Markets shows range bound trend; Sensex and Nifty manages to remain in green

Markets showing the sluggish trend were moving near the neutral line albeit in positive terrain. Traders lacking any supportive cues were eyeing the movement of international crude oil prices, may lift inflation and hit economic growth. Traders have largely overlooked the former vice chairman of NITI Aayog’s statement that the country as a place for business is a lot more attractive than its ranking suggests. There was some cautiousness due to further weakness of rupee too, which after witnessing a massive plunge of 35 paise to a fresh one-week low was showing further weakness on increased demand for the US currency from importers. There was cautiousness in the India Inc too with the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) tightening the due diligence framework on resolution applicants, including promoters. Corporate resolution applicants including promoters will now be put through a stringent test as regards their credibility and creditworthiness before a resolution plan is approved by the committee of creditors.

On the sectoral front, healthcare, IT and banking were supporting the markets to remain in green, while energy, telecom and oil & gas were restricting any major up-move. In scrip specific movement, pharma major Cipla has surged after meeting the street expectation and posting 19.26 per cent year-on-year rise in consolidated profit at Rs 422.59 crore for the quarter ended September 30. The company recorded strong growth momentum across key markets.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 33416.62, up by 45.86 points or 0.14% after trading in a range of 33331.80 and 33484.70. There were 22 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices too were trading in green and both the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index were up by 0.31%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 1.15%, IT up by 0.59%, Capital Goods up by 0.38%, Consumer Disc up by 0.35% and Realty up by 0.33%, while Telecom down by 1.45%, Energy down by 1.11%, Oil & Gas down by 0.83%, Consumer Durables down by 0.64% and Metal down by 0.62% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Cipla up by 3.09%, Axis Bank up by 2.83%, Sun Pharma up by 2.58%, Asian Paints up by 2.27% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.63%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 4.56%, Reliance Industries down by 1.55%, NTPC down by 0.78%, Tata Motors down by 0.62% and SBI down by 0.60% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, continuing its steady growth, net direct tax collections, which are made up of personal and corporate taxes, was up by 15.2 percent to Rs 4.39 lakh crore in the first seven months (April to October) of the financial year 2018. According to the Ministry of Finance, the collection up to October 2017 indicates that 44.8 percent of the annual budget target of direct taxes (Rs 9.8 lakh crore) had been achieved.

Before adjusting for refunds, gross collections have surged by 10.7 percent to Rs 5.28 lakh crore up to October, 2017. Further, refunds amounting to Rs 89,507 crore have been issued during April, 2017 to October, 2017. 

In September this year, the Income Tax Department has been asked to add 1.25 crore new return filers in the current financial year as part of the government’s plan to widen the tax base in the country. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), that makes policy decisions for the I-T department, has directed the taxman to undertake focused efforts to significantly increase the tax base in FY18.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10358.20, up by 8.05 points or 0.08% after trading in a range of 10331.95 and 10384.25. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Cipla up by 3.44%, Tech Mahindra up by 3.01%, Axis Bank up by 2.85%, Sun Pharma up by 2.77% and Bharti Infratel up by 2.54%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 4.12%, Yes Bank down by 2.86%, Vedanta down by 1.92%, HPCL down by 1.84% and Reliance Industries down by 1.46% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were showing mostly a lower trend, while KOSPI Index increased 6.96 points or 0.27% to 2,552.40 and Shanghai Composite increased 4.65 points or 0.14% to 3,418.22

On the other hand, Nikkei 225 decreased 23.78 points or 0.10% to 22,913.82, Jakarta Composite decreased 22.18 points or 0.37% to 6,038.27, Taiwan Weighted decreased 22.7 points or 0.21% to 10,817.64, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 1.9 points or 0.11% to 1,749.04 and Hang Seng decreased 28.56 points or 0.10% to 28,965.78.