Benchmark indices trade with modest gains

Key benchmark indices erased their initial losses and started trading with small gains in early afternoon session, on the back of buying witnessed in Energy, Oil & Gas and Consumer Durables stocks. Sentiments got some support with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is bound to impact the direct tax collection as well due to the increased detection technology and greater compliance. The Finance Minister also said that even before GST was rolled out, the impact of demonetisation has expanded the number of assessees under the personal income tax. However, gains were muted as investors adopted a cautious approach in view of August derivatives expiry and release of key macroeconomic data later in the day. In scrip specific development, Ajanta Pharma was trading in green after launching Eletriptan Hydrobromide Tablets in the US market through its wholly owned subsidiary Ajanta Pharma USA.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed as the dollar extended gains and investors digested China manufacturing and services PMIs, as well as solid US economic data. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 31682.45, up by 35.99 points or 0.11% after trading in a range of 31551.85 and 31722.41. There were 15 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.23%, while Small cap index was up by 0.51%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Energy up by 1.12%, Oil & Gas up by 0.90%, Consumer Durables up by 0.73%, Consumer Disc up by 0.49% and PSU up by 0.39%, while Telecom down by 0.46%, TECK down by 0.22%, Healthcare down by 0.17%, IT down by 0.16% and Bankex down by 0.10% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Auto up by 2.20%, Reliance Industries up by 1.65%, Wipro up by 1.44%, Lupin up by 0.81% and Hero MotoCorp up by 0.78%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.00%, Coal India down by 0.91%, ICICI Bank down by 0.80%, Infosys down by 0.70% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.61% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has said that the regional air connectivity fund (RCF) levy will come into effect from September 1, 2017 and any amount already paid by airlines under this fund would be adjusted against their accounts. It also noted that the levy is used to subsidise operations under the government's ambitious regional connectivity scheme (RCS)-UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik).

DGCA, in its notification, has stated that the government had started charging a fee- ranging from Rs 7,500 to 8,500 per flight operated by all Indian airlines from December 2016 in order to cross-subsidise flights to tier-2 and tier-3 cities under the RCS. It added that the amount was revised to Rs 5,000 in May this year. In order to fund the RCS, the civil aviation ministry earlier said that it would collect a levy of up to Rs 5,000 per departure from airlines operating on major domestic routes.

In March, as many as 128 routes were awarded to five airlines in the first round of bidding for RCS. Through the RCS, the government aims to improve air connectivity to tier-2 and tier-3 cities. It offers airlines subsidy to fly on these routes and, in return, these carriers have to offer half of the total seats at discounted fares.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 9896.05, up by 11.65 points or 0.12% after trading in a range of 9856.95 and 9905.70. There were 23 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indian Oil Corp. up by 1.79%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.77%, Reliance Industries up by 1.68%, Wipro up by 1.60% and Yes Bank up by 1.18%. On the flip side, Bharti Infratel down by 2.14%, Bosch down by 2.01%, Coal India down by 1.10%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.96% and Sun Pharma down by 0.90% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Taiwan Weighted was up by 16.38 points or 0.15% to 10,585.78 and Nikkei 225 added 139.7 points or 0.72% to 19,646.24. On the flip side, Hang Seng decreased 189.56 points or 0.67% to 27,905.05, Jakarta Composite dipped 9.71 points or 0.17% to 5,862.80 and Shanghai Composite shed 2.11 points or 0.06% to 3,361.52.