Sensex, Nifty remain in green terrain in late noon deals

Tracking firm European markets, Indian equity benchmarks remained in green terrain during late afternoon deals. Sentiments were positive, 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.

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 were also trading in green, 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 were in watch, as 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.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 41239.85, up by 260.23 points or 0.64% after trading in a range of 41179.14 and 41444.34. There were 22 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchangedon the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.47%, while Small cap index was down by 0.09%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 1.77%, Power up by 1.61%, Metal up by 1.36%, Energy up by 0.79% and Bankex up by 0.79%, while FMCG down by 0.19% was the lone losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 3.13%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.27%, Power Grid up by 2.09%, Indusind Bank up by 1.75% and Ultratech Cement up by 1.45%. On the flip side, Nestle down by 1.05%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.46%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.40%, TCS down by 0.37% and Sun Pharma down by 0.32% 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 is currently trading at 12109.45, up by 77.95 points or 0.65% after trading in a range of 12103.10 and 12172.30. There were 37 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were GAIL India up by 5.83%, JSW Steel up by 4.17%, Bharti Infratel up by 3.54%, NTPC up by 3.00% and Maruti Suzuki up by 2.13%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 1.73%, Nestle down by 1.28%, BPCL down by 0.89%, Britannia Inds down by 0.72% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.62% were the top losers.

All Asian Markets were trading higher; Hang Seng increased 371.48 points or 1.36% to 27,612.82, Jakarta Composite soared 6.13 points or 0.1% to 5,958.21, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 89.97 points or 0.78% to 11,664.04, Straits Times advanced 17.47 points or 0.55% to 3,180.62, KOSPI rose 22.05 points or 1% to 2,223.12 and Shanghai Composite was up by 16.72 points or 0.58% to 2,907.21.

All European markets were trading in green, UK’s FTSE 100 rose 67.97 points or 0.91% to 7,514.85, France’s CAC gained 31.93 points or 0.53% to 6,047.60 and Germany’s DAX was up by 112.64 points or 0.83% to 13,606.67.