Markets maintain strong northward rally

Indian equity benchmarks maintained their strong rally in late afternoon session, tracking firm European markets. The street remained positive, as the Department of Revenue is eyeing to collect at least Rs 1.10 lakh crore as monthly Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection for the next four months each. Traders also took note of CII's President Vikram Kirloskar’s statement that the revised corporate tax rates are competitive and its impact will be visible in the next two years. He emphasised that the government listened to the industry 'word by word' on lowering rates. He said the industry pushed the government a lot for reducing the rates.

On the global front, European markets were trading in green, after the euro area trade surplus increased in October as exports advanced from the previous month amid a fall in imports. The data from Eurostat showed that the trade surplus increased to a seasonally adjusted EUR 24.5 billion from EUR 18.7 billion in September. However, Asian markets were trading in red, as Japan's exports decreased for the 12th consecutive month in November. The official data showed that exports fell 7.9 percent on a yearly basis in November. Exports to the United States decreased 12.9 percent and that to China were down 5.4 percent.

Back home, pharma stocks were in watch, as ratings agency, ICRA said the Indian pharmaceutical industry is expected to grow around 10-12 per cent between FY2019 and FY2022 while maintaining a stable outlook on the sector. Besides, sugar industry stocks also remained in focus, after industry body ISMA said that India's sugar production stood at 4.58 million tonne till December 15 of the ongoing marketing year, down 35 per cent from the year-ago period, owing to sharp fall in output in Maharashtra and Karnataka. Mills had manufactured 7.05 million tonne of sugar in the same period of the 2018-19 marketing year.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 41493.73, up by 141.56 points or 0.34% after trading in a range of 41358.47 and 41553.45. There were 19 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.30%, while Small cap index was down by 0.04%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.23%, Auto up by 0.74%, Healthcare up by 0.59%, Consumer Disc up by 0.42% and Energy up by 0.27%, while PSU down by 0.94%, Utilities down by 0.84%, Power down by 0.67%, Oil & Gas down by 0.53% and Telecom down by 0.50% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.42%, Tata Steel up by 2.86%, Sun Pharma up by 2.32%, HDFC Bank up by 1.91% and Asian Paints up by 1.78%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 2.52%, Hindustan Unilever down by 2.16%, SBI down by 1.89%, NTPC down by 1.21% and Infosys down by 0.76% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, terming revised corporate tax rates as competitive, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) President Vikram Kirloskar has said that impact of corporate tax rate cut will be visible in the next two years. He also emphasized that the government listened to the industry ‘word by word’ on lowering rates and added that the industry pushed the government a lot for reducing the rates.

Kirloskar further said that the slowdown in the economy was a combination of several factors and in the last 5-6 years, it has been pretty good. Besides, he noted that the slowdown is cyclical as well as structural, both and expressed need to do some restructuring to get back to that same track.

Meanwhile, in September, the government has reduced effective corporate tax to 22 per cent for domestic companies. Also, companies opting for 22 per cent income tax slab would not have to pay Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) and new domestic manufacturing companies incorporated after October 1, can pay income tax at a rate of 15 per cent without any incentives.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 12210.90, up by 45.90 points or 0.38% after trading in a range of 12163.45 and 12221.10. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.49%, Tata Steel up by 2.87%, JSW Steel up by 2.47%, HDFC Bank up by 2.12% and Sun Pharma up by 2.09%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 2.52%, Hindustan Unilever down by 2.03%, GAIL India down by 2.00%, Grasim Industries down by 1.91% and SBI down by 1.80% 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.

European markets were trading mostly in green; UK’s FTSE 100 rose 18.16 points or 0.24% to 7,543.44 and France’s CAC gained 7.17 points or 0.12% to 5,975.43, while Germany’s DAX was down by 6.92 points or 0.05% to 13,280.91.