Benchmark indices were trading higher in the noon trade on Monday after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said India will launch a new national Goods and Services Tax (GST) as planned on July 1and gave return filing breather to India Inc for two months.
Global stocks were steady tracking Wall Street’s uninspiring performance, as investors braced for start of Brexit talks.
At 12:02 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 31,203, up 146 points, while the broader Nifty50 was ruling at 9,625, up 37 points.
Broader markets underperformed benchmark indices with S&P BSE Midcap up 0.2% and the S&P BSE Smallcap up 0.05%.
"A fortnight long consolidation has seen prices slipping systemically and at a slow pace, devoid of much drama.This has significantly raised the the chances of an upswing that could potentially fast track the race to 10k. Alternatively, a direct fall below 9,540 negate all such possibilities, and will push the upside prospects away for the near term, at least until 8,900 is seen," said Geogit Financial Services in a note.
Buzzing Stocks
Tata Steel, RIL, Bajaj Auto and TCSwere the top gainers on BSE Sensex while Cipla, Coal India, ONGC and Infosys were the top losers.
Tata Steel gained 1.5% after Tata Sons said it plans to buy out Tata Steel's stake in Tata Motors on or after June 23, in a regulatory filing on Saturday. Tata Motors fell 0.8% on the announcement.
RIL gained nearly 2% after Bank of America Merill Lynch said in a report that around 90% of Reliance Jio users are estimated to have subscribed to its promotional Prime membership plan.
GST July 1 launch on; return timelines extended
GST Council on Sunday decided to introduce the new indirect tax system from the midnight of June 30-July 1, but gave a relaxed timetable and exemption from penalties and late fees to industry while filing returns in the first two months.
Jaitley, speaking after a meeting of a GST coordination panel, said there would be "a slight relaxation of time" covering July and August before the strict GST filing timetable would apply from September.
More than 6.5 million businesses have already signed up for the GST, Jaitley said, more than four-fifths of those already registered to pay India's old business taxes. Read full story here
CDSL's IPO opens today
The initial public offering (IPO) of leading securities depository Central Depository Services (CDSL) will open for subscription on June 19, with a price band of Rs 145-149 per share.
The company is expected to raise Rs 509.92 crore at the lower end of price band and Rs 523.99 crore at the higher end of the price band.
Global Markets
Asian stocks rose on Monday, amid muted Wall Street's uninspiring performance on Friday, while sterling was mostly steady after a van rammed into pedestrians in London even as markets braced for the start of Brexit talks.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.5% while Japan's Nikkei added 0.6%.
Australian shares climbed 0.5 and South Korea's KOSPI jumped 0.6%.
Chinese shares advanced 0.55% after data showed home prices rose 10.4% in May from a year ago, although slowing from April's 10.7% gain.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.85%.