Markets off day's high in noon deals

Key benchmark indices pared some of gains to come off their day’s highs in early afternoon session but remained in green terrain on account of buying in front line blue chip counters. Sentiments were positive with credit rating agency Fitch’s report, which ahead of the first advance estimates for GDP growth for 2017-18, has expressed optimism about India’s medium-term economic prospects and said it would outstrip China’s growth. Some support also came with  the latest report from the credit rating agency Moody’s that the government's Rs 2.11 lakh crore capital infusion in PSU banks would narrow the gap between the capital profiles of public and private sector banks. The broader indices were also trading in green, with both mid cap and small cap indices up by over 0.40%. However, some gains were trimmed as investors remained cautious ahead of December-quarter results starting next week and the annual budget due next month. In scrip specific development, Saksoft was up by over four and half percent with its arm completing the acquisition of California based startup Faichi Solutions LLC on January 3, 2018.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, after the Dow Jones industrial average hit a major milestone. However, investors remained cautious ahead of the release of the closely-watched US jobs data for December 2017 later in the day. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 34081.64, up by 112.00 points or 0.33% after trading in a range of 34020.84 and 34175.21. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index, while 1 stock remained unchanged.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.44%, while Small cap index was up by 0.65%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 2.26%, Consumer Durables up by 0.75%, Realty up by 0.74%, Consumer Disc up by 0.71% and Auto up by 0.68%, while Oil & Gas down by 0.67%, Energy down by 0.32% and PSU down by 0.26% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Yes Bank up by 4.56%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 3.90%, Indusind Bank up by 1.84%, TCS up by 1.51% and Bharti Airtel up by 1.36%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 1.25%, ICICI Bank down by 0.75%, Wipro down by 0.59%, Sun Pharma down by 0.52% and Infosys down by 0.51% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has urged the government to lower the corporate tax from 30 percent to 28 percent in the upcoming Union Budget 2018-19. It believed that such a move would help the Indian industry in meeting the challenges emanating from tax cuts by the Trump administration in the US and its outcome in other developing countries.

The Industry body has clarified that bringing the tax rate to 28 percent will be a good start and noted that the corporate sector would start becoming unproductive in the absence of the rate cut. It also said that in Budget 2016-17, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had promised to reduce the corporate tax to 25 percent over the next four years. However, he has not been able to cut the rates. Besides, it stated that in December 2017, Senate Republicans passed a sweeping overhaul of the US tax code in more than 30 years. It also said that the Senate approved the $1.5 trillion tax bill, which includes permanent tax breaks for corporations and temporary tax cuts for individuals, by a final vote of 51-48.

Regarding the prospects of economic growth, the chamber expects that India's economic growth will accelerate to 7.5 percent in the fiscal year 2018-19. Meanwhile, the government is scheduled to come out with the Budget for 2018-19 on February 1, which will also be the last regular Budget of the current government.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10531.25, up by 26.45 points or 0.25% after trading in a range of 10520.10 and 10562.80. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Yes Bank up by 4.60%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 3.70%, Indusind Bank up by 1.82%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.41% and Bajaj Finance up by 1.34%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 1.28%, BPCL down by 1.24%, UPL down by 1.14%, HPCL down by 1.12% and Indian Oil Corporation down by 1.02% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Jakarta Composite surged 5.83 points or 0.09% to 6,298.15, Shanghai Composite was up by 11.69 points or 0.35% to 3,397.40, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 12 points or 0.67% to 1,815.45, KOSPI Index rose 31.06 points or 1.26% to 2,497.52, Taiwan Weighted inched up 31.17 points or 0.29% to 10,879.80 and Nikkei 225 increased 208.2 points or 0.89% to 23,714.53.

On the flip side, Hang Seng was down by 15.44 points or 0.05% to 30,721.04.