Local equities extend gains on streets

Frontline equity indices enticing some more traction have added some more points on the streets. The BSE Sensex eked out over 1.5% gain, while Nifty trading over 10,500 level after intense buying thronged the markets. Buying activity remained persistent across all sectors on improved investor confidence after a report stated that monthly goods and services tax (GST) collections breached the Rs 1-lakh-crore mark for the second time since its launch in July last year for September, giving the Centre some hope that the wide revenue gap against its budget target could be narrowed in the second half of the fiscal. Investors took note of a report that Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion’s (DIPP) Secretary Ramesh Abhishek said that after stupendous success of moving up 23 places on the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business list for 2019, the ultimate goal and challenge of the Narendra Modi-led government is to make people across the country feel the reforms. Market participants also took note of a report that despite temporary easing in tension between the finance ministry and the central bank, differences could surface again when the Reserve Bank of India’s board meets next on November 19.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in mostly in green, after Donald Trump's tweet hailing positive talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping was seized on by dealers hoping for a breakthrough in their trade row. Back home, India may impose anti-dumping duty of up to $207.72 per tonne for a period of five years on a Chinese chemical used in the detergent industry to guard domestic manufacturers from cheap imports from the neighbouring country.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 34996.17, up by 564.20 points or 1.64% after trading in a range of 34649.80 and 35007.30. There were 29 stocks advancing against 2 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 1.62%, while Small cap index was up by 1.50%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 3.56%, Consumer Disc up by 2.70%, Metal up by 2.45%, Basic Materials up by 2.43% and Oil & Gas was up by 2.37%, while there were no losers on the BSE sectoral front.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hero MotoCorp up by 4.68%, Tata Motors up by 4.48%, Yes Bank up by 4.37%, Vedanta up by 4.27% and Maruti Suzuki was up by 4.18%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 0.50% and Coal India was down by 0.04% were the only losers.

Meanwhile, the Finance Ministry has said that Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections in October 2018 crossed the Rs 1 lakh crore mark, after a gap of 5 months, on the back of festive demand, anti-evasion measures. The Ministry has said the total gross GST revenue collected in October 2018 was Rs 1,00,710 crore. Of the Rs 1 lakh crore total gross GST revenue collected in October, central GST was Rs 16,464 crore, state GST was Rs 22,826 crore, IGST was Rs 53,419 crore (including Rs 26,908 crore collected on imports) and cess was Rs 8,000 crore.

The Ministry further said 67.45 lakh businesses filed GST returns in October. The states which achieved ‘extra-ordinary growth’ in total taxes collected include Kerala (44%), Jharkhand (20%), Rajasthan (14%), Uttarakhand (13%) and Maharashtra (11%). Finance Minister Arun Jaitley stated that revenue collection under GST has grown on account of lower rates, lesser evasion, higher compliance, only one tax and negligible interference by taxation authorities.

Besides, GST revenue had first crossed the landmark figure in April when the collections were Rs 1,03,458 crore. Since then collections have maintained above Rs 90,000 crore mark. The collections stood at Rs 94,016 crore in May, Rs 95,610 crore in June, Rs 96,483 crore in July, Rs 93,960 crore in August and Rs 94,442 crore in September.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10555.45, up by 175.00 points or 1.69% after trading in a range of 10457.70 and 10561.80. There were 47 stocks advancing against 3 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hero MotoCorp up by 4.75%, BPCL up by 4.57%, Vedanta up by 4.30%, Maruti Suzuki up by 4.29% and Asian Paints was up by 4.09%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 0.47%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 0.17% and Coal India was down by 0.08% were the few losers.

Asian markets were trading in mostly in green, Hang Seng gained 767.83 points or 2.93% to 26,183.83, KOSPI soared 56.02 points or 2.69% to 2,080.48, Shanghai Composite surged 31.41 points or 1.19% to 2,637.65, Straits Times advanced 22.38 points or 0.73% to 3,083.23 and Nikkei 225 was up by 488.81 points or 2.2% to 22,176.46.

On the other side, Taiwan Weighted slipped 15.25 points or 0.16% to 9,829.49, Jakarta Composite was down by 5.72 points or 0.1% to 5,830.20.