Barometer gauges continue to trade in green

Indian equity markets continued their trade in green with Sensex trading above 36,400 mark on the back of buying in Healthcare, Consumer Durables and IT stocks. Markets were trading higher supported by gains in frontline blue chip stocks such as Sun Pharma, Indusind Bank and Axis Bank among other. Besides, some support came with PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vice President D K Aggarwal’s statement that India is approaching towards $100 billion foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow per annum by 2022 as volumes of FDI are increasing year after year. Meanwhile, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has postponed the deadline for filing income tax returns (ITR) as well as reports of Audit to October 15, 2018, from September 30 for financial year 2017-18. However, upside was limited as selling in Realty, Telecom and Utilities stocks kept a lid on the gains. Investors were still a little cautious with private report stating that India’s current account deficit (CAD) is expected to be widened by 0.20 per cent to 2.8 per cent of GDP for fiscal year 2018-19.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed. US tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods and retaliatory tariffs by Beijing on $60 billion of US products took effect on Monday. The United States will levy tariffs of 10 percent initially, rising to 25 percent at the end of 2018. Back home, the overall market breadth on BSE was in the favour of declines. Out of 2445 stocks traded, 982 stocks advanced, 1332 stocks declined and 131 stocks remained unchanged on the BSE. In scrip specific developments, Future Supply Chain Solutions gained on getting nod to raise Rs 199 crore and Suven Life Sciences rose on securing product patents in Canada and Sri Lanka.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 36477.31, up by 172.29 points or 0.47% after trading in a range of 36064.10 and 36586.38. There were 17 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.03%, while Small cap index was down by 0.32%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 1.46%, Consumer Durables up by 0.81%, IT up by 0.75%, TECK up by 0.42% and FMCG was up by 0.39%, while Realty down by 1.85%, Telecom down by 1.64%, Utilities down by 1.24%, Power down by 0.77% and Oil & Gas was down by 0.69% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 2.72%, Axis Bank up by 2.67%, Indusind Bank up by 2.52%, Yes Bank up by 1.99% and Infosys up by 1.74%. On the flip side, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 2.39%, Bharti Airtel down by 2.20%, Power Grid down by 2.12%, Tata Steel down by 1.82% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.77% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has postponed the deadline for filing income tax returns (ITR) as well as reports of Audit to October 15, 2018, from September 30 for financial year 2017-18. It had received representations from stakeholders seeking extension of the last date for filing of returns by taxpayers whose accounts have to be audited.

However, the CBDT said that there shall be no extension of the due date for the purpose of section 234A (Explanation 1) of the I-T Act, 1961 pertaining to interest for defaults in furnishing return, and the assessee shall remain liable for payment of interest as per provisions of section 234A of the Act.

As per CBDT data, ITR filing by salaried taxpayers and those opting for presumptive income scheme surged 71 percent to 5.42 crore till August 31. These categories of taxpayers had to furnish their ITRs for financial year 2017-18 by last month.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10971.70, up by 4.30 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 10882.85 and 11049.35. There were 22 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Sun Pharma up by 2.43%, Indusind Bank up by 2.11%, Axis Bank up by 2.01%, Cipla up by 1.81% and Yes Bank up by 1.81%. On the flip side, Indiabulls Housing Finance down by 7.66%, GAIL India down by 3.91%, BPCL down by 2.94%, Adani Ports &Special down by 2.66% and HPCL down by 2.48% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Shanghai Composite decreased 18.31 points or 0.66% to 2,779.17 and Jakarta Composite decreased 28.05 points or 0.48% to 5,854.17. On the other hand, Nikkei 225 increased 70.33 points or 0.29% to 23,940.26, Taiwan Weighted increased 6.44 points or 0.06% to 10,978.85 and Straits Times increased 20.54 points or 0.63% to 3,239.70.