Nifty reclaims 8,200 ahead of GST Council meet; Power Grid top gainer

The benchmark indices rebounded from day's lows but were still trading in a range as investors awaited the two-day GST (Goods and Services Tax) Council meeting, which begins later in the day.

At 11:07 am, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 26,650, up 55 points, while Nifty50 was ruling at 8,202, up 23 points.

Broader market outperformed the headline indices with BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap gaining 0.7% and 0.9%, respectively.

"We maintain our optimistic stance on the market and expect the Nifty to move towards 8,229-8,274 in the forthcoming session. On the flipside, 8,133-8,100 are now likely to provide a decent support," said brokerage Angel Broking in a research note. 

On Monday, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 260.64 crore, while Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 20.66 crore, provisional data available with BSE showed.

Buzzing stocks

Shares of Infosys tanked 2% to Rs 981 after IT major's chief executive Vishal Sikka cautioned in a letter to his employees that the tidal wave of automation and technology-fuelled transformation could make the traditional information technology services obsolete.

Hero MotoCorp also fell 2% to Rs 2966 after the two-wheeler major reported 33.91% dip in its total sales in December 2016 at 3,30,202 units as against 4,99,665 units in the same month previous year. 

Power Grid, ICICI Bank and SBI were the top gainers on Sensex. Power Grid rallied 2% to Rs 185 after the company transferred 3.06 crore shares in Power System to government. 

Shares of logistics companies such as Gati, Patel Integrated Logistics, Snowman Logistics, Transport Corporation of India, Allcargo Logistics, Sical Logistics, Gateway Distriparks and VRL Logistics were up 3%-7% ahead of the GST Council meet today.

GST Council meet begins today
 

The GST Council will meet Commerce and Industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman and representatives of IT, telecom, heavy industry, road transport, banking and insurance sectors on Tuesday to assess the implementation hurdles under the new goods and services tax regime. Representatives of civil aviation and railway sectors will make a presentation at the two-day meeting of the GST Council, comprising Union finance minister, minister of state for revenue, and state representatives mainly finance ministers.

Core sector output grows  

On the macro front, core sector output rose 4.9% in November 2016 on the back of a strong expansion in steel production and electricity generation, but the pace of growth was down from 6.6% in October 2016, data released yesterday showed. Part of the buoyancy was due to the base effect of a lower growth rate at 0.6% in November 2015.

Global markets

Asian stocks began 2017 on a mixed note most after most regional markets reopened after the New Year holiday. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was little changed. Australian shares, however, were off to a robust start, jumping almost 1%, while South Korea added 0.2%. China's Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index also added 0.7% and 0.3%, respectively, while Japan was closed for an extended New Year holiday.

US stocks will resume trade later today. On Friday, Dow Jones lost 57.18 points, or 0.29%, to 19,762. The S&P500 index declined 10.43 points, or 0.46%, to close at 2,238, while Nasdaq Composite index dropped 48.97 points, or 0.9%, to end at 5,383.