Bourses continue to trade in green in late afternoon session

Indian key bourses remained in positive mood in late afternoon session, with Nifty trading marginally higher as traders were optimistic with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement that the GST has increased competition among manufacturers which will help to bring down prices and added that in the long term, the consumers will be the biggest beneficiaries of it. Besides, DIPP Secretary Ramesh Abhishek’s statement that India's ranking may improve significantly in the World Bank's ease of doing business report on the back of reforms initiated by the government, too continued to support the sentiments.  On the sectoral front, telecom share were trading lower despites reports that the government is making efforts to double India’s telecom infrastructure by the year 2020, while banks stocks were also trading lower despite Fitch ratings’ latest report that the government’s Rs 2.1 lakh crore recapitalisation plan for public sector banks (PSBs) is positive for banks’ ratings.

On the global front, European markets were trading in green, supported by upbeat earnings and the prospect of continuing stimulus in Europe. Asian markets were also trading in green. Back home, in scrip specific development, Maruti Suzuki India traded higher after the company reported a rise of 3.45% in its net profit at Rs 2484.30 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2017 as compared to Rs 2401.50 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. The total income of the company increased by 5.44% at Rs 22291.10 crore for Q2FY18 as compared Rs 21141.60 crore for the corresponding quarter previous year.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 33246.21, up by 99.08 points or 0.30% after trading in a range of 33164.42 and 33286.51. There were 20 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.44%, while Small cap was index up by 0.54%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 1.91%, Industrials up by 1.23%, Auto up by 1.14%, FMCG up by 1.11% and Capital Goods up by 0.69%, while Telecom down by 4.24%, Energy down by 1.57%, Oil & Gas down by 1.22%, PSU down by 1.11% and TECK down by 0.61% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 4.24%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 3.84%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 3.74%, ONGC up by 3.44% and Tata Motors up by 3.26%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 4.44%, Wipro down by 2.12%, SBI down by 2.09%, Reliance Industries down by 1.78% and Hindustan Unilever down by 1.23% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, highlighting that the culture of doing business is changing in the country with Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the news tax regime has increased competition among manufacturers which will help to bring down prices and added that in the long term, the consumers will be the biggest beneficiaries of it.

Prime Minister further noted that GST has also lead to the abolition of dozens of indirect and hidden taxes and it is a transparent system in which no one can hurt the interests of consumers. Besides, he said that after the implementation of GST, the queues of the trucks on the borders now no longer exist.

Listing out the benefits of various governments’ steps like new consumer protection Act and direct benefits transfer scheme, Modi further said that the government is also working to formulate schemes which help consumers save money. The poor and middle class in the country are benefited most from these schemes.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10348.40, up by 4.60 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 10325.85 and 10366.15. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Sun Pharma up by 4.45%, Bajaj Finance up by 4.09%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 3.60%, ONGC up by 3.35% and Tata Motors up by 3.24%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 6.64%, Bharti Infratel down by 6.59%, Indian Oil Corporation down by 5.36%, HPCL down by 5.24% and Bharti Airtel down by 4.62% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Shanghai Composite increased 9.25 points or 0.27% to 3,416.81, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 11.1 points or 0.64% to 1,747.90, KOSPI Index increased 16 points or 0.64% to 2,496.63, Hang Seng increased 236.47 points or 0.84% to 28,438.85 and Nikkei 225 increased 268.67 points or 1.24% to 22,008.45. On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted decreased 25.65 points or 0.24% to 10,709.11 and Jakarta Composite decreased 19.63 points or 0.33% to 5,976.22.

All European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 27.68 points or 0.37% to 7,514.18, France’s CAC increased 38.17 points or 0.7% to 5,493.57 and Germany’s DAX increased 91.58 points or 0.7% to 13,224.86.