Markets trade in fine fettle; Sensex hits 41,000 mark

Indian equity benchmarks made optimistic start and hit fresh all-time high levels in early deals on Tuesday. Sensex and Nifty were trading in fine fettle above their physiological levels of 41,000 and 12,100, respectively. Buying in Oil & Gas, Bankex and Healthcare stocks supported markets. Traders took some encouragement with the payroll data of Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) showing that around 12.23 lakh jobs were created in September as compared to 13.38 lakh in August 2019. As per the report, gross enrolments of new subscribers with the ESIC were 1.49 crore during the entire 2018-19 fiscal. Besides, the Central GST collection so far this fiscal stood at Rs 3.26 lakh crore, which is around half the government’s target for 2019-20. Some support also come with Union Minister Nitin Gadkari’s statement that the government is in the process of launching Digital data-based credit ratings of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), to help entrepreneurs to get bank loans on the basis of these credit ratings. Though, investors overlooked report that Indian government think tank NITI Aayog has cautioned the government that the path to a $5-trillion economy by 2025 is plagued with several hindrances.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed after Wall Street's main benchmark indexes hit record highs overnight on signs of progress in US-China trade talks. Though, markets in China and Hong Kong treaded cautiously after China's central bank said that Beijing needs to resolve outstanding financial risks, and must counter risks from ‘abnormal’ market fluctuations stemming from external shocks.

Back home, the Indian Minister of New and Renewable Energy expressed confidence that the country will overachieve on its target to have 175 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity operational by 2022. Besides, banking stocks were in focus as the gross non-performing assets (NPAs) of scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) have declined by nearly Rs 98,000 crore to Rs 9.38 lakh crore by June-end this year. In scrip specific development, Ashok Leyland gained on signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with ICICI Bank to enter into a strategic financing partnership for two years. However, Zee Entertainment Enterprises tumbled as Subhash Chandra resigned as chairman of his flagship company with immediate effect.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 41068.24, up by 179.01 points or 0.44% after trading in a range of 40991.90 and 41120.28. There were 26 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.47%, while Small cap index was up by 0.54%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 0.76%, Bankex up by 0.65%, Healthcare up by 0.64%, Energy up by 0.63% and Metal was up by 0.59%, while Telecom down by 3.03%, TECK down by 0.38%, Capital Goods down by 0.05% and Realty was down by 0.04% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Yes Bank up by 2.51%, Tata Steel up by 1.48%, ICICI Bank up by 1.35%, ONGC up by 1.26% and Infosys up by 1.00%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 2.56%, Power Grid Corporation down by 0.78%, TCS down by 0.36%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.33% and Tech Mahindra down by 0.03% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Minister of State for Finance Anurag Singh Thakur has said the Central Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection stood at Rs 3.26 lakh crore till October 2019 in current fiscal year (FY20), which is around half the government's target for 2019-20. The Budget Estimates for Central GST for 2019-20 has been fixed at Rs 6,63,343 crore. He said the shortfall or excess in collection of GST with respect to budget estimate, if any, is calculated after completion of financial year.

On direct taxes, the minister said that for 2019-20, the budget estimate is Rs 13,35,000 crore. Between April-October, 2019 the net collection of direct taxes is Rs 5,18,084 crore. Regarding revenue loss to the government on account of corporate tax rate reduction, Thakur said the likely revenue forgone due to the reduction in corporate tax rates has been estimated to be Rs 1,45,000 crore.

On reasons for not cutting personal income tax rates, he said over the past years, the government has provided personal income tax relief to taxpayers taking into account the overall needs of the economy. Besides, on the effect of slowdown on tax collection and fiscal deficit, he said the revised estimates of tax collection and fiscal deficit are decided at the time of preparation of the budget estimate for the next year.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 12113.95, up by 40.20 points or 0.33% after trading in a range of 12099.85 and 12132.45. There were 39 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Yes Bank up by 3.22%, ONGC up by 1.15%, Tata Steel up by 1.14%, Infosys up by 0.98% and ICICI Bank up by 0.97%. On the flip side, Zee Entertainment down by 7.46%, Bharti Infratel down by 5.58%, Bharti Airtel down by 2.58%, Grasim Industries down by 1.66% and Power Grid Corporation down by 1.11% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Nikkei 225 surged 76.61 points or 0.33% to 23,369.42, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 62.74 points or 0.54% to 11,624.32, KOSPI rose 10.31 points or 0.49% to 2,133.81 and Jakarta Composite inched up by 5.58 points or 0.09% to 6,076.34. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite declined 0.09 points to 2,906.08, Straits Times trembled 10.28 points or 0.32% to 3,210.35 and Hang Seng was down by 26.65 points or 0.1% to 26,966.39.