Rally continues on Dalal Street

Rally continued on Dalal Street in late afternoon session, aided by firm opening of European markets. Traders remained positive with Fitch Ratings’ latest report stating a landslide victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) marked an easing of political uncertainty and is expected to improve business sentiment and the outlook for private investment. From a credit rating perspective, it would focus on the extent of the next government's efforts to improve India's weak fiscal finances. Meanwhile, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) in its latest notification said that senior citizens with a taxable income of up to Rs 5 lakh can now submit in banks and post offices Form 15H to claim exemption from Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) on interest income on deposits. Earlier, the limit for seeking TDS exemption was Rs 2.5 lakh. 

On the global front, European markets were trading in green, as Finland's retail sales increased in April from a year ago. The flash estimate from Statistics Finland showed that retail sales volume grew 3.2 percent year-on-year in April, faster than the 1.7 percent rise in March. At the same time, retail turnover advanced 4.3 percent versus 1.4 percent in the previous month. Asian markets were also trading in green.

Back home, oil industry stocks were in focus, amid reports that India has stopped importing oil from Iran after American waivers granted to eight buyers expired early this month, becoming the latest country to comply with the US sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear programme.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 39366.71, up by 555.32 points or 1.43% after trading in a range of 38824.26 and 39414.47. There were 27 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.69%, while Small cap index was up by 1.98%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 3.50%, Capital Goods up by 3.46%, Industrials up by 3.17%, Auto up by 2.87% and Telecom up by 2.68%, while there were no losing sectoral indices on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank up by 4.48%, Tata Motors up by 4.46%, Larsen & Toubro up by 4.10%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.87% and Tata Steel up by 3.85%. On the flip side, HCL Tech down by 0.62%, NTPC down by 0.38%, ONGC down by 0.32% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.13% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in a big relief, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) in its latest notification has said that senior citizens with a taxable income of up to Rs 5 lakh can now submit in banks and post offices Form 15H to claim exemption from Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) on interest income on deposits. Earlier, the limit for seeking TDS exemption was Rs 2.5 lakh.

The CBDT has issued a notification amending Form 15H to give effect to the Budget announcement. The Union Budget 2019-20 has given full tax rebate to individuals having a taxable annual income of up to Rs 5 lakh, benefitting around 3 crore middle class taxpayers.

The amendments by the CBDT states that banks and financial institutions would accept Form 15H from assessees whose tax liability is 'nil' after considering rebate available under Section 87A of the Income Tax Act, 1961. Senior citizens, above 60 years of age, have to submit Form 15H to banks at the beginning of a financial year to ensure that no tax is deducted at source on interest income.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11824.90, up by 167.85 points or 1.44% after trading in a range of 11658.10 and 11841.40. There were 42 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 4.62%, Zee Entertainment up by 4.37%, Tata Steel up by 4.36%, ICICI Bank up by 4.27% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 4.14%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 0.78%, ONGC down by 0.52%, Titan down by 0.32%, HCL Tech. down by 0.29% and NTPC down by 0.27% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng surged 102.48 points or 0.38% to 27,369.61, Jakarta Composite soared 21.25 points or 0.35% to 6,053.95, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 19.91 points or 0.19% to 10,328.28, Shanghai Composite gained 5.61 points or 0.2% to 2,858.13 and Straits Times was up by 5.24 points or 0.17% to 3,165.96. On the flip side, KOSPI fell 14.28 points or 0.69% to 2,045.31 and Nikkei 225 was down by 33.92 points or 0.16% to 21,117.22.

All European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 gained 46.32 points or 0.64% to 7,277.36, France’s CAC added 48.28 points or 0.91% to 5,329.65 and Germany’s DAX was up by 103.41 points or 0.87% to 12,055.82.