Indian markets manage to add some gains in early noon deals

In a highly volatile session, Indian equity markets managed to add some gains in early afternoon session, with investors enlarging their positions in Metal and Basic Materials stocks. Sentiments were upbeat, as Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Piyush Goyal said that the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the EFTA countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland), which was finalised in March 2024, will come into effect from October 1, 2025. Besides, Minister of State (MoS) for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary has said that the recent GST reforms will spur market consumption and boost the domestic economy. He said the impact of these reforms will be known in the next four to six months.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed, as the value of retail sales in Japan was down a seasonally adjusted 1.1 percent on month in August, coming in at 12.683 trillion yen. That missed forecasts for an increase of 0.1 percent following the 0.4 percent gain in July. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 80471.10, up by 106.16 points or 0.13% after trading in a range of 80201.15 and 80677.82. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell by 0.01%, while Small cap index was down by 0.08%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.33%, Basic Materials up by 0.64%, PSU up by 0.61%, IT up by 0.46% and Bankex up by 0.36%, while Realty down by 0.66%, Telecom down by 0.48%, Consumer Durables down by 0.46%, Industrials down by 0.26% and Utilities down by 0.21% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HCL Tech. up by 1.19%, Bharat Electronics up by 1.14%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 0.99%, Hindustan Unilever up by 0.94% and Ultratech Cement up by 0.94%. On the flip side, ITC down by 0.87%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.51%, Reliance Industries down by 0.45%, Bajaj Finserv down by 0.41% and Tata Motors down by 0.33% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Minister of State (MoS) for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary has said that the recent GST reforms will spur market consumption and boost the domestic economy. He said the impact of these reforms will be known in the next four to six months. He said ‘Prime Minister Narendra Modi believes that when GST reforms bring additional money into the hands of the common people, it will definitely boost market purchasing and accelerate our economy.’ He said that though the GST system was introduced in 2017 under the leadership of PM Modi, efforts for it were going on for 10 years.

Taking aim at the previous Congress-led UPA government, the MoS said the then government was not successful in introducing the GST system because people didn't trust that government. The lack of credibility was the reason that the erstwhile government couldn't convince states to adopt the GST system. He alleged that the business community faced numerous difficulties due to a tax system riddled with various glitches when the previous government was in power.

Talking about the apprehension of tax revenues of states decreasing due to GST reforms, Choudhary said ‘the government's job is not just to collect revenue. The government's job is also to provide relief to the common man. We won't call this (GST reforms) a revenue loss. We have provided benefits to the public through this’.  He said ‘the savings from the GST reduction will put additional money in the hands of ordinary people. This will increase purchasing power in the market and boost our economy. This will make up (the reduction in state tax revenues which is apprehended)’. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24673.80, up by 38.90 points or 0.16% after trading in a range of 24593.95 and 24731.80. There were 36 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were JSW Steel up by 2.16%, Hindalco up by 1.77%, Shriram Finance up by 1.29%, Bharat Electronics up by 1.23% and HCL Tech. up by 1.15%. On the flip side, Interglobe Aviation down by 1.87%, ITC down by 1.04%, Bajaj Finserv down by 0.68%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.50% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.40% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Taiwan Weighted added 240.22 points or 0.93% to 25,820.54, Hang Seng advanced 152.12 points or 0.57% to 26,775.00, Straits Times rose 22.54 points or 0.53% to 4,292.52 and Shanghai Composite strengthened 20.25 points or 0.52% to 3,882.78, while KOSPI dropped 6.61 points or 0.19% to 3,424.60, Jakarta Composite plunged 45.15 points or 0.56% to 8,078.10 and Nikkei 225 slipped 60.75 points or 0.14% to 44,983.00.