Benchmarks trade below neutral line in morning session

Indian equity benchmarks erased their gains and were trading in red in morning session on account of selling in frontline counters. The rupee opened higher against dollar on account of buying of American currency by corporates and banks. Foreign Portfolio Investors stood net buyers in domestic equity markets on Monday and bought shares worth Rs 448.39 crore with gross purchases and gross sales of Rs 4,688.52 crore and Rs 4,240.13 crore, respectively. The sentiments were dampen with a foreign brokerage which reported that a year after the Indian government scrapped high denomination currency notes, a wide range of indicators suggest the economy is still coming to terms with the move. The report highlighted that while the initial scenes of long queues of people exchanging notes disappeared within a month or so, the shock measure left a rather lasting impact on informal economic activities, bank deposits and digital transactions. It added that in an economy where 90 percent of employment and over 50 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is derived from informal activities, this is bound to be a highly disruptive process. Meanwhile, oil prices hit their highest since July 2015 on Monday as Saudi Arabia’s crown prince cemented his power over the weekend through an anti-corruption crackdown. Investors took note that the government is considering a major overhaul of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) as suggested by a ministerial panel. It has been reported that the government may review the requirement of filing at least three returns every month under the GST regime with a view to easing compliance burden of taxpayers.

Traders were seen piling up position in IT, TECK and Capital Goods stocks, while selling was witnessed in Energy, Realty and Consumer Durables sector stocks. In scrip specific development, AstraZeneca Pharma India was trading firm after the company posted a multi-fold jump in its net profit to Rs 27.38 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2017 against Rs 80.25 lakh in the corresponding quarter last year. Total revenue of the company came at Rs 166.75 crore for the quarter under under review. It stood at Rs 141.28 crore for the same period a year ago. Select logistics company stocks were buzzing after rating agency ICRA said that India’s logistics sector is likely to grow by about 10 percent annually, terming the outlook for logistics companies as positive in the medium term.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green. Foreign investors who were underweight on Japanese stocks in the summer are raising their investment stances to neutral and even overweight. Back home, the BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty were trading below the psychological 33,700 and 10,450 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 840:1521, while 92 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 33646.92, down by 84.27 points or 0.25% after trading in a range of 33582.38 and 33865.95. There were 9 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.88%, while Small cap index was down by 0.88%.

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.17%, TECK up by 0.83% and Capital Goods up by 0.01%, while Energy down by 1.66%, Realty down by 1.52%, Consumer Durables down by 1.46%, Oil & Gas down by 1.37% and PSU down by 1.01% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 1.94%, TCS up by 1.24%, Wipro up by 0.85%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.81% and NTPC up by 0.56%.

On the flip side, Reliance Industries down by 1.97%, Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone down by 1.53%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 1.47%, ICICI Bank down by 1.34% and SBI down by 1.32% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, after the revelations form part of the largest ever leak of financial data involving two companies, Bermuda’s Appleby and Singapore’s Asiaciti, which helped the global rich and powerful, including from India, to move their money abroad, the government has taken prompt action saying that a multi-agency group (MAG) probing the Panama Papers leak will look into the 'Paradise Papers' on financial holdings abroad that list a number of 714 Indian individuals and entities. The MAG was constituted in April last year to investigate the legality of money stashed in offshore entities by Indians named in the Panama Papers.

According to the release issued by Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) the MAG will take 'swift action' on the 'Paradise Papers' on the financial holdings abroad that list a number of Indian entities. The panel will first 'go through' the details of income tax returns filed by the 714 Indian individuals and entities named in the 'Paradise Papers' and subsequently take action, in a case-to-case basis. The CBDT also said that investigation in many cases of offshore entities is already on fast track. 'As soon as further information surfaces, swift action as per law will follow,' however it also said that it is still to receive full details of the latest disclosures.

The latest disclosure made by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) has ranked India 19th among 180 countries whose citizens and companies sheltered their wealth in secretive tax havens abroad. As per the report, among Appleby`s Indian clients were several prominent corporates and companies which subsequently came under the scrutiny of investigating agencies like the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (EF).

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10424.40, down by 27.40 points or 0.26% after trading in a range of 10394.65 and 10485.75. There were 16 stocks advancing against 34 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were HCL Tech up by 3.07%, TCS up by 1.82%, Infosys up by 1.79%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.19% and Tech Mahindra up by 0.92%.

On the flip side, Indian Oil Corporation down by 3.06%, Yes Bank down by 3.02%, HPCL down by 2.85%, BPCL down by 2.40% and Indiabulls Housing down by 1.79% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 2.98 points or 0.17% to 1,745.27, Jakarta Composite increased 6.99 points or 0.12% to 6,057.81, Shanghai Composite increased 18.98 points or 0.56% to 3,407.15, Taiwan Weighted increased 39.19 points or 0.36% to 10,825.38, Nikkei 225 increased 343.67 points or 1.52% to 22,892.02 and Hang Seng increased 379.38 points or 1.33% to 28,976.18.

On the other hand, KOSPI Index decreased 5.54 points or 0.22% to 2,543.87.