Benchmarks trade in fine fettle; Sensex reclaims 33,400 mark

Indian equity benchmarks made a positive start and are trading in fine fettle in early deals on Friday, following firm global cues. Traders took some encouragement with report highlighting that the direct tax collections jumped by nearly 20 per cent between April and February this fiscal as the Income-Tax Department races to meet its full year targets. The net direct tax receipts grew by a hefty 19.5 per cent in the first 11 months of the fiscal amounting to Rs 7.44 lakh crore. Net corporate income tax collections increased by 19.7 per cent in the period, while personal income tax receipts grew by 18.6 per cent. Some support also came with Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg’s statement that the 7.2 per cent expansion in the economy during October-December quarter has put the country in one of the highest growth bracket in the world and recovery will continue to be sharp going ahead. The third quarter growth of 7.2 per cent was highest in five quarters. The previous high was recorded at 7.5 per cent in the July-September quarter of 2016-17.

Global cues too remained supportive with Asian markets trading mostly in green at this point of time, as markets cheered news that U.S. President Donald Trump had agreed to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. US markets ended higher after President Donald Trump signed proclamations imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. Trump announced last week that he planned to impose a 25 percent tariff on steel imports and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum imports.

Back home, telecom related stocks remained buzzing after Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha has asked India’s top carriers to focus on improving services instead of fighting among themselves, especially now that the government has cleared measures for immediate relief, which should drive investments. In scrip specific developments, Global Offshore Services advanced on bagging contract worth Rs 10 crore, while Dilip Buildcon edged higher on emerging lowest bidder for EPC project in Uttar Pradesh.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 33456.69, up by 105.12 points or 0.32% after trading in a range of 33316.58 and 33490.09. There were 22 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.49%, while Small cap index was up by 0.56%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.01%, Healthcare up by 0.98%, Consumer Discretionary Goods & Services up by 0.70%, Consumer Durables up by 0.66% and Auto was up by 0.62%, while PSU down by 0.18%, Bankex down by 0.16%, Utilities down by 0.16% and Power was down by 0.15% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hero MotoCorp up by 1.77%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.43%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.30%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 1.30% and Wipro up by 0.96%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 1.27%, SBI down by 0.92%, Coal India down by 0.56%, Yes Bank down by 0.28% and ICICI Bank down by 0.27% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg has expressed hopes that the growth recovery of Indian economy will continue to be sharp going ahead, as the 7.2% expansion in the economy during October-December quarter (third quarter) has put the country in one of the highest growth bracket in the world. Earlier, he said that in the first quarter of current fiscal year 2017-18 (FY18), the economy bottomed out, and would see a very strong V-shaped recovery, and the growth in the second and third quarter brings evidence to that.

Garg further said there is no reason for the V-shaped recovery not to continue henceforth. He also said “I can't talk about double digit growth at this stage, but certainly there will be very strong growth”. Besides, 7.2 % growth in third quarter of FY18 was highest in five quarters, while the previous high was recorded at 7.5% in the July-September quarter of FY17. In Q1 FY18, the Gross Domestic Growth (GDP) grew at 5.7%, while in Q2 FY18 growth stood at 6.5%.

Talking about the country’s sovereign rating, Economic Affairs Secretary said that the global rating agency had a good assessment of India’s future prospects. He added that Fitch assessment about the Indian economy, reforms, and path forward seems to be extremely positive but whether it will result in a certain kind of upgrade and when, that is for the rating agency to decide. Besides, Fitch had last upgraded India's sovereign rating from BB+ to BBB- with stable outlook on August 1, 2006.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10281.35, up by 38.70 points or 0.38% after trading in a range of 10230.55 and 10283.85. There were 35 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Aurobindo Pharma up by 2.27%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.79%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.61%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 1.54% and Zee Entertainment up by 1.39%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 1.24%, SBI down by 0.93%, Yes Bank down by 0.63%, BPCL down by 0.45% and Coal India down by 0.41% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI rose 3.03 points or 0.16% to 1,842.65, Shanghai Composite gained 4.55 points or 0.14% to 3,292.96, KOSPI Index surged 28.54 points or 1.17% to 2,461.62, Taiwan Weighted increased 41.41 points or 0.38% to 10,864.65, Nikkei 225 jumped 191.01 points or 0.89% to 21,559.08 and Hang Seng was up by 260.34 points or 0.85% to 30,914.86.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite was down by 28.14 points or 0.44% to 6,414.88.