Benchmarks trade flat in afternoon session

Indian benchmarks traded flat in afternoon session, with Sensex gaining 39 points, while Nifty was down by 2 points.  Traders were encouraged as Fitch Ratings revised up India’s GDP projection to a contraction of 9.4 per cent due to a strong economic recovery in the second quarter of the current fiscal year. It earlier suggested that India’s GDP may shrink by 10.5 per cent in the FY21. Fitch Ratings further projected an 11 per cent growth and 6.3 per cent growth in the following years. However, some concern came as the agitating farmers continued to block the Delhi-Meerut highway near Ghazipur amid 'Bharat Bandh' called by farmers over the three Farm Laws. Buying in frontline stocks such as Ultratech Cement, Reliance Industries and TCS were aiding sentiment, while selling in Indusind Bank, Sun Pharma and Tech Mahindra kept the gains in the markets in check. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed amid increasing COVID restrictions and diminishing hopes about a swift economic recovery.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 45465.98, up by 39.01 points or 0.09% after trading in a range of 45335.17 and 45728.85. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index lost 0.59%, while Small cap index was down by 0.85%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Energy up by 1.10%, IT up by 0.35%, Realty up by 0.20% and TECK was up by 0.09%, while Metal down by 1.82%, Telecom down by 1.35%, Industrials down by 1.23%, Capital Goods down by 1.18% and Power was down by 1.04% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Ultratech Cement up by 2.38%, Reliance Industries up by 1.80%, TCS up by 0.79%, Bajaj Auto up by 0.54% and HCL Tech up by 0.50%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 2.23%, Sun Pharma down by 2.22%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.76%, ONGC down by 1.52% and Tata Steel was down by 1.43% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, businesses with up to Rs 5 crore turnover would need to file only eight returns (four GSTR-3B and four GSTR-1 returns) in a year from January onward instead of twelve at present. The Quarterly filing of Return with Monthly Payment (QRMP) Scheme would impact almost 94 lakh taxpayers, about 92 percent of the total tax base of the goods and services tax (GST). The scheme also brings in the concept of providing input tax credit (ITC) only on the reported invoices, thereby putting a significant curb on the menace of fake invoice frauds.

The QRMP scheme has optional feature of invoice filing facility (IFF) to mitigate business-related hardships for the small and medium taxpayers. Under the facility of IFF, the small taxpayers who opt to be quarterly return filers under the QRMP scheme would be able to upload and file such invoices even in the first and second month of the quarter for which there is a demand from the recipients.

Further, this would engage buyers who earlier used to avoid purchase from the small taxpayers in the want of uploading of invoices in the system on monthly basis. The taxpayers would need not upload and file all the invoices for the month and could upload and file only those invoices that are required to be filed in IFF as per demand of the recipients. The remaining invoices of the first and second months can be uploaded in the quarterly GSTR-1 return.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 13352.85, down by 2.90 points or 0.02% after trading in a range of 13311.05 and 13435.45. There were 12 stocks advancing against 38 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Ultratech Cement up by 2.41%, Reliance Industries up by 1.74%, TCS up by 0.81%, Infosys up by 0.66% and Bajaj Auto up by 0.63%. On the flip side, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 2.80%, Hindalco down by 2.63%, Sun Pharma down by 2.23%, Coal India down by 2.23% and Indusind Bank was down by 2.09% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; KOSPI fell 44.51 points or 1.62% to 2,700.93, Hang Seng decreased 156.33 points or 0.59% to 26,350.52, Straits Times trembled 3.79 points or 0.13% to 2,821.72 and Nikkei 225 was down by 80.36 points or 0.3% to 26,467.08.

On the other side; Taiwan Weighted strengthened 103.80 points or 0.73% to 14,360.40, Shanghai Composite gained 1.93 points or 0.06% to 3,418.53 and Jakarta Composite was up by 12.46 points or 0.21% to 5,943.22.