Local equities turn flat in morning deals

Local equity benchmarks trimmed their gains to trade flat in morning session owing to some selling pressure in frontline blue-chip counters. FMCG, Energy and Healthcare counters witnessed notable losses, while Realty and Power sectors edged higher. Some cautiousness came with a report that the growth of eight core sectors slowed down to 2.1% in February due to fall in output of crude oil and refinery products. Some pessimism also spread among the investors with a report that apart from a shortfall of nearly Rs 35,000 crore in direct tax revenue, the Centre seems to have suffered a larger deficit of Rs 60,000 crore or thereabouts in its share of goods and services tax (GST) revenue also for the fiscal year (FY19).

However, losses remain capped with a report that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will cut rates for a second consecutive time when its three-day policy meeting, shortly before the first phase of the national election begins. The RBI will unveil its first bi-monthly monetary policy decision of this new fiscal. The RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will meet from April 2 to 4, 2019 for the first bi-monthly policy statement for 2019-20. On the global front, Asian markets were trading in green, adding on to Monday’s big gains as encouraging economic data from China tempered fears of a global economic slowdown.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 38882.11, up by 10.24 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 38846.96 and 39017.24. There were 21 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.26%, while Small cap index was down by 0.09%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.18%, Power up by 1.39%, Utilities up by 1.21%, Telecom up by 0.90% and PSU was up by 0.86%, while FMCG down by 0.45%, Energy down by 0.29%, Consumer Durables down by 0.17%, Healthcare down by 0.16% and Basic Materials was down by 0.15% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 2.50%, Power Grid up by 2.43%, Tata Motors up by 2.27%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 2.16% and IndusInd Bank was up by 1.46%. On the flip side, HCL Tech down by 1.44%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.25%, ICICI Bank down by 1.09%, Tata Steel down by 0.65% and ITC was down by 0.64% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the government has revealed Goods and Services Tax (GST) data for the month March 2019. GST collections in March came in at a record Rs 1.06 lakh crore. However, it is not enough to meet the Union government's target of Rs 12 lakh crore for the fiscal year ended March 31. March witnessed the highest ever monthly return filing since GST rollout on July 1, 2017. The collections indicate that the revenue growth has been picking up despite various rate rationalisation measures. The gross collections during FY19 fiscal totalled a little over Rs 11.77 lakh crore.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said the record collections in March indicates the expansion in both manufacturing and consumption. Moreover, the monthly average of GST revenue during FY 19 is Rs 98,114 crore, 9.2 per cent higher than the previous fiscal. These figures indicate that the revenue growth has been picking up in recent months, despite various rate rationalisation measures.

Besides, the Government, which had upwardly revised fiscal deficit target to accommodate the cash-dole-out plan to farmers, was banking on its share of estimated GST collections of Rs 5.03 lakh crore out of about Rs 11.47 lakh crore in total mop-up for FY19. But, the final numbers showed gross central GST coming in at Rs 4.25 lakh crore, about Rs 78,000 crore short of what the Centre was targeting.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11666.15, down by 3.00 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 11655.85 and 11711.55. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Eicher Motors up by 3.24%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.55%, Power Grid up by 2.48%, Tata Motors up by 2.30% and IndusInd Bank was up by 1.27%. On the flip side, HCL Tech down by 1.54%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.25%, Tata Steel down by 1.04%, Britannia down by 0.98% and ICICI Bank was down by 0.89% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading in green; Hang Seng increased 55.56 points or 0.19% to 29,617.58, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 54.08 points or 0.51% to 10,696.71, Nikkei 225 surged 32.60 points or 0.15% to 21,541.63, Straits Times advanced 17.01 points or 0.52% to 3,267.52, Shanghai Composite gained 12.95 points or 0.41% to 3,183.31, KOSPI rose 9.83 points or 0.45% to 2,178.11 and Jakarta Composite soared 6.57 points or 0.1% to 6,459.18.