Benchmarks trade near highest point of the day

Indian equity benchmarks continued their firm trade hovering near highest point of the day in morning session on account of buying in frontline blue chip counters. The rupee opened strong against the dollar as banks and exporters chose to steer clear of the American currency. As per provisional data released by stock exchanges, Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) sold off shares worth a net Rs 158.16 crore on January 12. Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) net picked up equities worth Rs 696.25 crore. Foreign investors have pumped in over Rs 5,200 crore in the Indian capital markets this month so far on anticipation of recovery in corporate earnings and attractive yields.

Sentiments remained upbeat on report that India’s Industrial production growth, gave a positive surprise, accelerating to 25-month high of 8.4% in November 2017, as compared to 5.1% in November 2016, on the back of robust performance of manufacturing and capital goods sectors. The previous high was recorded at 9.8% in October, 2015. Separately, a foreign brokerage report enlightened that Indian economy is expected to witness an average GDP growth of 7.3% over 2020-22. According to the global financial services major, the structural growth story in India remains strong from a medium term perspective. The report highlighted that the uptick in the private capex cycle, which it anticipates will begin in 2018, will ensure that the economy enters into a sustained and productive growth cycle.

Investors took note that the World Economic Forum (WEF) has ranked India at 30th position on a global manufacturing index -- below China’s 5th place but above other BRICS peers, Brazil, Russia and South Africa. Select Non-Banking Finance companies (NBFC) stocks were buzzing on private report that NBFC are expected to report as much as 35% growth in earnings as retail loans by small and medium enterprises continued at a brisk pace even as state-run lenders continued to hold on to their purse strings due to bad loans. Housing finance companies will maintain momentum with the growth coming from the affordable segment.

Traders were seen piling up position in Metal, Basic Materials and Bankex stocks, while selling was witnessed in Telecom sector stocks. In scrip specific development, Infosys was trading in green after the country’s second-largest IT player reported a 37.6% sequential growth in net profit at Rs 5,129 crore for the December quarter. The software giant had reported Rs 3,726 crore profit for September quarter. The IT firm has kept its FY18 revenue guidance unchanged. Religare Enterprises was trading in green on entering into a supplemental agreement, extending its April 2017 share purchase agreement with True North, for divesting its entire stake in Religare Health Insurance Company.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading mostly in green, with investors upbeat on US returns so far this year, even as they take a breather with markets in the States shut for the martin Luther King holiday. Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda reiterated the central bank’s resolve to maintain quantitative easing, but his positive comments on inflation and the economy sent the yen to a four-month high versus the dollar. Back home, the BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty were trading above the psychological 34,800 and 10,750 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1844:715, while 114 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 34890.95, up by 298.56 points or 0.86% after trading in a range of 34687.21 and 34892.50. There were 25 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.59%, while Small cap index was up by 0.88%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.35%, Basic Materials up by 1.22%, Bankex up by 1.16%, Capital Goods up by 1.07% and Power up by 0.99%, while Telecom down by 0.01% was the sole losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank up by 3.62%, HDFC up by 2.60%, Tata Steel up by 2.07%, NTPC up by 1.63% and Larsen & Toubro up by 1.39%.

On the flip side, ONGC down by 0.52%, IndusInd Bank down by 0.52%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.43%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.33% and Hero MotoCorp down by 0.31% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, giving some relief to the transporters under the GST regime, GST Network (GSTN) the company handling the technology backbone for GST roll out, has said that from February 1, transporters will not need separate transit passes for moving goods from one state to another as the e-way bill issued to them will be valid throughout India. GSTN CEO Prakash Kumar said that “Taxpayers and transporters need not visit any tax office or check post as the e-way Bill can be generated electronically in a self-service mode.

The new system enables generation of e-Way bill on the portal, through mobile App, through SMS and for large users using offline tool. There is provision for cancellation of e-way Bill within 24 hours of its generation. Under the Goods and Services Tax rolled out from July last year, inter-state movement of goods beyond 10 kms, with a value of Rs 50,000 and above, will mandatorily require e-way bill from February 1. GSTN has also clarified that no E-way Bill is required for movement of goods in non-motorised conveyance and also for certain class of goods like fruits, vegetables, fish and water.

The e-way bill system has already been rolled out in four states -- Karnataka, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Kerala. These states together generate nearly 1.4 lakh e-way bills per day. The remaining states will join during next fortnight. The period up to January 31 will be used as trial period for all stakeholders. The e-way bill rules provide for random verification which can be done by a tax officer. However, he has to upload the requisite report within the specified time.

After implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from July 1, the requirement of carrying e-way bill was postponed pending IT network readiness. The move will check rampant tax evasion and boost revenues by up to 20 per cent. The e-way bill for inter-state movements will be implemented from February 1 and for intra-state movement from June 1. States have been given the option of choosing when they want to implement the intra-state e-way bill between February 1 and June 1.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10762.30, up by 81.05 points or 0.76% after trading in a range of 10713.80 and 10765.55. There were 39 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ICICI Bank up by 3.62%, Zee Entertainment up by 2.71%, HDFC up by 2.50%, Tata Steel up by 2.41% and Larsen & Toubro up by 1.58%.

On the flip side, Eicher Motors down by 1.48%, HCL Tech down by 0.90%, ONGC down by 0.72%, IndusInd Bank down by 0.51% and Hero MotoCorp down by 0.46% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 4.5 points or 0.25% to 1,827.17, Jakarta Composite increased 5.29 points or 0.08% to 6,375.36, KOSPI Index increased 9.05 points or 0.36% to 2,505.47, Taiwan Weighted increased 50.3 points or 0.46% to 10,934.26, Nikkei 225 increased 86.63 points or 0.37% to 23,740.45 and Hang Seng increased 178.43 points or 0.57% to 31,590.97.

On the other hand, Shanghai Composite decreased 1.73 points or 0.05% to 3,427.21.