GST) related issues of gems and jewellery sector, Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has said that the banks will have to pay additional 3 per cent Integrated GST (IGST) on imports of gold and precious metals along with the basic customs duty, which can be claimed as input tax credit. Previously banks were not paying any VAT (value-added tax) on an import of precious metals.

The apex body also said that the overseas entities would not be liable to pay IGST on such imports since they are not effecting the import. CBEC also clarified that the rate of 3 per cent is payable on the total transaction value of jewellery, whether the making charge is shown separately or not.

Currently, basic customs duty on gold import is 10 percent. The government has subsumed countervailing duty (CVD) of 12.5 per cent on it under new tax regime, hence it has imposed 3 per cent of GST rate on gold imports in the form of IGST with effect from July 1.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 9768.85, up by 14.50 points or 0.15% after trading in a range of 9752.60 and 9828.45. There were 27 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 3.31%, Indian Oil Corp. up by 2.47%, Lupin up by 2.02%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.97% and Hindalco up by 1.89%. On the flip side, Indiabulls Housing Finance down by 2.27%, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.13%, NTPC down by 2.03%, Bank of Baroda down by 1.97% and Eicher Motors down by 1.69% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Shanghai Composite increased 3.32 points or 0.1% to 3,290.23, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 3.81 points or 0.22% to 1,775.43, KOSPI Index increased 10.33 points or 0.44% to 2,365.33, Jakarta Composite increased 19 points or 0.32% to 5,880.00, Taiwan Weighted increased 65.68 points or 0.64% to 10,392.07 and Hang Seng increased 246.99 points or 0.91% to 27,401.67. On the flip side, Nikkei 225 decreased 9.29 points or 0.05% to 19,383.84.

European markets were trading in green; France’s CAC increased 17.38 points or 0.34% to 5,104.97, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 46.49 points or 0.64% to 7,365.37 and Germany’s DAX increased 71.19 points or 0.59% to 12,137.18.