Bourses back in green on Tuesday after 2 days fall

After two days fall, Indian equity bourses came back in green terrain on Tuesday. The start of the day was fabulous, amid reports that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met industry representatives on the proposed direct tax dispute resolution scheme that provides opportunity to taxpayers to pay outstanding taxes and get waiver of interest and penalty. Some support also came with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that bad loans of public sector banks (PSBs) came down to Rs 7.27 lakh crore at the end of September 2019 from Rs 8.96 lakh crore at the end of March 2018.

Key indices held their notable gains during whole trading session, on account of positive cues from the global markets. Traders got encouragement, after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced detailed rules for exempting incremental car, home and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) loans from maintaining cash reserve ratio (CRR). The street also got some relief with Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar’s statement that India is on track to become self-sufficient in production of the protein-rich commodity and will further boost the output to meet global demand.

On the global front, European markets were trading in green terrain, as the French economy is set to grow 0.3 percent in the first quarter of 2020. In the fourth quarter of 2019, gross domestic product unexpectedly decreased 0.1 percent from the previous quarter. Asian markets ended higher, as investors seemed reassured by Chinese President Xi Jinping's pledge to win the fight against the coronavirus outbreak.

Back home, the coal industry stocks remained in watch, after the Ministry of Coal (MoC) has launched a web portal for star rating of coal mines, in order to promote green, safe and sustainable mining practices using technology as a tool. Further, airline stocks also remained in focus, as the government is mulling certain measures to support the growth and development of the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) industry, an important segment for the aviation sector.

Finally, the BSE Sensex gained 236.52 points or 0.58% to 41,216.14, while the CNX Nifty was up by 76.40 points or 0.63% to 12,107.90.

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 41,444.34 and 41,179.14, respectively and there were 23 stocks advancing against 07 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices ended mixed; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.35%, while Small cap index was down by 0.18%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 1.68%, Power up by 1.50%, Metal up by 0.92%, Bankex up by 0.80% and Energy up by 0.67%, while FMCG down by 0.25% and Telecom down by 0.11% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 2.95%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.07%, SBI up by 1.84%, Power Grid up by 1.53% and Bajaj Auto up by 1.35%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 0.75%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.69%, Nestle down by 0.61%, TCS down by 0.52% and Sun Pharma down by 0.42% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, flagging concerns, the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President Sharad Kumar Saraf has said that apparel and made-ups exporters are facing acute liquidity problem as their huge amount of funds are blocked under a rebate scheme for state levies and an export incentive programme.

FIEO President noted that around Rs 6,000 crore of duty refund claims have not been disbursed under the Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies (RoSCTL) and the Merchandise Export from India Scheme (MEIS) from March 7 last year and August 1, 2019, respectively. Saraf termed this situation as a fatal blow for the apparels and made-ups industry, which is one of the largest employment generation industry particularly supporting the women workers. Further, he said that it is very unfortunate that the commitments are being ignored.

Besides, Saraf said the directorate general of foreign trade is now demanding the refund of MEIS paid between March 7, 2019, and July 31, 2019 and added that this is not only unfair but also legally untenable because the policy once announced cannot be changed retrospectively. He said that the government must honour the commitment made to the exporters.

The CNX Nifty traded in a range of 12,172.30 and 12,099.00. There were 39 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were GAIL India up by 5.91%, JSW Steel up by 3.87%, Bharti Infratel up by 3.42%, NTPC up by 3.04% and Maruti Suzuki up by 1.93%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 2.00%, BPCL down by 0.88%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.85%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.85% and Britannia down by 0.72% were the top losers.

European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 48.42 points or 0.65% to 7,495.30, France’s CAC rose 25.31 points or 0.42% to 6,040.98 and Germany’s DAX was up by 92.29 points or 0.68% to 13,586.32.

Asian markets ended higher on Tuesday amid bets that Chinese policy makers will likely roll out more measures to support the economy and minimize the fallout from the corona virus outbreak. China's central bank should consider lowering its benchmark deposit rate to enable banks to reduce lending rates and help small businesses weather the economic fallout from the fast-spreading corona virus, a central bank advisor said. Since the outbreak began in Wuhan late last year, it has infected over 42,000 and killed over 1,000 worldwide, the overwhelming majority of which in China. Meanwhile, markets in Japan were closed in observance of National Day.