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Benchmarks keep head above water in early deals
Mar-19-2019

Indian equity benchmarks have made a cautious start and are managing to keep their head above water in early deals. Traders remained on sidelines ahead of all-powerful Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council’s 34th meeting to be held later in the day, it is expected to take up various issues including the implementation of lower GST rates for the real estate sector. In the previous meeting, the Council slashed tax rates for under-construction flats to 5% and affordable homes to 1%, effective April 1. Traders are getting some support with a report that the net direct tax collection figure has crossed the Rs 10 lakh crore mark as on March 16, helped by the fourth and final installment of tax payment. The entire advance tax data from across the country has not come yet. The net direct tax collection during April-January of this fiscal stood at Rs 7.89 lakh crore as against Rs 12 lakh crore targeted for the entire fiscal of 2018-19.

On the global front, all the Asian counters are trading in red at this point of time ahead of a closely watched meeting by the US Federal Reserve set to kick off later in the day. The US markets settled higher on Monday, ahead of a meeting of Federal Reserve policy makers to begin on March 19, while losses for aircraft maker Boeing dragged capped the further gains.

Back home, information technology (IT) sector stocks edged lower with ICRA’s report that the IT services sector is estimated to clock a flat growth of up to 9% in the fiscal year 2019-20. It also said that there will be higher consolidation in the industry, especially among the small and mid-size players, owing to margin pressures in the next decade. Sugar sector stocks declined despite the Indian Sugar Mills Association’s (ISMA) statement that India’s sugar production rose by 6% to 273.47 lakh tonne till March 15, 2019. On the corresponding date last year, 258.20 lakh tons had been produced.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 38123.72, up by 28.65 points or 0.08% after trading in a range of 38091.02 and 38243.86. There were 19 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.25%, while Small cap index was up by 0.28%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.04%, Healthcare up by 0.90%, Oil & Gas up by 0.90%, PSU up by 0.77%, Realty up by 0.57% while, Auto down by 1.08%, Capital Goods down by 0.90%, Industrials down by 0.52%, Metal down by 0.40%, Consumer Disc down by 0.35% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 2.00%, Sun Pharma up by 1.20%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.16%, HCL Tech up by 0.94% and ITC up by 0.89%. On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.35%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.74%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.53%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.96% and Tata Motors - DVR down by 0.88% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant has stated that there is need to bring revolution in farm sector to attain 9-10% Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth. He also said that there is a need to boost investment in the agriculture sector as well as to introduce new technology and market reforms.

He stressed on scrapping Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee and some old laws like Essential Commodites Act, which restrict movement of farm produces. However, he said agriculture is a state subject and the central government has limited role in it.

Niti Aayog CEO said ‘in India 50% of our population is dependent on agriculture. If India's GDP has to grow at 9-10% for the next 30 years, then it cannot be without bringing revolution in the agri sector.’ in order to boost farmers' income, he emphasised on eliminating middlemen in marketing of farm produces.

Kant has expressed confidence that farmer income will be doubled by 2022. He further said there is a need to spread good agriculture practice and success stories of farmers across the country. He added that the second revolution in agriculture will come from technology and marketing.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11467.35, up by 5.15 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 11454.95 and 11501.50. There were 31 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 2.10%, Bharti Infratel up by 1.51%, Sun Pharma up by 1.41%, GAIL India up by 1.32% and HCL Tech up by 1.17%. On the flip side, Eicher Motors down by 2.43%, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.14%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.76%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.57% and JSW Steel down by 1.41% were the top losers.

All the Asian counters are trading in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 35.51 points or 0.16% to 21,548.99, Straits Times dipped 3.46 points or 0.11% to 3,209.50, Hang Seng shed 74.40 points or 0.25% to 29,334.61, Taiwan Weighted decreased 13.88 points or 0.13% to 10,498.82, KOSPI dropped 1.66 points or 0.08% to 2,177.83 and Jakarta Composite was down by 27.82 points or 0.43% to 6,481.63.
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