Local equities see some recovery after early morning losses

Local equity benchmarks trimmed some of their losses in morning session, but continue to trade below the neutral lines, mirroring losses in Asian peers as oil prices surged after Iran fired missiles at American forces based in Iraq. Traders also remained on negative side on National Statistical Office’s (NSO) report that economic expansion will crawl to just 5% in FY20, the lowest since the global financial crisis of FY09, as a slowdown in investment and private consumption might linger through the second half of the fiscal. However, downfall remain capped with a government’s report on national income showed that the country’s per-capita monthly income is estimated to have risen by 6.8 per cent to Rs 11,254 during 2019-20. In 2018-19, the monthly per-capita income had stood at Rs 10,534.

On the global front, all Asian markets are trading lower as Middle East tensions flared again after Iran fired more than a dozen missiles at two bases in Iraq that house US troops. Back home, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI) reported that the annual GVA growth rate of the manufacturing sector is expected to fall from 6.9 per cent to a mere 2 per cent in the current fiscal.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 40719.91, down by 149.56 points or 0.37% after trading in a range of 40476.55 and 40866.36. There were 7 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index slipped 0.29%, while Small cap index was up by 0.04%.

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Basic Materials up by 0.35%, IT up by 0.21% and TECK was up by 0.03%, while Capital Goods down by 1.12%, PSU down by 0.95%, Oil & Gas down by 0.93%, Consumer Durables down by 0.85% and Metal was down by 0.78% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were TCS up by 1.34%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.25%, ICICI Bank up by 0.40%, Tech Mahindra up by 0.32% and Bajaj Auto was up by 0.31%. On the flip side, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.55%, Titan Co down by 1.51%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.38%, Power Grid down by 1.20% and Kotak Mahindra Bank was down by 1.15% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in a bid to simplify taxation system and eliminate harassment of honest taxpayers, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said the government is taking various steps such as faceless e-assessment scheme. A faceless e-assessment scheme was launched in October to eliminate interface between an assessing officer and a taxpayer. The tax department has implemented a computer-generated document identification number (DIN) to ensure greater transparency and accountability in tax administration.

The DIN system, which became operative from October 01, 2019, will apply to all kind of communications from the income tax department, whether it is related to assessment, appeals, investigation, penalty and rectification, among others. This development will also help taxpayers to detect fake notices and letters as the notice would be verifiable on the department's e-filing portal. She said such cases have to be closed within 30 days.

Besides, she asserted that there would be shopping festival held across the country soon. She had in September last year announced Dubai-like mega shopping festivals in India, starting March 2020 to boost trade. The commerce ministry is working on this and it will provide a big platform for traders to sell their goods.  The government is expected to hold these festivals in four Indian cities, and the move is likely to boost textiles, leather industry & promote yoga tourism. The government is planning various themes for these festivals, ranging from gems and jewellery, textiles and leather to yoga.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11994.30, down by 58.65 points or 0.49% after trading in a range of 11929.60 and 12044.95. There were 10 stocks advancing against 40 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were TCS up by 1.37%, Yes Bank up by 1.22%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.19%, Grasim Industries up by 0.63% and Bajaj Auto was up by 0.33%. On the flip side, Zee Entertainment down by 2.05%, BPCL down by 1.95%, Eicher Motors down by 1.89%, Titan Company down by 1.63% and Bharti Infratel down by 1.62% were the top losers.

All Asian markets are trading lower, Nikkei 225 slipped 352.52 points or 1.5% to 23,223.20, Hang Seng decreased 240.98 points or 0.85% to 28,081.08, Jakarta Composite lost 48.68 points or 0.78% to 6,230.67, Straits Times trembled 26.09 points or 0.8% to 3,221.77, KOSPI fell 18.45 points or 0.85% to 2,157.09, Shanghai Composite declined 17.67 points or 0.57% to 3,087.13 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 13.53 points or 0.11% to 11,866.79.