Sensex, Nifty at day’s high; Metal shines

Indian equity benchmarks extended their gains in late afternoon session to reach near intraday high points, with Sensex and Nifty gaining 270 and 80 points, respectively, tracking higher opening in European markets. In line with the larger peers, the broader markets too maintained their firm trade in late noon deals. Besides, the metal index shined among all other sectoral indices with the gains of 1.60%, followed by Oil & Gas and Consumer Durables. Positive other Asian markets along with gains led by major industry leaders like Mahindra & Mahindra, SBI and Tata Steel, too helped the key indices to carry on their northward rally. Domestic sentiments got boost as SBI Research in its latest report expressed hope that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection will be very good in the ongoing financial year (FY19) and revenue target of Rs 12.9 trillion also seems feasible, with government introducing various anti-evasion measures like TDS, TCS and credit matching. Traders continued to take encouragement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Chief Economist Yasuyuki Sawada’s statement that India’s projected GDP growth of over 7% for the current fiscal is amazingly fast and if this momentum is maintained, the size of the economy can double within a decade. He also said that the country shouldn’t worry about not achieving 8% growth but focus on increasing domestic demand by reducing the income inequality. Some support also came with another SBI Research’s report that India’s unemployment rate halved from 9.5% in August 2016 to 4.8% in February this year and among major states, a sharp decline was registered in Uttar Pradesh. Meanwhile, the NITI Aayog has sought World Bank’s assistance to provide it with information and expertise on fraud detection and prevention to ensure no embezzlement of funds takes place in the Centre’s ambitious Ayushman Bharat National Health Protection Mission (AB-NHPM).

On the global front, European markets were trading in green, as the dollar held broadly higher despite Friday’s mixed US jobs data. Asian markets were also trading in green. Back home, in scrip specific development, Himalaya Food International jumped higher after the company launched third QSK (Quick Service Kiosk) under the brand 'BURGERS'N'FRIES - ITS NOT JUNK FOOD' at New Kingswood Market, Crossing Republik, Ghaziabad NCR Delhi.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 35186.45, up by 271.07 points or 0.78% after trading in a range of 34977.74 and 35187.50. There were 22 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.39%, while Small cap index was up by 0.58%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.60%, Oil & Gas up by 1.57%, Consumer Durables up by 1.51%, Realty up by 1.50% and Energy up by 1.36%, while Healthcare down by 0.41% and Telecom down by 0.08% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.16%, SBI up by 2.29%, Tata Steel up by 2.27%, Hindustan Unilever up by 2.25% and Axis Bank up by 2.19%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 1.52%, TCS down by 1.36%, Coal India down by 1.14%, Sun Pharma down by 0.82% and Hero MotoCorp down by 0.41% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with government introducing various anti-evasion measures like TDS, TCS and credit matching, SBI Research in its latest report has expressed hope that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection will be very good in the ongoing financial year (FY19) and revenue target of Rs 12.9 trillion also seems feasible.

As per the report, out of all the 15 States, seven states -- Karnataka, West Bengal, Haryana, Bihar, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand are expected to post lower than 14% growth in tax revenue in the current year, while remaining states may see better tax collection. It also said that looking at the GST budgetary estimates for FY19 across the states, Gujarat, Karnataka, Bengal, Haryana and Bihar are highly depending on GST and will get over 38% GST share to tax revenue, while for Andhra, Chhattisgarh, and Jharkhand it is less than 25% and may rely on the other sources of revenue to meet their funds.

SBI Research has urged states to focus on increasing the tax-base to improve tax collection, rather than imposing higher taxes on other sources. It further expressed need of some time for state GST to get settle down and added that with the increased tax base and better compliance, the revenue collection for the state will improve in next two to three years down the line.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10702.05, up by 83.80 points or 0.79% after trading in a range of 10635.65 and 10706.25. There were 37 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were GAIL India up by 3.90%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.29%, Hindalco up by 2.77%, Tata Steel up by 2.38% and Axis Bank up by 2.33%. On the flip side, Lupin down by 2.59%, TCS down by 1.64%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 1.59%, Coal India down by 1.01% and Sun Pharma down by 0.84% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Shanghai Composite increased 45.61 points or 1.48% to 3,136.65, Hang Seng increased 67.76 points or 0.23% to 29,994.26, Taiwan Weighted increased 75.54 points or 0.72% to 10,604.91 and Jakarta Composite increased 83.93 points or 1.45% to 5,876.27. On the flip side, KOSPI Index decreased 25.87 points or 1.04% to 2,461.38, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 12.59 points or 0.68% to 1,829.24 and Nikkei 225 decreased 5.62 points or 0.03% to 22,467.16.

European markets were trading mostly in green; Germany’s DAX increased 38.34 points or 0.3% to 12,857.94, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 64.45 points or 0.86% to 7,567.14 and France’s CAC decreased 2.02 points or 0.04% to 5,514.03.