Bourses trade slightly in green; Nifty above 10,150 mark

In a choppy session, key Indian indices were trading slightly in green in late afternoon session, on the back of buying in Capital Goods, Healthcare and realty stocks. Traders took support with World Bank India chief Junaid Ahmad’s statement that effective implementation of the new tax regime will help the economy achieve 8% plus growth and described GST a ‘tectonic shift’. Junaid Ahmad, further highlighting the positive impact of GST, said that the economic corridors of India will change on the back of the new tax regime. However, upside remained capped as SBI’s Research report flagged concerns, stating that economy has been on a downslide since September 2016 and the slowdown is real and not technical, and called for more public spending to arrest the slide.

On the sectoral front, some shares of steel companies were trading higher with domestic credit rating agency, ICRA’s latest report that Indian steel mills are likely to enjoy better profitability in the near term with firm prices of metal and substantial export growth. It also said that buoyant international steel prices have benefited Indian mills to increasingly tap overseas markets, as reflected in a 57% Y-o-Y growth in exports during Apr-Aug 2017, helping the domestic steel industry operate at a capacity utilisation of above 80% in the financial year 2017-18.

On the global front, European markets were trading mixed as investors observed heightened geopolitical tensions over the Korean peninsula and awaited monetary policy guidance from the Federal Reserve. However, Asian markets were trading in red. Back home, in scrip specific development, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) jumped higher after the company signed two share purchase agreements for acquiring 100% of the share capital of Erkunt Traktor Sanayii A.S. and at least 80% of the share capital of Erkunt Sanayi A.S. (which includes around 35% of Erkunt Sanayi A.S. which is held by Erkunt Traktor Sanayii A.S.).

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 32454.11, up by 51.74 points or 0.16% after trading in a range of 32384.76 and 32499.88. 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 0.13%, while Small cap index was up by 0.26%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 0.79%, Healthcare up by 0.68%, Realty up by 0.32%, Industrials up by 0.31%, FMCG up by 0.29%, while Telecom down by 0.51%, Auto down by 0.47%, Bankex down by 0.21%, Oil & Gas down by 0.21% and Consumer Durables down by 0.20% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 3.68%, Tata Steel up by 1.72%, ONGC up by 1.54%, ITC up by 1.51% and SBI up by 1.29%. On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.00%, Tata Motors down by 1.98%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.67%, Asian Paints down by 1.04% and ICICI Bank down by 1.00% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, describing Goods and Services Tax (GST) as a ‘tectonic shift’, World Bank India chief Junaid Ahmad has said that India’s this bold step of integrating internally its nation into one market, has potential to boost the growth rate of the country if it is implemented efficiently and may take the county closer towards 8 per cent plus growth rate.

Junaid Ahmad, further highlighting the positive impact of GST, said that the economic corridors of India will change on the back of the new tax regime, though he expressed need transportation system, particular multi- modal, in order to respond what GST is offering as one market.

World Bank India chief also pointed that apart from reforms like GST, the country’s growth also depends on investment in the logistics, adding that if integration of India’s local markets are done correctly, the gains in next 5-8 years from the internal integration will outweigh those from global integration.

Besides, he said that the internal integration linked to the country’s port system can change the nature of growth of India. However, he raised his concern about India’s professional service delivery mechanism in the fields like water system, electricity, railway or solid waste management system, saying that the country is in high need of it and flagged optimal service delivery mechanism of basic infrastructure as one of the biggest challenges of the country now.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10155.65, up by 8.10 points or 0.08% after trading in a range of 10134.20 and 10171.05. There were 22 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 3.67%, Tata Steel up by 1.80%, ONGC up by 1.51%, ITC up by 1.49% and Bank of Baroda up by 1.45%. On the flip side, BPCL down by 2.41%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.98%, Tata Motors down by 1.90%, Ambuja Cement down by 1.79% and Hindustan Unilever down by 1.65% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Taiwan Weighted decreased 56.97 points or 0.54% to 10,519.17, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 5.87 points or 0.33% to 1,770.79, Jakarta Composite decreased 4.29 points or 0.07% to 5,897.04 and KOSPI Index decreased 3.85 points or 0.16% to 2,412.20. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite increased 9.15 points or 0.27% to 3,366.00, Nikkei 225 increased 11.08 points or 0.05% to 20,310.46 and Hang Seng increased 76.39 points or 0.27% to 28,127.80.

European markets were trading mixed; France’s CAC increased 9.84 points or 0.19% to 5,247.28 and Germany’s DAX was up by 30.07 points or 0.24% to 12,591.86. On the flip side, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 13.94 points or 0.19% to 7,261.31.