Benchmarks trade firm in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks made optimistic start on Monday tracking Asian peers. Markets are trading firm in early deals on account of buying in Metal, PSU and Basic Materials stocks. Sentiments got a boost after the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) granted restricted emergency use authorization for the Serum Institute of India (SII)’s Covishield and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin vaccines against COVID-19. Also, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Ashwini Kumar Choubey stated that India will become corona-free. Some support also came in with government data showing that signalling an economic revival, goods and services tax (GST) collection touched a record high in December, posting growth of 11.6 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) and surpassing the Rs 1-trillion mark for the third straight month. Investors are eyeing the Markit Manufacturing PMI for December scheduled to be released later in the day. Meanwhile, with 16,660 fresh Covid-19 cases, India's caseload now stands at 10,341,291. The country's death toll is nearing 150,000.

Most of the Asian markets were trading higher amid optimism about the economic outlook in 2021, also hopes surrounding the rollout of coronavirus vaccines offset a frightening surge in infections. Back home, IT stocks were in focus as US President Donald Trump extended the freeze on the most sought-after H-1B visas by Indian IT professionals, along with other types of foreign work visas and green cards through March 31 to protect American workers, saying that the reasons for which he had imposed such restrictions amidst the pandemic have not changed. In scrip specific development, Coal India gained as its provisional production in December rose by 0.5 percent Y-o-Y to 58.3 million tonnes.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 48100.36, up by 231.38 points or 0.48% after trading in a range of 48047.54 and 48168.22. There were 24 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index surged 1.07%, while Small cap index was up by 0.93%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 2.38%, PSU up by 1.48%, Basic Materials up by 1.46%, Oil & Gas up by 1.27%, Industrials up by 1.27%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.05% was the sole losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 3.22%, TCS up by 1.58%, SBI up by 1.36%, Axis Bank up by 1.35% and ICICI Bank up by 1.13%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 0.40%, Reliance Industries down by 0.34%, Titan Company down by 0.30%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.28% and Bajaj Finance down by 0.02% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections touched a record-high of over Rs 1.15 lakh crore in December 2020, in signs that the economy continues to reflate after a strict lockdown. Mop-up from GST in December 2020 was 12 percent higher than Rs 1.03 lakh crore collected in the same month of 2019. The total number of GSTR-3B Returns filed for the month of November up to December 31, 2020 is Rs 87 lakh.

The Finance Ministry has stated that the continued rise in the GST mop up, which has crossed the psychological Rs 1 lakh crore-mark for the third straight month in the current fiscal, is due to the combined effect of the rapid economic recovery post-pandemic and the nation-wide drive against GST evaders and fake bills along with many systemic changes introduced recently, which have led to improved compliance. 

It further said GST revenues during December 2020, have been the highest since the introduction of GST on July 1, 2017. It noted that the highest collection till now was Rs 1,13,866 crore in April 2019. It also said GST collections, which directly reflects the state of economic activity, had plummeted to a record low of Rs 32,172 crore in April, after the government imposed a nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus. It added that subsequent easing of lockdown restrictions helped collections rise and it posted its first year-on-year growth in September 2020. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 14085.35, up by 66.85 points or 0.48% after trading in a range of 14080.15 and 14114.15. There were 43 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 3.06%, Tata Motors up by 2.63%, Hindalco up by 2.54%, Tata Steel up by 2.44% and GAIL India up by 2.14%. On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp down by 0.69%, Titan Company down by 0.52%, Reliance Industries down by 0.50%, Asian Paints down by 0.48% and Bajaj Auto down by 0.35% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Straits Times rose 6.82 points or 0.24% to 2,850.63, Hang Seng jumped 198.36 points or 0.73% to 27,429.49, Taiwan Weighted surged 183.34 points or 1.24% to 14,915.87, KOSPI gained 66.58 points or 2.32% to 2,940.05, Jakarta Composite increased 61.08 points or 1.02% to 6,040.15 and Shanghai Composite was up by 31.50 points or 0.91% to 3,504.57, while Nikkei 225 lost 176.42 points or 0.64% to 27,267.75.