Indian bourses trade near record high levels

Indian equity benchmarks traded near record high levels in afternoon session, on the back of buying by funds and retail investors despite largely weak Asian cues. Nifty and Sensex were trading just shy of 12,200 and 41,490 marks, respectively. Sentiments remained positive with Union Minister Nitin Gadkari’s statement that efforts are on to bolster the economy and create five crore jobs. He also said the government is according high priority to the economy but at the same time, security issues are also important and the government cannot work in silos. Traders also took a note of defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s statement that India is impacted to some extent by the global economic slowdown but expressed confidence that the country will come out of the difficult situation within a short time. Investors also awaited the outcome of Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council meeting scheduled for later during the day. A review of the tax rates and slabs under GST is expected to be announced in the meeting. 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, as investors took a breather after the partial U.S.-China trade deal that sent equities to record highs. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 41485.64, up by 133.47 points or 0.32% after trading in a range of 41358.47 and 41490.97. There were 18 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.30%, while Small cap index was up by 0.06%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.01%, IT up by 0.88%, TECK up by 0.66%, Healthcare up by 0.44% and Basic Materials up by 0.39%, while Utilities down by 0.68%, PSU down by 0.65%, Oil & Gas down by 0.53%, Power down by 0.49% and Telecom down by 0.34% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.09%, Tata Steel up by 2.06%, ITC up by 1.82%, Sun Pharma up by 1.49% and Tata Motors up by 1.33%. On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down by 2.49%, Yes Bank down by 1.26%, SBI down by 1.01%, ONGC down by 0.68% and Axis Bank down by 0.62% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Finance Ministry has set an ambitious Rs 1.1 lakh crore monthly Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection target for the remaining four months of the financial year 2019-20 amid worries that the government may fall short of tax collection target in a slowing economy. It also asked taxmen to step up efforts to achieve the goal.

Of these four months, Rs 1.25 lakh collections has to be achieved in at least one month. Gross GST collections, which include the share of both Centre and the states, crossed Rs 1 lakh crore mark in four out of the eight months of the current fiscal and only once was above Rs 1.1 lakh crore. At the current trend, the GST tax collection target is likely to be missed by at least Rs 1 lakh crore. Out of the Rs 13.35 lakh crore direct tax collection target, about Rs 6 lakh crore or 45 per cent of the annual target, has been collected till October (first seven months). For 2019-20, the government is targeting Rs 6.63 lakh crore from its share of GST revenues. GST subsumed 17 centre and state levies and the two equally split the revenues.

The revenue department in the finance ministry is taking concerted measures to augment collections in the next four collection months and has exhorted its senior officers, including Members of Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) and Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), as well as other top officials to achieve tax targets both for direct and indirect taxes. Officers have been particularly urged to ensure that during such field enforcement drive and visits, no taxpayer is overreached or troubled. Also, it was clarified to the officers that the corporate tax relief worth Rs 1.45 lakh crore by way of a cut in rates, should not be taken as an excuse for lesser direct tax collection.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 12196.60, up by 31.60 points or 0.26% after trading in a range of 12163.45 and 12204.30. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were JSW Steel up by 2.22%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.11%, ITC up by 2.05%, Tata Steel up by 2.05% and Sun Pharma up by 1.50%. On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down by 2.33%, GAIL India down by 2.05%, Yes Bank down by 1.47%, Zee Entertainment down by 1.45% and Eicher Motors down by 1.12% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 131.69 points or 0.55% to 23,934.43, Hang Seng decreased 40.70 points or 0.15% to 27,803.01, Shanghai Composite declined 5.72 points or 0.19% to 3,016.70, KOSPI fell 0.92 points or 0.04% to 2,194.76 and Straits Times advanced 10.83 points or 0.34% to 3,211.63.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite soared 22.23 points or 0.36% to 6,266.58 and Taiwan Weighted strengthened 25.44 points or 0.21% to 12,122.45.