Benchmarks extend previous session’s rally; Nifty ends near 5,600 level

Domestic benchmarks, building on previous session’s gains, concluded the day’s trade with a gain of over half a percent buoyed by strong global cues. Though, markets in the noon deals appeared to be exhausted with their run up rally, the lost momentum was soon restored as both the frontline indices were back on track thanks to significant buying in software and technology stocks ahead of fourth quarter results. The IT bellwether is likely to report a net profit of Rs 2,297 crore, down 3 per cent, as compared to Rs 2,369 crore, quarter-on-quarter. Revenues are likely to be at Rs 10,746 crore, up 3.08 per cent, as compared to Rs 10,424 crore in the same period. Sentiments also remained sanguine as the Finance Ministry is preparing itself to convince international rating agencies - Fitch, Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s - that the Indian economy is on a strong recovery path. Last year, the three agencies were a bit liberal in their criticism of India’s macro-economic fundamentals and precarious public finances.

Domestic markets after losing steam in noon deal regained their strength supported by firm opening in European counters while, rally in Asian markets too aided the sentiments. Most of the Asian equity indices shut shop in green as positive economic data from China boosted the investors’ confidence. China recorded a mild trade deficit of $884 million in March as imports surged way ahead of market expectations, growing 14.1% year-on-year, while annual export growth of 10.0% were largely in line with forecasts. Meanwhile, Seoul’s Kospi, ended higher joined in with positive regional mood, despite of North Korea tensions and worries about exporter competitiveness as the won rose against the yen.

Back home, sentiments remained jubilant for most part of the day’s trade as foreign institutional investors (FII) bought shares worth Rs 40.22 crore while domestic institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 197.29 crore on April 10. Some support also came in after shares of private banking majors HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank edged higher during the trade on tracking gains of their respective American Depository Receipts listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Additionally, auto space too gained by about a percentage point in today’s trade led by about four percent gains in Tata Motors on hopes that unit Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) will report solid global wholesales for March, which are due later in the day.

Bucking the trend, Bharti Airtel ended lower by almost two and a half percent after the Supreme Court directed company to continue operations as per 3G ICR pacts though, it cannot add new 3G customers. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had on March 15 issued a notification restraining Bharti from providing 3G intra-circle roaming facilities in seven circles where it did not have the spectrum and also levied a penalty of Rs 350 crore (Rs 50 crore per circle) for allegedly violating the licence terms and conditions.

The NSE’s 50-share broadly followed index Nifty rose by over thirty five points to end near its psychological 5,600 support level, while Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index -- Sensex surged by about one hundred and thirty points to end above its crucial 18,500 mark. Moreover, broader markets too traded with traction during the session and ended the trade in green.

The overall volumes stood above Rs 1.75 lakh crore, which remained on the higher side as compared to that on Wednesday. The market breadth remained in favor of advances as there were 886 shares on the gaining side against 796 shares on the losing side while 765 shares remain unchanged.

Finally, the BSE Sensex gained 127.75 points or 0.69% to settle at 18,542.20, while the CNX Nifty rose by 35.30 points or 0.64% to end at 5,594.00.

The BSE Sensex touched a high and a low of 18,599.14 and 18,397.94, respectively. The BSE Mid cap index up by 0.06% and Small cap index was up by 0.64%.

The top gainers on the Sensex were, Tata Motors up by 3.92%, Infosys up by 3.72%, ICICI Bank up by 3.52%, L&T up by 2.05% and Sun Pharma up by 1.81%, while Bharti Airtel down by 2.31%, Tata Steel down by 2.24%, HDFC down by 1.90%, NTPC down 1.48% and Bajaj Auto down by 1.42% were the top losers on the index.

The top gainers on the BSE Sectoral space were Realty up 2.21%, IT up 2.04%, Bankex up 1.53%, TECk up 1.49% and Capital Goods up 1.25%, while Power down 0.76%, Metal down 0.74% and Oil & Gas down 0.42% were the top losers on the sectoral space.

Meanwhile, a meeting of the Central Direct Taxes Advisory Committee (CDTAC) is likely to held soon to solve the procedural and administrative difficulties faced by income tax assesses. Finance minister, who heads the CDTAC, is expected to clear the way on the tax administration reform commission, which is proposed to be set up by the government. Further, heads of the three industry chambers - ASSOCHAM, CII and FICCI are expected to submit their views to the panel, who are also the members of the committee.  

Currently, income tax assesses are not satisfied with the effectiveness of the present tax system and would prefer faster processing of refunds, well defined guidelines for stay and recovery matters and  higher interest on delayed refunds. The panel will discuss the two persistent issues- tax recovery and litigation arising out of the procedures adopted by the Income-Tax Department.    

Finance Minister P Chidambaram, in his Budget speech, has stressed the need for efficient tax system in the country and said that an emerging economy must have a tax system that reflects best global practices.

The CNX Nifty touched a high and a low of 5,610.65 and 5,542.85 respectively. 

The top gainers on the Nifty were DLF up by 4.83%, Lupin up 3.81%, Tata Motors up 3.81%, Infosys up 3.53% and ICICI Bank up by 3.46%.

On the flip side, the top losers of the index were, Bharti Airtel down by 2.70%, Tata Steel down by 2.31%, NTPC down by 2.14%, Grasim down by 2.08% and HDFC down by 2.04%.

Most of the European markets were trading in green, France’s CAC 40 up by 0.51%, the United Kingdom’s FTSE 100 up by 0.27% and Germany’s DAX up by 0.44%.

Extending earlier session’s gains, Asian markets ended mostly higher on Thursday, on the back of another record performance from Wall Street. Japan’s Nikkei closed with strong gains after touching a fresh multi-year high as the dollar approached the 100-yen mark. However, the ambitiously quixotic Shanghai Composite went home with red mark, while Hang Seng market was more closely correlated to the global mood. Meanwhile, Seoul’s Kospi, ended higher joined in with positive regional mood, despite of North Korea tensions and worries about exporter competitiveness as the won rose against the yen.