Key benchmark indices witnessed a divergent trend in early trade. At 9:18 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 72.32 points or 0.22% at 33,386.88. The Nifty 50 index was down 1.40 points or 0.01% at 10,320.35.
The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.26%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index advanced 0.37%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.
Overseas, Asian stocks witnessed a mixed trend. US stocks closed mostly lower on Friday, 10 November 2017, as they snapped multi-week winning streaks while some of the largest tech stocks pulled back.
Closer home, the breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On BSE, 946 shares rose and 464 shares declined. A total of 56 shares were unchanged.
Axis Bank rose 2.2% at Rs 556.50 after the bank said that its board of directors at a meeting held on Friday, 10 November 2017, approved raising funds worth Rs 11626 crore through issue of equity shares and convertible warrants on a preferential basis to Bain Capital and other investors including Life Insurance Corporation of India. The issue price of equity shares is Rs 525 per share while the issue price of convertible warrants is Rs 565 per warrant. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 10 November 2017.
Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) advanced 2.23% at Rs 1,424.45 after the company said that it has fixed 23 December 2017 as the record date issue of bonus shares. The announcement was made on Saturday, 11 November 2017. It may be recalled that board of directors of M&M at its meeting held on 10 November 2017 had recommended issue of bonus shares in the proportion of 1:1, i.e. one bonus share for every one share held as on record date.
BPCL fell 1.56% to Rs 505. The company's net profit rose 80.6% to Rs 2357.40 crore on 19.3% growth in net sales to Rs 53325.20 crore in Q2 September 2017 over Q2 September 2016. The result was announced after market hours on Friday, 10 November 2017.
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Coal India declined 1.91% at Rs 279.20 after consolidated net profit fell 39.8% to Rs 368.88 crore on 11.9% growth in net sales to Rs 17478.52 crore in Q2 September 2017 over Q2 September 2016. The result was announced on Saturday, 11 November 2017.
L&T was down 2.12% at Rs 1,237.30. The company's consolidated net profit rose 31.9% to Rs 2020.30 crore on 6.4% growth in net sales to Rs 26446.76 crore in Q2 September 2017 over Q2 September 2016. Consolidated order book of the group stood at Rs 257526 crore as at 30 September 2017, higher by 2% on a y-o-y basis with international order book constituting 26% of the total order book. The result was announced on Saturday, 11 November 2017.
In its outlook, L&T said that the government's determined efforts to revive the investment sentiment while undertaking impactful economic reforms have expectedly caused transition challenges. While the potential for investment in growth remains compelling, the readjustment to the continuing impact of currency purge and the accelerated implementation of GST has upset business environment and tripped growth in an economy already beset with twin challenges of attracting investments and adhering to fiscal rectitude, L&T said.
The company expects that the various reforms and economic measures over the past year would take some more time to stoke growth. Focus for the company continues to remain on improvement of return on equity through reduction of working capital and higher operational efficiencies, L&T added.
Meanwhile, L&T during market hours today, 13 November 2017 said that its wholly owned subsidiary L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering (LTHE), has bagged an offshore contract valued at approximately Rs 1267 crore from ONGC, for the balance work for pipeline replacement project-4.
On the macro front, data released by the government after market hours on Friday, 10 November 2017 showed that India's index of industrial production (IIP) rose 3.8% in September 2017 over September 2016. The IIP growth in August 2017 was at 4.5%.
The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, at its meeting held on Friday, 10 November 2017 at Guwahati, announced rationalization of the tax structure. With regard to recommendations on the composition scheme, a uniform rate of tax of 1% under composition scheme is recommended for manufacturers and traders (for traders, turnover will be counted only for supply of taxable goods). No change for composition scheme for restaurants. Annual turnover eligibility for composition scheme will be increased to Rs 2 crore from the present limit of Rs 1 crore under the law. Thereafter, eligibility for composition will be increased to Rs 1.5 crore per annum.
The Council has recommended major relief in GST rates on certain goods and services. These recommendations spread across many sectors and across commodities. As per these recommendations, the list of 28% GST rated goods is recommended to be pruned substantially, from 224 tariff headings to only 50 tariff headings including 4 headings which have been partially reduced to 18%.
Further, the Council has recommended changes in GST rates on a number of goods, so as to rationalise the rate structure with a view to minimise classification disputes.
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