Benchmarks trade in fine fettle in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks have made a positive start and are trading in fine fettle in early deals as traders took some encouragement with a private report that if the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) gets a second term, it will provide liquidity support to non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) that are facing cash crunch for a year now. Traders also got some support with report that while the tax department’s e-filing website showed returns filed in 2018-19 fell to 6.68 crore from 6.74 crore in the previous fiscal, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) in a statement clarified that the returns filed included those of previous assessment years, excluding which returns filed in 2018-19 showed an almost 19 per cent rise. But the tax department had in the past taken returns filed in a fiscal year as a composite number to show a year-on-year increase.

On the global front, most of the Asian counters are trading in green at this point of time despite the US President Donald Trump's threat to raise tariffs re-ignited worries about US-China trade tensions. The US markets ended lower on Monday after President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on all Chinese imports.

Back home, power sector remained buzzing with rating agency Crisil’s report that total debt of state-owned discoms is set to increase to pre-Uday levels of Rs 2.6 trillion by the end of this fiscal year, as many states have limited fiscal headroom to continue to support them. The report noted that improvement in operations may face challenges because the focus on new rural connections without adequate tariff hikes can increase losses. In scrip specific developments, Titan Company surged on planning to open 14 outlets of Taneira and L&T gained on buying stake in Mindtree via open market.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 38729.58, up by 129.24 points or 0.33% after trading in a range of 38667.78 and 38835.54. There were 21 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.38%, while Small cap index up by 0.32%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.34%, Consumer Durables up by 0.89%, FMCG up by 0.63%, IT up by 0.57%, Basic Materials up by 0.57%, while Oil & Gas down by 1.26%, Energy down by 0.89%, PSU down by 0.08%, Telecom down by 0.05% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Power Grid up by 1.42%, Tata Steel up by 1.32%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.30%, HDFC Bank up by 1.10% and Hero MotoCorp up by 1.06%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 0.96%, Reliance Industries down by 0.87%, HCL Tech down by 0.68%, Sun Pharma down by 0.44% and ONGC down by 0.32% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order to discuss issues concerning macro-economics, financial stability and cost of borrowing of the Centre and states, the 15th Finance Commission, chaired by N K Singh, will meet RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das and representatives of banks and financial institutions during its two-day visit to Mumbai beginning May 8.

The other issues which are expected to come up during the deliberation include market driven borrowing cost and debt trajectories of states. The commission will also discuss the issues concerning recapitalisation of banks, and possible scenarios of the Bimal Jalan committee report on surplus capital available with the RBI for transfer to the government.

It will also discuss RBI's own assessment of the dividends and surpluses that can be transferred to the government. The meeting is slated be attended by officials of State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Bank of Maharashtra, Central Bank of India, Union Bank of India, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Yes Bank, IDFC First Bank, and IDBI Bank.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11621.80, up by 23.55 points or 0.20% after trading in a range of 11605.25 and 11657.05. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 2.21%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.54%, JSW Steel up by 1.35%, Tata Steel up by 1.23% and Vedanta up by 1.11%. On the flip side, BPCL down by 4.21%, Indian Oil Corporation down by 2.78%, Indiabulls Housing Finance down by 1.41%, Bharti Infratel down by 1.40% and Indusind Bank down by 1.20% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Straits Times gained 6.46 points or 0.20% to 3,297.08, Hang Seng jumped 47.41 points or 0.16% to 29,257.23, Taiwan Weighted surged 89.48 points or 0.82% to 10,986.60, Shanghai Composite rose 9.41 points or 0.32% to 2,915.87 and Jakarta Composite was up by 42.57 points or 0.68% to 6,298.92. On the other hand, Nikkei 225 declined 331.41 points or 1.49% to 21,927.32 and KOSPI fell 22.71 points or 1.03% to 2,173.61.