Benchmarks add gains in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks added gains in morning deals, shrugging off weakness across other Asian markets. Sentiments remained positive with Tarun Bajaj, Revenue Secretary, Ministry of Finance, stated that simplification of Goods and Services Tax (GST) law, rationalisation of rates, and removal of tax inversion are among the priority for the government of India. He also said the government is looking forward to having lower rates on fewer products, with indirect taxes contributing 35-40 per cent of the tax revenue. Some support also came as foreign institutional investors (FIIs) turned net buyers for the first time since May 30, buying shares worth Rs 1,295.84 crore on July 5, as per provisional data available on the NSE. Traders overlooked the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) data showed the rate of unemployment in India rose to 7.8 per cent in June due to a sharp jump in unemployment in rural areas.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading in red, amid concerns about steep hikes in COVID-era interest rates and their impact on economic growth. Traders looked ahead to the release of the minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting later today for cues on the state of the economy. Back home, Steel and cement industry stocks remained in limelight as Fitch Ratings forecast strong medium-term growth to support the demand for India's steel, cement and chemicals sectors, with improved economic activity boosting power and petroleum product sales.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 53392.80, up by 258.45 points or 0.49% after trading in a range of 53143.28 and 53505.93. 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 0.41%, while Small cap index was up by 0.12%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 1.72%, Consumer Disc up by 1.21%, Bankex up by 0.84%, FMCG up by 0.77% and Realty up by 0.55%, while Metal down by 2.65%, Energy down by 0.71%, PSU down by 0.59%, Basic Materials down by 0.56% and Oil & Gas down by 0.54% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finance up by 3.08%, Asian Paints up by 2.76%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.23%, Hindustan Unilever up by 2.02% and Maruti Suzuki up by 1.86%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 2.16%, NTPC down by 1.21%, Power Grid Corporation down by 0.68%, Reliance Industries down by 0.59% and Infosys down by 0.20% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union food and consumer affairs minister Piyush Goyal has asked states to encourage farmers to increase sowing area for paddy and wheat. Higher domestic production will help country to increase exports and help farmers as there is growing demand internationally. Further, he asked state governments to submit their pending food subsidy claims up to 2019-20 fiscal years at the earliest for speedy settlements of old accounts.

He urged all states to submit their claims by August 15 with all supporting papers and audit reports. The states which will file claims by August 15 will get their dues by October 15. However, if the papers are filed by September 30, the settlement will be made by January 2023 without any interest.  He mentioned ‘Very often states come to us saying that we have old pending subsidy claims. Very often the subsidy claims are pending not because of funds are not available, because you are not providing the data and you are not fulfilling the requirements of audit as has been very well articulated to all of you.

He added ‘We are ready to clear everybody’s dues up to the year 2019-20…if you do not submit your claims with the supportings, we will consider your claims as null and void and we will close all files till 2019-20.’ Besides, he told state governments that there is no shortage of funds with the Centre for settling old food subsidy claims but the delay was because states are not filing their claims with proper documents.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15880.05, up by 69.20 points or 0.44% after trading in a range of 15800.90 and 15905.00. There were 39 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Finance up by 3.32%, Eicher Motors up by 3.07%, Asian Paints up by 2.76%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.49% and Hero MotoCorp up by 1.99%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 4.91%, Hindalco down by 4.16%, Tata Steel down by 2.05%, Coal India down by 1.92% and JSW Steel down by 1.54% were the top losers.

All the Asian markets are trading in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 282.21 points or 1.07% to 26,141.26, Hang Seng decreased 298.75 points or 1.37% to 21,554.32, Jakarta Composite lost 73.43 points or 1.1% to 6,629.84, Taiwan Weighted dropped 236.72 points or 1.65% to 14,112.48, KOSPI fell 29.21 points or 1.25% to 2,312.57, Shanghai Composite declined 45.50 points or 1.34% to 3,358.53 and Straits Times trembled 3.54 points or 0.11% to 3,100.57.