Bourses remain on positive trajectory in afternoon deals

Indian equity benchmarks remained on positive trajectory in afternoon session, aided by gains in frontline blue chip stocks such as Bharti Airtel, SBI and Sun Pharma among others. Sentiments remained positive with Union Minister Pratap Chandra Sarangi’s statement that the MSME sector plays a crucial role in achieving the Centre's target of making the country $5 trillion economy. He said the MSME sector is the largest employment generator after agriculture in the country. Traders also took note of Central Board of Direct Taxes Chairman PC Mody’s statement that the government has so far mopped up Rs 6 lakh crore or less than 50% of the total tax collection target of Rs 13.35 lakh crore for the current fiscal. Efforts are being made to achieve the target set in the Budget. Moreover, strengthening rupee against the dollar and encouraging earnings by some blue-chip firms supported the sentiments. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, propelled by White House comments suggesting Washington and Beijing were close to striking a trade deal, reviving hopes the tariff war may near an end.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 40490.32, up by 203.84 points or 0.51% after trading in a range of 40396.91 and 40650.06. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.57%, while Small cap index was down by 0.02%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 5.96%, PSU up by 1.01%, Bankex up by 0.99%, TECK up by 0.87% and Healthcare was up by 0.69%, while Power down by 0.40%, Capital Goods down by 0.35%, Metal down by 0.23%, FMCG down by 0.23% and Consumer Durables was down by 0.17% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 6.70%, SBI up by 5.10%, Sun Pharma up by 1.82%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 1.69% and Tata Motors was up by 1.50%. On the flip side, ITC down by 1.02%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.97%, Vedanta down by 0.56%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.54% and Larsen & Toubro was down by 0.52% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has so far mopped up Rs 6 lakh crore or less than 50 percent of the total tax collection target of Rs 13.35 lakh crore for the current fiscal (FY20). Efforts are being made to achieve the target set in the Budget. Refunds due to the tax payers are done swiftly and the refunds have gone up 20 percent compared to the previous fiscal.  

Taking a big leap towards transparent tax administration, the income tax department has also rolled out faceless e-assessment scheme that eliminates physical interface between an assessing officer and an asssessee. To begin with, 58,322 income tax cases have been selected under the National e-Assessment Center (NeAC).

There are pressure on the government in meeting revenue target due to sagging economy. The economy has hit six-year low of 5 percent during the first quarter of the current fiscal. It is estimated that growth in the second quarter to remain below 5 percent. The overall growth of the current fiscal likely to remain subdued and various estimate indicates that the GDP growth to be lower than 5.5 percent, putting pressure on the tax collection.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11930.90, up by 58.80 points or 0.50% after trading in a range of 11899.15 and 11973.65. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Airtel up by 6.88%, Bharti Infratel up by 5.87%, SBI up by 5.39%, Sun Pharma up by 2.01% and Cipla was up by 1.97%. On the flip side, Indian Oil Corporation down by 2.78%, UPL down by 1.41%, ITC down by 0.98%, BPCL down by 0.95% and Vedanta was down by 0.73% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng increased 56.68 points or 0.22% to 26,380.37, Nikkei 225 surged 161.77 points or 0.7% to 23,303.32, Jakarta Composite soared 31.51 points or 0.52% to 6,130.46, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 75.18 points or 0.66% to 11,525.60, Straits Times advanced 4.71 points or 0.15% to 3,236.56 and KOSPI was up by 22.95 points or 1.07% to 2,162.18.

On the flip side, Shanghai Composite was down by 9.74 points or 0.33% to 2,900.13.