Markets off day’s high

The local equity benchmarks trimmed some of their gains in late afternoon session to come off their intraday high levels, despite higher opening in European markets. Heavy selling in Telecom, PSU and Healthcare, and weak Asian markets, weighed on the sentiments. Besides, the broader markets turned negative in late noon deals, falling more than 0.50% each. Cautions came with the private report stating that India’s factory output growth in December 2017 is projected to come down to 5.5-6%, from a 17-month high of 8.4% in November last year. However, the markets remained positive, as Economic Survey pegged GDP growth at 7 to 7.5% in FY19 v/s 6.75% in FY18. It also noted that the average retail inflation has declined to a six-year low of 3.3% in 2017-18, with the economy moving towards a more stable price regime. Traders continued taking encouragement with Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement that India can be among top 50 on World Bank’s ease of doing business index, if various machineries, including the tax department, make concerted efforts to improve the three laggard parameters. Surge in the government’s revenue collection under the Goods and Services Tax (GST), also kept the street cheerful. According to the latest data released by the government, December GST revenue collection increased by 7.30% to Rs 86,703 crore as on January 24, 2018, as against Rs 80,808 crore in November month.

On the global front, European markets were trading in green, amid strong corporate earnings, signs of improving economic growth and US President Donald Trump's apparently more positive tone on international trade. Asian markets were trading in red. Back home, in scrip specific development, Veer Energy & Infrastructure traded higher after the company bagged new order for Solar Rooftop (via Net Metering Technology) from a renowned infrastructure developer at Surat in state of Gujarat.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 36265.89, up by 215.45 points or 0.60% after trading in a range of 36093.36 and 36443.98. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index. 

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.48%, while Small cap index was down by 0.63%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 1.68%, IT up by 1.22%, TECK up by 0.92%, Consumer Disc up by 0.71% and Metal up by 0.60%, while Telecom down by 1.65%, PSU down by 0.91%, Healthcare down by 0.70%, Oil & Gas down by 0.69% and Utilities down by 0.66% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 4.38%, HDFC up by 2.70%, TCS up by 2.23%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.89% and Tata Steel up by 1.83%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 4.88%, Bharti Airtel down by 3.09%, Yes Bank down by 1.98%, ITC down by 1.58% and Axis Bank down by 1.53% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, reversing downtrend of preceding two months, the government’s revenue collection under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) surged in the month of December. According to the latest data released by the government, December GST revenue collection increased by 7.30% to Rs 86,703 crore as on January 24, 2018, as against Rs 80,808 crore in November month, despite the cut in tax rates on 178 goods from 28% to 18% in November.

Till January 24, one crore taxpayers have been registered under GST. Out of the total number of taxpayers, 17.11 lakh are Composition Dealers which are required to file returns every quarter. Besides, 56.30 lakh GSTR 3B Returns have been filed for the month of December, 2017 till January 24, 2018.

As per data, for the Composition Dealers, for quarter July-September 2017, the Last Date of Filing GSTR 4 Return was December 24, 2017 and a total of 8.10 lakh returns were filed by the Composition Dealers paying a total of Rs.335.86 crore as GST, while for the October-December quarter, the last Date for filing GSTR 4 return was January 18, 2018 and a total of 9.25 lakh returns were filed by the Composition Dealers for this quarter paying a sum of Rs 421.35 crore as GST.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11120.20, up by 50.55 points or 0.46% after trading in a range of 11075.95 and 11171.55. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Maruti Suzuki up by 4.26%, UPL up by 2.85%, Zee Entertainment up by 2.78%, Indiabulls Housing Finance up by 2.72% and Eicher Motors up by 2.64%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 5.14%, GAIL India down by 3.90%, Lupin down by 3.44%, Bharti Airtel down by 3.35% and BPCL down by 2.11% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 187.23 points or 0.56% to 32,966.89, Shanghai Composite decreased 35.13 points or 0.99% to 3,523.00, Jakarta Composite decreased 5.34 points or 0.08% to 6,655.28 and Nikkei 225 decreased 2.54 points or 0.01% to 23,629.34. On the flip side, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 14.76 points or 0.8% to 1,868.68, KOSPI Index increased 23.43 points or 0.91% to 2,598.19 and Taiwan Weighted increased 74.71 points or 0.67% to 11,221.81.

All European markets were trading in green; France’s CAC increased 1.52 points or 0.03% to 5,530.67, Germany’s DAX increased 9.19 points or 0.07% to 13,349.36 and UK’s FTSE 100 increased 9.79 points or 0.13% to 7,675.33.