Benchmarks trade jubilantly in early deals; Sensex conquers 35,400 mark

Extending previous session’s jubilation, Indian equity benchmarks made a gap-up opening and are trading with a gain of around a percent in early deals, with frontline gauges surpassing their crucial 35,400 (Sensex) and 10,850 (Nifty) levels. Sentiments remained up-beat with report that direct tax collections during the first nine-and-a-half months of the current fiscal have risen by 18.7 per cent to Rs 6.89 lakh crore. CBDT said that the collections till January 15, 2018 represent over 70 per cent of the Rs 9.8 lakh crore revenue target from direct taxes. Meanwhile, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) ahead of the GST Council meeting has called for inclusion of Petroleum and Natural Gas under GST at the earliest. Till such time as this is done, C Forms should be continued to avoid high tax incidence on these products.

Global cues too remained supportive with most of the Asian peers trading in green at this point of time, extending this year’s stellar run, amid optimism for global growth. Energy shares gained after oil edged higher, as OPEC showed increased determination to curb production. The US markets surged in the last session and the Dow closed above 26,000 for the first time ever, after the Federal Reserve's Beige Book painted a sunny picture of the US economy.

Back home, banking stocks remained on buyers’ radar amid report that the government is considering a proposal to permit 100 percent FDI in private banks. However, telecom stocks remained under pressure despite report that industry saw a paltry 0.14 million net addition of subscribers during December, the lowest by the industry in the 2017 calendar year. In scrip specific development, Ashoka Buildcon rose on receiving CC for Mudhol-Nipani Road Project, while Dilip Buildcon advanced on bagging EPC project worth Rs 730.08 crore.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 35407.51, up by 325.69 points or 0.93% after trading in a range of 35338.75 and 35476.87. There were 23 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.07%, while Small cap index was up by 0.61%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 1.76%, Capital Goods up by 0.68%, FMCG up by 0.51%, Healthcare up by 0.42% and Consumer Discretionary Goods & Services was up by 0.41%, while Metal down by 1.09%, Telecom down by 0.47%, Utilities down by 0.46%, Oil & Gas down by 0.42% and TECK was down by 0.38% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HDFC up by 2.81%, HDFC Bank up by 2.70%, Yes Bank up by 2.66%, Indusind Bank up by 2.56% and Hero MotoCorp up by 1.74%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 0.95%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 0.92%, Tata Steel down by 0.78%, Tata Motors down by 0.70% and Wipro down by 0.66% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in its quest of not breaching the fiscal deficit target of 3.2% for the current fiscal year, the government has reduced the additional borrowing requirement to Rs 20,000 crore for the financial year 2017-18. Prior to this, an additional loan of Rs 50,000 crore was estimated to be borrowed. The economic affairs secretary Subhash Chandra Garg stated that the government has revised the requirements of additional loans keeping in view the revenue receipts and expenditure pattern. Decreasing the debt will help the government to regulate the fiscal deficit within the target set.

The decline in revenue collections from the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and lower non-tax revenue has raised concerns of the government about the fiscal deficit target. As per the latest figure, the country's fiscal deficit had surpassed the final estimate for the 2017-18 and touched 112% of the budget estimate at the end of November.

The government has budgeted gross and net market borrowings at Rs 5.8 lakh crore and Rs 4.23 lakh crore, respectively in 2017-18. The government in the 2017-18 budget had estimated borrowings at Rs 43,000 crore through dated securities in current fiscal. Earlier, after consultation with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) the government had said that it would make additional borrowing of Rs 50,000 crore this fiscal through dated securities. However, there will be no change in the net borrowings as envisaged in the Budget for 2017-18.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10865.20, up by 76.65 points or 0.71% after trading in a range of 10850.20 and 10887.50. There were 25 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were UPL up by 3.61%, HDFC Bank up by 2.78%, Yes Bank up by 2.69%, HDFC up by 2.64% and Indusind Bank up by 2.47%. On the flip side, GAIL India down by 2.56%, Bharti Infratel down by 2.46%, Hindalco down by 2.23%, Vedanta down by 1.79% and Indian Oil Corporation down by 1.09% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; KOSPI Index gained 7.27 points or 0.29% to 2,522.70, Shanghai Composite increased 8.61 points or 0.25% to 3,453.28, Jakarta Composite jumped 21.06 points or 0.33% to 6,465.58, Hang Seng rose 38.32 points or 0.12% to 32,021.73, Taiwan Weighted added 109.51 points or 1% to 11,114.31 and Nikkei 225 was up by 144.39 points or 0.6% to 24,012.73.

On the flip side, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 3.59 points or 0.2% to 1,825.04.