Benchmarks continue to trade in high spirit

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade in high spirit in afternoon session, on strong global cues after the US presidential election outcome and sustained foreign capital inflow into the domestic market. Foreign portfolio investors (FPI) have put in a net Rs 8,381 crore into Indian markets in first five trading sessions of November, with participants growing more confident in view of resumption of business activities and better than expected quarterly numbers, among others. Additional support came with report that NITI Aayog member Ramesh Chand hailed the three recently enacted agriculture-related legislations by the Centre saying if implemented in the right spirit, they will take Indian agriculture to new heights and usher in the transformation of the rural economy. Healthy buying was observed in blue-chip stocks like Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank. Besides, broader indices were also trading in green, supporting their larger peers.

On the global front; Asian markets were trading mostly in green on relief the U.S. presidential election results were finally decided, with Joe Biden the president-elect. Back on street, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 42310.99, up by 417.93 points or 1.00% after trading in a range of 42267.29 and 42566.34. There were 24 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.52%, while Small cap index up by 0.18%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 2.26%, Bankex up by 1.51%, Oil & Gas up by 1.38%, Realty up by 1.33% and Energy was up by 0.95%, while Healthcare was down by 0.46% was the only losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 3.08%, ICICI Bank up by 2.63%, Axis Bank up by 2.35%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.73% and HDFC Bank was up by 1.61%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.89%, ITC down by 0.63%, SBI down by 0.57%, Sun Pharma down by 0.48% and Mahindra & Mahindra was down by 0.24% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that increased digitization will help in making better assessment of India’s Gross domestic product (GDP) growth and nudged tax practitioners to suggest their clients to shift towards digital modes of payments. She said the government, irrespective of the party in power, tries to widen the tax net and at the same time, lower the tax burden in its pursuit of revenue collection, and tax practitioners can play a critical role in this by ensuring timely compliance by taxpayers.

Sitharaman has stated that the country's GDP will remain ‘underestimated’ if commercial transactions do not come under monitorable radar. She said ‘if each of these transactions are brought into some kind of monitorable network, your GDP calculation can be closer to the actual strength of Indian economy.’ She also said tax practitioners today are the most important component, because they educate the tax assessee, counsel them, tell them about the best ways of handling their tax liabilities, and help them plan it in such a way that what is due comes from an honest taxpayer in time.

The minister further said that in a growing economy like India, the government tries to widen the tax net and, at the same time, look at ways to bring down the burden of taxes. She noted that tax practitioners' role comes to play there. As a result, she said they are the biggest critical role players in revenue generation of the government. She pointed out that since tax practitioners come in between the government and the tax assessees, they have a critical role to play in promoting in-time compliance. She added that the government has taken a lot of steps to make sure taxation becomes a simplified exercise and the burden on citizens is reduced, both for compliance and payment of tax.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 12380.50, up by 116.95 points or 0.95% after trading in a range of 12367.70 and 12451.80. There were 40 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Divis Lab up by 4.42%, BPCL up by 3.85%, Bharti Airtel up by 3.05%, ICICI Bank up by 2.82% and Axis Bank was up by 2.34%. On the flip side, Cipla down by 4.17%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.91%, ITC down by 0.72%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 0.70% and SBI was down by 0.66% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 514.61 points or 2.12% to 24,839.84, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 153.94 points or 1.19% to 13,127.47, KOSPI rose 30.70 points or 1.27% to 2,447.20, Straits Times advanced 29.84 points or 1.16% to 2,608.52, Hang Seng increased 320.78 points or 1.25% to 26,033.75 and Shanghai Composite was up by 56.60 points or 1.71% to 3,368.76. On the other side, Jakarta Composite was down by 6.29 points or 0.12% to 5,329.24.