Benchmarks continue their northward journey in late morning

After making positive opening, Indian equity benchmarks continued with their upward momentum and hit a fresh all-time high as global investors remained bullish on Indian markets on improving macro economic situation. Sentiments remained up-beat on report that the India’s indirect tax collections grew by 5.6 percent to Rs 4,41,826 crore during the April-February period of current fiscal as against Rs 4,18,286 recorded in the same period of previous fiscal.  Buying in metals and mining sector stocks too supported the sentiments after a panel set up by Supreme Court recommended lifting a ban on iron ore mining in Goa, albeit limiting output to 20 million tonnes, about 40 per cent of what the state use to produce before the mining ban. The court will consider the panel’s suggestions today.

Sentiments also got some support on rating agency Moody’s report, which said that the sharp fall in India's current account deficit (CAD), will limit its vulnerability to global financial market volatility, though persistently high inflation remains a major risk. India’s CAD dropped sharply to $4.2 billion or 0.9% of GDP during October-December 2013 from $31.9 billion or 6.5% of GDP in the same quarter last year.

On the global front, most of the Asian markets were trading in green. Back home, traders were buying, Power, Oil & Gas and Auto stocks, while selling was seen in IT. Aviation stocks such as SpiceJet and Jet Airways edged higher after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday, March 26, 2014 announced extension in the deadline for aviation sector to raise funds through external commercial borrowings (ECBs) route till March 2015.

The market breadth on BSE remains positive with advances to declines in the ratio of 1291:637. BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty were comfortably trading near their psychological 22,100 and 6,600 levels respectively. The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 22189.95 up by 94.65 points or 0.43% after trading in a range of 22204.94 and 22094.29. There were 23 stocks advancing against 7 declines on the index. The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.78% and Small cap index up by 1.10%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Power up by 0.89%, Oil & Gas up by 0.82%, Auto up by 0.81%, Consumer Durables up by 0.80% and Realty up by 0.62% while IT down by 0.21% was the only loser on the sectoral index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were SBI up by 2.23%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.03%, BHEL up by 1.67%, RIL up by 1.32% and Hindustan Unilever up by 1.28%. On the flip side, ONGC was down by 1.29%, TCS was down by 0.73%, SSLT was down by 0.60%, Coal India was down by 0.52% and Dr Reddys Lab was down by 0.43% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, India’s indirect tax collections grew by 5.6 percent to Rs 4,41,826 crore during the April-February period of current fiscal as against Rs 4,18,286 recorded in the same period of previous fiscal. Indirect tax collection, which includes excise, customs and service tax, is the main source of revenue for the government. Total collection of indirect taxes in February 2014 rose by 5 percent to Rs 43,794 crore, against Rs 41,714 crore in the same month last fiscal

During the April-February’ FY14, service tax collections grew by 18.2 percent to Rs 1,34,171 crore, while Customs duty contributed Rs 1,49,211 crore during the period. However, excise collections dropped 3.8 percent during the period to Rs 1,49,711 crore, against Rs 1,55,570 crore in the same period in the last fiscal year owing to the slow manufacturing activities in the country. .

The Government has set revised indirect tax collection target at Rs 5.19 lakh crore for FY14, lower than Rs 5.65 lakh crore set earlier. Meanwhile, the government is unlikely to achieve even the revised set target as it require around Rs 78,000 crore indirect tax collection during March to reach at Rs 5.19 lakh crore. Prevailing economic slowdown is the major reason for low indirect tax collection. Tax collection is the major source of revenue for the country and the government has been taking measures to enhance tax collections revenue as India's fiscal deficit in the first ten months of the 2013/14 financial year crossed the set target at Rs 5.33 lakh crore during April-January, or 101.6 percent of the full year target, compared with 89.4 percent at the same period a year ago.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 6,633.55 up by 32.15 points or 0.49% after trading in a range of 6,638.80 and 6,599.50. There were 36 stocks advancing against 14 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were BPCL up by 4.00%, IDFC up by 2.52%, Asian Paint up by 2.43%, SBI up by 2.18% and Bharti Airtel up by 2.03%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 1.17%, Kotak Bank down by 0.80%, SSLT down by 0.69%, TCS down by 0.64% and Coal India down by 0.57% were the top losers on the index.

Most of the Asian equity indices were trading in green; Jakarta Composite strengthened 16.04 points or 0.34% to 4,744.28, Nikkei 225 soared 38.70 points or 0.27% to 14,517.06, Straits Times rose 12.63 points or 0.40% to 3,155.57, Seoul Composite surged by 7.16 points or 0.35% to 1,971.57, Taiwan Weighted was up by 29.20 points or 0.35% to 8,767.44 and KLSE Composite was up by 0.34 points or 0.02% to 1,839.48.On the flip side, Hang Seng down by 98.40 points or 0.45% to 21,789.35 and Shanghai Composite declined by 16.38 points or 0.79% to 2,047.29.