Domestic equities trade slightly in green

Domestic equities are trading slightly in green terrain in morning session. Traders remained optimistic on a report which stated that the goods and services tax (GST) revenue for April (collected in May) came in at Rs 94,016 crore, 4.5% higher than the monthly average achieved in the last fiscal year. Traders also took note of Union Minister Nitin Gadkari’s statement that in a major policy initiative aimed at benefitting farmers, the government has done away with the licensing permits for foreign vessels for coastal movement of agriculture, fishery and animal produce, besides allowing Indian citizens to charter ships for these. Besides, investors remained cautious ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) members’ three-day meeting beginning from June 4. Meanwhile, Union Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla said that Northeast region has witnessed over 18% growth in direct tax collections at Rs 7,097 crore in 2017-18, during the same fiscal, the Income Tax Department has brought 1.89 lakh more people under the ambit of tax net. The total tax payers in North East currently stand at around 7.38 lakh persons.

On the global front, Asian market were trading mostly in green, tracking the gains on Wall Street Friday on upbeat US jobs data for the month of May and as President Donald Trump revealed that his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is back on. These helped offset worries about trade tensions between the US and the rest of the world. Back home, auto stocks remained in limelight, on a private report stating that commercial vehicles segment registering robust demand in May, the economy appears to be on a rebound. On May Auto Sales reported a growth in Ashok Leyland CV sales at 51%, Maruti sales was up by 26%, Escorts tractor sales was up by 21%, Bajaj Auto was sales by up 30%, M&M sales was up by 12%, Eicher sales was up by 23%.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 35263.38, up by 36.12 points or 0.10% after trading in a range of 35089.66 and 35555.59. There were 16 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.08%, while Small cap index was down by 0.77%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Energy up by 0.85%, Oil & Gas up by 0.69%, IT up by 0.49%, Metal up by 0.44% and TECK was up by 0.44%, while Consumer Durables down by 1.04%, Realty down by 0.98%, Telecom down by 0.44%, FMCG down by 0.35% and Industrials was down by 0.24% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Dr Reddy’s Lab up by 2.96%, Yes Bank up by 1.80%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.48%, Infosys up by 1.33% and Reliance Industries was up by 1.06%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 1.18%, HDFC Bank down by 1.09%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 0.94%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.92% and Bharti Airtel was down by 0.77% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order enable farmers to access a large market profitability, the government has taken a major policy initiative. The government has done away with the licensing requirement for plying of foreign flag vessels by foreign players on the coastal line of India for four kind of cargos - agriculture, horticulture, fisheries and animal husbandry.  Moreover, the govt has allowed chartering of foreign vessel by Indian citizens, Indian incorporated entities and Indian registered societies for this. The move is also aimed at promoting processing of seafood at Indian hubs under Sagaramala initiative rather than processing of Indian seafood in Singapore before further exports to countries like Japan.

Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari said that the main objective of the govt’s reform in the maritime sector is to see that farmer’s income increases and through lower logistic charges like transportation through sea would reduce cost. The minister further said that the initiative will help in govt’s intent of promoting a mind-set shift from facilitating and protecting farmers, towards one that expands the market ecosystem.

The relaxation in licensing requirement has been given under section 407 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1958 and accordingly vessels with at least 50% of total cargo onboard constituted by these commodities are not required to obtain a license from the Director General of Shipping for coastal trade.

Recently, the government had also done away with licensing requirement for ships chartered by Indian citizens or companies for transportation of EXIM containers for transshipment purposes and to promote entrepreneurship. The move was aimed at arresting diversion of Indian container cargo to transshipment hubs at foreign ports that have been swelled to 33%, besides creating employment.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading flat at 10696.60, up by 0.40 points after trading in a range of 10648.20 and 10770.30. There were 21 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 2.95%, Yes Bank up by 1.93%, Hindalco up by 1.70%, HPCL up by 1.43% and Mahindra & Mahindra was up by 1.43%. On the flip side, Indiabulls Housing Finance down by 1.65%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.38%, Asian Paints down by 1.30%, HDFC Bank down by 1.26% and Adani Ports & SEZ was down by 1.24% were the top losers.

Asian market were trading mostly in green, Shanghai Composite gained 6.63 points or 0.22% to 3,081.77, KOSPI Index surged 7.22 points or 0.3% to 2,446.18, Jakarta Composite soared 44.25 points or 0.74% to 6,027.84, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 143.01 points or 1.31% to 11,092.09, Nikkei 225 advanced 294.58 points or 1.33% to 22,465.93 and Hang Seng was up by 397 points or 1.3% to 30,889.91.

On the other flip, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 0.16 points or 0.01% to 1,756.22.