Post Session: Quick Review

Monday turned out to be a fabulous day of trade for Indian equity benchmarks, where frontline gauges garnered gains of nearly a percent on the back of widespread buying by participants. Domestic stock markets started the week on a positive note and stayed in the green terrain for whole trading session, tracking strength in Asian peers. Local investors also cheered Commerce and industry minister Suresh Prabhu’s statement that the government is making a strategy to make India a $5 trillion economy and simultaneously fine tuning the plan to take it to $10 trillion. Sentiments remained up-beat with the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) setting up three working groups to suggest ways to facilitate exports, especially through e-commerce, and improve compliance by way of curbing tax evasion.

Key indices continued their rally mood to reach at fresh intraday high points in last leg of trade, taking support from Niti Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar expressed hope that the current size of the Indian real estate market, which is already $120 billion dollar, will grow over five-fold to $650 billion by the year 2040. Boosting the domestic sentiment, the Government launched the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN), to provide an assured income support to the small and marginal farmers. Under this programme, vulnerable landholding farmer families, having cultivable land upto 2 hectares, will be provided direct income support at the rate of Rs 6,000 per year.

On the global front, Asian markets ended higher on Monday, after President Donald Trump said he would postpone a March 1 deadline for a U.S. tariff hike on Chinese imports following weekend talks on a battle over Beijing’s technology ambitions. Back home, rubber sector were in focus after the draft national rubber policy stating that the government will provide budgetary support to rubber sector to enhance research, promote exports and reduce dependence on import. Real estate sector stocks ended higher with report that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council slashed tax rates on under-construction residential properties, making the effective tax rate 5% for the normal category and 1% for the affordable housing category. In both cases, builders will not be able to claim the input tax credit (ITC).

The BSE Sensex ended at 36211.22, up by 339.74 points or 0.95% after trading in a range of 35901.06 and 36242.18. There were 23 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.45%, while Small cap index was up by 0.70%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 2.45%, TECK up by 2.11%, Basic Materials up by 1.20%, Auto up by 1.15% and Bankex up by 0.83%, while Realty down by 0.85%, Telecom down by 0.18%, Energy down by 0.07%, Industrials down by 0.05% and PSU down by 0.01% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were TCS up by 3.07%, Infosys up by 2.95%, Yes Bank up by 2.68%, HCL Tech. up by 1.98% and Indusind Bank up by 1.81%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Coal India down by 0.39%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.29%, SBI down by 0.26%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.18% and ONGC down by 0.17% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, headed by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitely, in its 34th meeting has cut tax rate on under-construction housing properties to 5 per cent without input tax credit (ITC), from the existing 12 per cent. This step has been came a big relief to home buyers. Currently, the GST is levied at 12 per cent on payments made for under-construction properties or ready-to-move-in flats where completion certificate has not been issued at the time of sale.

The Council also slashed GST rate on affordable housing to 1 per cent from the current 8 per cent and expanded the scope of affordable housing to those costing up to Rs 45 lakh and measuring 60 sq metre in metros and 90 sq metre in non-metro cities. However, builders will not be able to claim ITC under the new GST rates. Meanwhile, GST is not levied on real estate properties for which completion certificate has been issued at the time of sale. The new tax rates will come into effect from April 01, 2019.

Talking on the GST reduction, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said this decision will certainly give boost to construction sector. Besides, the GST Council has deferred its decision on lotteries. Jaitley said that the Group of Ministers (GoM) will meet again to discuss the proposal. Currently, state run lotteries attract 12 per cent GST, while state-authorised ones attract 28 per cent.

The CNX Nifty ended at 10882.15, up by 90.50 points or 0.84% after trading in a range of 10788.05 and 10887.10. There were 37 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were TCS up by 3.07%, Grasim Industries up by 2.98%, Yes Bank up by 2.88%, Infosys up by 2.73% and Ultratech Cement up by 2.57%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 8.16%, Bharti Infratel down by 2.92%, BPCL down by 2.41%, HPCL down by 1.10% and ONGC down by 0.54% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 12.96 points or 0.18% to 7,191.56, France’s CAC soared 16.71 points or 0.32% to 5,232.56 and Germany’s DAX was up by 36.68 points or 0.32% to 11,494.38.

Asian markets ended higher on Monday, with Chinese markets leading regional gains after US President Donald Trump said he would delay the deadline for additional tariffs on Chinese goods set to begin on March 1. Citing substantial progress in trade talks, Trump also indicated he plans to meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to reach a final deal. Gains outside China were limited as investors adopted a cautious stance ahead of the historical summit of the US and North Korea. Further, Japanese shares ended higher, supported by a rise on Wall Street on Friday and continuing hopes for progress in US-China trade talks.