Bourses trade near day’s high

Extending their gains, Indian equity bourses reached near their intraday high points in late afternoon session. Trading sentiments got boost after the goods and services tax (GST) collections scaled record high of Rs 1.06 lakh crore in March, up from Rs 97,247 crore in the previous month, as compliance improved amid increased number of returns filed. Total number of summary sales return GSTR-3B filed for the month of February up to March 31, stood at 75.95 lakh. The collection in March 2019, has been highest since introduction of GST and also reflects a 15.6% growth over March 2018, collection of Rs 92,167 crore. Market participants paid no heed towards credit rating agency, India Ratings and Research’s (Ind-Ra) latest report stating that declining household savings may lead to wider current account deficit (CAD) and rise in the interest rates. On the sectoral front, sugar stocks came under pressure, as rating agency ICRA has revised downwards its sugar production target for 2019 to 30.7 million tonne from its earlier estimate of 31.5 million tonne due to a decline in UP, the largest growing state.

On the global front, European markets were trading in green, as UK manufacturing sector grew at the fastest pace in over a year in March, as stockpiling by businesses hit a record as they braced for Brexit disruptions. The survey data from IHS Markit showed that the CIPS purchasing managers' index, or PMI, for the manufacturing sector climbed to a 13-month high of 55.1 from 52.1 in February. Asian markets were also trading in green, amid signs of progress in US-China trade talks, with Washington saying the negotiations that concluded on Friday in Beijing were candid and constructive. Underlying sentiment also remained buoyant after official data showed China's factory activity in March unexpectedly grew for the first time in fourth months. The Caixin/Markit PMI also showed the manufacturing sector in the world's second biggest economy returning to growth.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 39096.29, up by 423.38 points or 1.09% after trading in a range of 38844.81 and 39107.50. There were 24 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.07%, while Small cap index was up by 1.17%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 2.99%, IT up by 1.98%, Energy up by 1.89%, Basic Materials up by 1.84% and TECK up by 1.82%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.23% and Realty down by 0.18% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors - DVR up by 7.17%, Tata Motors up by 6.88%, Vedanta up by 4.44%, Tata Steel up by 3.70% and Bharti Airtel up by 3.30%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 1.68%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.03%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.80%, Power Grid down by 0.78% and ONGC down by 0.56% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, spreading more worries over fiscal stance, credit rating agency, India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) has said that declining household savings may lead to wider current account deficit (CAD) and rise in the interest rates.

According to the report, gross households’ financial savings net of financial liabilities surged at an annualised rate of 9.8% to Rs 11.29 lakh crore in FY18 from Rs 6.43 lakh crore in FY12, while net central government, state government and EBR borrowings increased at an annual growth of 10.7% to Rs 11.55 lakh crore in FY18 from Rs 6.28 lakh crore in FY12. Besides, during the same period, states' net borrowing grew at an annualised rate of 33% followed by extra-budgetary resources growing at 15.1% and that of the Centre at 0.5%.

The credit rating agency further noted that the ratio of gross household financial savings net of financial liabilities compared with net borrowings of the Centre and the states and their extra-budgetary resources slipped to 0.97x in FY18 from 1.02x in FY12 and 1.38x in FY16.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11734.90, up by 111.00 points or 0.95% after trading in a range of 11664.60 and 11738.10. There were 32 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 6.86%, Hindalco up by 5.72%, Vedanta up by 3.66%, Wipro up by 3.49% and Tata Steel up by 3.48%. On the flip side, Zee Entertainment down by 2.30%, Indian Oil Corporation down by 2.12%, UPL down by 1.91%, Indusind Bank down by 1.69% and Titan down by 1.51% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng increased 510.66 points or 1.76% to 29,562.02, Nikkei 225 surged 303.22 points or 1.43% to 21,509.03, Shanghai Composite gained 77.37 points or 2.5% to 3,168.13, KOSPI rose 27.61 points or 1.29% to 2,168.28, Straits Times advanced 28.68 points or 0.89% to 3,241.56 and Taiwan Weighted strengthened 1.59 points or 0.01% to 10,642.63, while Jakarta Composite was down by 16.15 points or 0.25% to 6,452.61.

All European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 gained 58.19 points or 0.80% to 7,337.38, France’s CAC rose 47.53 points or 0.89% to 5,398.06 and Germany’s DAX was up by 150.99 points or 1.31% to 11,677.03.