Benchmarks extend gains in late afternoon session

Indian benchmarks extended their gains in late afternoon session, with the Sensex and the Nifty gaining above 300 and 70 points, respectively. Sentiments remained upbeat with report that companies garnered more than Rs 1 lakh crore from the capital markets in August, a surge of 64 percent from the preceding month, with private placement of debt instruments emerging as the most preferred route for financing business needs. The funds have been mopped-up mainly for business expansion plans, loan repayments and working capital requirements. On the sectoral front, textile industry remained in focus, as India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) in its latest report has said that the US withhold release order on cotton and apparel imports from specific producers in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR) might escalate global trade tensions and thus have negative implications on Indian textile sector in the short run.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green despite U.S. President Donald Trump ending negotiations with Democrats over additional Covid-19 stimulus. European markets were trading mostly in red after mixed economic data.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 39888.59, up by 314.02 points or 0.79% after trading in a range of 39450.82 and 39943.31. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.58%, while Small cap index was down by 0.34%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Energy up by 2.97%, Consumer Durables up by 1.94%, Auto up by 0.99%, Consumer Discretionary up by 0.55% and Oil & Gas was up by 0.39%, while Metal down by 2.86%, Realty down by 1.72%, Capital Goods down by 1.33%, Power down by 1.20% and Utilities was down by 1.18% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Titan Company up by 4.73%, ONGC up by 4.40%, Reliance Industries up by 3.66%, Bajaj Auto up by 3.50% and Ultratech Cement up by 2.33%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 3.95%, Power Grid down by 2.36%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.98%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.69% and Tata Steel down by 1.59% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in its 42nd meeting, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council has extended the levy of compensation cess beyond the transition period of five years for such period as may be required to meet the revenue gap. The Centre also decided to increase the shortfall amount to Rs 1.10 lakh crores from Rs 97,000 crores under the borrowing option.Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman noted that 21 states have chosen borrowing option 1 for compensation of revenue shortfall due to GST implementation, adding that the Centre is not denying compensation to any state but those states which have not chosen to any borrowing option have to borrow from the market.

Besides, the present GSTR-1/3B return filing system will be extended till March 31, 2021 and the GST laws to be amended to make the GSTR-1/3B return filing system as the default return filing system.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11737.35, up by 74.95 points or 0.64% after trading in a range of 11629.35 and 11751.50. There were 21 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Titan Company up by 4.83%, Reliance Industries up by 3.65%, Bajaj Auto up by 3.54%, ONGC up by 3.53% and Hero MotoCorp up by 2.95%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 3.98%, Hindalco down by 2.80%, Tata Motors down by 2.76%, Power Grid down by 2.33% and BPCL down by 2.00% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green, Hang Seng increased 262.21 points or 1.09% to 24,242.86, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 42.14 points or 0.33% to 12,746.37, KOSPI rose 21.04 points or 0.89% to 2,386.94, Straits Times advanced 8.43 points or 0.33% to 2,537.69 and Jakarta Composite was up by 5.11 points or 0.1% to 5,004.33. On the flip side, Nikkei 225 was down by 10.91 points or 0.05% to 23,422.82.

European markets were trading mostly in red, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 8.83 points or 0.15% to 5,941.11, Germany’s DAX decreased 6.81 points or 0.05% to 12,899.21. On the flip side, France’s CAC was up by 1.31 points or 0.03% to 4,896.77.