Bourses trade strength to strength in late afternoon session

Ignoring the Asian markets stocks, domestic markets continued strength to strength trading in late afternoon session on sustained buying activities in Auto and FMCG stocks. Sentiments remained upbeat, as report stated that foreign investors continued their positive momentum and have injected a net Rs 10,555 crore in Indian equities so far in December amid stabilisation in oil prices and moderating US inflation. Sector wise, IT stocks witnessed selling pressure after Accenture forecast lower-than-expected sales for the upcoming quarter. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red as investors wrestled with fears the Federal Reserve and European central banks might be willing to cause a recession to crush inflation. European markets were trading higher boosted by energy firms, after a bruising selloff last week sparked by growing fears of a recession as major central banks promised more interest rate hikes ahead.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 61634.89, up by 297.08 points or 0.48% after trading in a range of 61265.31 and 61710.18. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.32%, while Small cap index was up by 0.23%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 1.22%, FMCG up by 1.22%, PSU up by 0.86%, Metal up by 0.77% and Oil & Gas was up by 0.57%, while IT down by 0.80%, TECK down by 0.49% and Healthcare was down by 0.17% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.27%, Power Grid up by 2.23%, Bajaj Finserv up by 2.22%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.10% and Nestle up by 1.44%. On the flip side, TCS down by 1.24%, Infosys down by 1.01%, Sun Pharma down by 0.70%, Wipro down by 0.67% and Tata Motors down by 0.56% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Goods and Service Tax (GST) Council in its 48th meeting has decided to reduce GST on husk of pulses including chilka and concentrates including chuni/churi, khanda from 5% to nil. GST on ethyl alcohol supplied to refineries for blending with motor spirit (petrol) was also cut down to 5% from 18%.

It was also decided that no GST is payable where the residential dwelling is rented to a registered person if it is rented it in his/her personal capacity for use as his/her own residence and on his own account and not on account of his business. The council further noted that incentive paid to banks by Central Government under the scheme for promotion of RuPay Debit Cards and low value BHIM-UPI transactions are in the nature of subsidy and thus not taxable.

Besides, the GST Council unveiled measures for facilitation of trade and measures for streamlining compliances in GST. The Council has recommended to raise the minimum threshold of tax amount for launching prosecution under GST from Rs one crore to Rs two crore, except for the offence of issuance of invoices without supply of goods or services or both.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18366.15, up by 97.15 points or 0.53% after trading in a range of 18244.55 and 18383.65. There were 37 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Ports up by 3.17%, Eicher Motors up by 2.75%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.27%, Bajaj Finserv up by 2.26% and Power Grid Corp up by 2.23%. On the flip side, TCS down by 1.30%, Infosys down by 1.03%, Sun Pharma down by 0.76%, Wipro down by 0.68% and ONGC down by 0.65% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red, Nikkei 225 slipped 289.48 points or 1.05% to 27,237.64, Hang Seng decreased 97.86 points or 0.5% to 19,352.81, Taiwan Weighted dropped 95.23 points or 0.66% to 14,433.32, Shanghai Composite declined 60.74 points or 1.92% to 3,107.12, Jakarta Composite lost 32.49 points or 0.48% to 6,779.70 and KOSPI was down by 7.85 points or 0.33% to 2,352.17. On the flip side, Straits Times was up by 16.03 points or 0.49% to 3,256.84.

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 24.45 points or 0.33% to 7,356.57, France’s CAC increased 35.45 points or 0.55% to 6,488.08 and Germany’s DAX was up by 65.06 points or 0.47% to 13,958.13.