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Bourses hold strong gains in late afternoon deals
Feb-19-2020

Indian equity bourses were holding their strong gains in late afternoon session, on the back of firm cues from European markets. Investors remained optimistic with the Minister of State for Finance Anurag Singh Thakur’s statement that the government expects to resolve 90 per cent of the income tax disputes through 'Vivaad se Vishwas' scheme announced in the Budget for 2020-21. Market participants paid no heed towards a private report stating that the sharp reduction in lending rates is insufficient to prop up credit growth which is set to fall in July this year. Deterioration in factory output and real wage growth are the impeding factors limiting the growth in credit.

On the global front, European markets were trading in green, even after Germany's economic sentiment logged a steep fall in February as investors increasingly grew concerned about the impact of the coronavirus outbreak in China. The survey results from the ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research revealed that the investor confidence indicator slumped to 8.7 from 26.7 in January. Asian markets were also trading in green, despite Japan posted a merchandise trade deficit of 1,312.6 billion yen in January. That beat estimates for a shortfall of 1,684.8 billion yen following the 154.6 billion yen deficit in December.

Back home, the automobile sector stocks were in watch, after credit rating agency Fitch Ratings said that slowing GDP growth and weak consumer sentiment in India will continue to weigh on auto sales despite some improvement in the quarter ended December 2019.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 41237.78, up by 343.40 points or 0.84% after trading in a range of 41048.93 and 41332.01. There were 20 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining, while 1 stock remain unchanged on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.17%, while Small cap index was up by 1.46%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 2.14%, Energy up by 2.09%, Power up by 1.51%, FMCG up by 1.47% and Oil & Gas up by 1.41%, while Auto down by 0.15% and IT down by 0.07% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindustan Unilever up by 2.56%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.37%, Reliance Industries up by 2.31%, NTPC up by 2.19% and Nestle up by 2.16%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 1.27%, TCS down by 0.75%, Indusind Bank down by 0.54%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.54% and Maruti Suzuki down by 0.40% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, emphasizing the need to curb frauds in the tax system, the Minister of State for Finance Anurag Singh Thakur has said that the government expects to resolve 90 per cent of the income tax disputes through 'Vivaad se Vishwas' scheme announced in the Budget for 2020-21.The scheme is aimed at resolving tax disputes worth over Rs 9.32 lakh crore in 4.8 lakh cases.

The minister also assured that the interests of entrepreneurs paying taxes honestly will be protected. He further noted that more than 95 per cent of the cases involving disputes related to payment of indirect taxes through 'Sabka Vishwas Yojana' have been settled in the last two months, adding about Rs 40,000 crore to the government kitty.

Besides, the Minister of State for Finance said over 41,000 cases related to income tax disputes in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh are pending in various tribunals in which the government has to realise a huge amount. On the economic front, Thakur said that the government would achieve the ambitious target of making the country a $5 trillion economy by 2024-25 with the participation of youths.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 12101.40, up by 108.90 points or 0.91% after trading in a range of 12042.10 and 12126.00. There were 38 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Infratel up by 6.67%, Grasim Industries up by 3.96%, Zee Entertainment up by 3.32%, Coal India up by 3.32% and Hindustan Unilever up by 2.56%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 2.29%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.38%, JSW Steel down by 1.00%, TCS down by 0.76% and Maruti Suzuki down by 0.49% were the top losers.

All European markets were trading in green, UK’s FTSE 100 rose 60.67 points or 0.82% to 7,442.68, France’s CAC gained 29.18 points or 0.48% to 6,086.00 and Germany’s DAX was up by 52.27 points or 0.38% to 13,733.46.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 206.90 points or 0.89% to 23,400.70, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 109.86 points or 0.94% to 11,758.84, Hang Seng increased 109.63 points or 0.4% to 27,639.83, Jakarta Composite soared 29.77 points or 0.51% to 5,916.73, Straits Times advanced 18.07 points or 0.57% to 3,214.70 and KOSPI rose 1.46 points or 0.07% to 2,210.34. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite declined 7.63 points or 0.26% to 2,977.34.

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