Sensex, Nifty at Day’s high; Power top gainer

The local benchmarks added gains in late afternoon session to reach at their intraday high points, aided by firm opening in European markets.  Firm trade in Asian markets along with major industry gainers such as Tata Steel, Yes Bank and Sun Pharma, too aided the sentiments. Besides, Power stocks gained the most among all other sectoral indices, while Small cap index rallied around 2%. Traders continued to take support with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’ statement that there will be no more fiscal slippages as the financial position is likely to be comfortable from the next fiscal. Further, steady growth in the government’s revenue collection maintained the optimism among the investors. According to the Ministry of Finance, net direct tax collections up to January, 2018 stood at Rs 6.95 lakh crore, registering a growth of 19.3% higher than the net collections for the corresponding period of last year. However, IT and TECK stocks failed to join the rally of the markets and SBI lost more than 2%. Meanwhile, Indian exchanges have terminated licensing agreements for use of their indices and data feeds with their foreign counterparts. The move is to curb or to reverse the export of India’s financial markets to overseas trading platforms such as Singapore Exchange (SGX) and Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange. The decision of the three exchanges -- BSE, NSE and Metropolitan Stock Exchange of India (MSEI) -- came after Sebi asked them to suspend trading of their indices in international markets.

On the global front, European markets were trading in green, as global markets rebounded after posting their worst week in years. Investors are focused on earnings reports and will also keep an eye on the US, where President Donald Trump is set to unveil a $200 billion infrastructure plan. Asian markets were also trading in green. Back home, in scrip specific development, Lupin gained after the company launched Oseltamivir Phosphate Capsules, having received an approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) earlier.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 34298.04, up by 292.28 points or 0.86% after trading in a range of 34115.12 and 34298.15. There were 26 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.59%, while Small cap index was up by 1.81%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 2.03%, Realty up by 2.02%, Healthcare up by 1.82%, Utilities up by 1.77% and Capital Goods up by 1.72%, while IT down by 0.27% and TECK down by 0.17% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 4.32%, Yes Bank up by 2.89%, Sun Pharma up by 2.40%, ONGC up by 1.97% and Wipro up by 1.91%. On the flip side, SBI down by 2.04%, Infosys down by 0.70%, TCS down by 0.18%, ITC down by 0.17% and ICICI Bank down by 0.09% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the government’s revenue collection continued to register a steady growth in the April-January period, on the back of healthy growth in corporate tax collections. According to the Ministry of Finance, net direct tax collections up to January, 2018 stood at Rs 6.95 lakh crore, registering a growth of 19.3 per cent higher than the net collections for the corresponding period of last year.

The collection indicated that 69.2% of the Revised Estimates of Direct Taxes for FY 2017-18 (Rs 10.05 lakh crore) has been achieved. Before adjusting for refunds, gross collections surged 13.3% to Rs 8.21 lakh crore up to January, 2018. Further, refunds amounting to Rs 1.26 lakh crore have been issued during April 2017 to January 2018.

In the first 10 months of FY18, net corporate tax collections increased by 19.2 percent, while the personal income tax mop-up grew 18.6 percent. Meanwhile, in Union Budget 2018-19, the government revised the target for 2017-18 upwards from the budgeted Rs 9.8 lakh crore to Rs 10.05 lakh crore.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10548.25, up by 93.30 points or 0.89% after trading in a range of 10485.40 and 10549.35. There were 40 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Steel up by 4.09%, Aurobindo Pharma up by 3.16%, Yes Bank up by 2.78%, Lupin up by 2.72% and UPL up by 2.38%. On the flip side, HCL Tech down by 2.16%, SBI down by 2.04%, BPCL down by 2.02%, HPCL down by 0.92% and Bharti Infratel down by 0.67% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 12.11 points or 0.67% to 1,831.93, Jakarta Composite increased 18.97 points or 0.29% to 6,524.49, KOSPI Index increased 21.61 points or 0.91% to 2,385.38, Shanghai Composite increased 24.27 points or 0.78% to 3,154.13 and Taiwan Weighted increased 49.34 points or 0.48% to 10,421.09. On the flip side, Hang Seng decreased 47.79 points or 0.16% to 29,459.63.

All European markets were trading in green; France’s CAC increased 61.67 points or 1.21% to 5,140.88, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 75.29 points or 1.06% to 7,167.72 and Germany’s DAX increased 214.7 points or 1.77% to 12,322.18.