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Indian equity benchmarks were back to their winning ways on Thursday, the day of weekly F&O expiry, amid solid buying in utilities, power and industrials stocks. Markets made positive start and stayed in green throughout the session, as traders took encouragement with Commerce Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam’s statement that the country's merchandise exports are expected to touch $1 trillion by 2027-28 and the government has laid down a road map, including district as an export hub scheme, to achieve that number. Additional optimism also came as Department of Investment and Public Asset Management Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey said that disinvestment of public sector companies is back on track after the COVID-induced setbacks, and DIPAM is aiming to conclude a host of transactions by March-end. Sentiments remained positive with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement that the country's economic growth is picking up pace again and the domestic industry needs to enhance its risk-taking appetite. Noting the recent reforms taken by the government, he said that bringing reforms is a matter of conviction for his government, which is ready to take all risks in the national interest.

Benchmarks added more gains in late afternoon session, taking support from report that free vaccination drive rolled out by the government is likely to create a positive impact on the job market and on the overall economy as most respondents believed that it will help them in providing a safe work ecosystem to their employees with steady work opportunities. Traders also took note of Commerce and Industry Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam’s statement that India will fast-track free trade agreements (FTAs) with at least six nations - including the UAE, the UK, Australia, Canada, and the EU - over the next few months, in line with its revamped foreign trade strategy. However, gains remain capped as market participants awaited macro-economic data -- Industrial production for June and CPI inflation for August to be released later in the day.

On the global front, Asian markets ended mostly lower on Thursday amid increasing COVID-19 risks and concerns over the recent regulatory crackdown in China. The downside remained capped as a tame U.S. inflation reading suggested the Federal Reserve might not be in a hurry to tighten policy for now. European markets were trading mostly in green after moderating U.S. inflation eased concerns of earlier-than-expected stimulus tapering by the Federal Reserve. Investors shrugged off data showing that Eurozone industrial production declined again in June as supply-chain bottlenecks hindered activity.

Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 318.05 points or 0.58% to 54,843.98, while the CNX Nifty was up by 82.15 points or 0.50% to 16,364.40.   

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 54,874.10 and 54,536.65, respectively and there were 21 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index. 

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 1.07%, while Small cap index was up by 1.97%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 3.11%, Power up by 2.57%, Industrials up by 1.75%, Capital Goods up by 1.70% and IT up by 1.44%, while Energy down by 0.16% was the lone losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Power Grid Corporation up by 6.22%, Tech Mahindra up by 4.82%, HCL Technologies up by 2.82%, Titan Company up by 2.60% and Larsen & Toubro up by 2.33%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 0.67%, Indusind Bank down by 0.56%, Axis Bank down by 0.49%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.33% and Reliance Industries down by 0.28% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, days after the Centre government withdrew the retrospective tax amendments that led to international arbitration, Revenue Secretary Tarun Bajaj said it was the government’s policy to provide a stable and predictable tax regime. He stated that robust tax revenues in the first quarter of the current fiscal were encouraging but urged industry to revive the ‘animal spirit’ as far as private investment is concerned.

He stated ‘This is now the government’s policy to give a stable and predictable tax regime. This emanates from 2019. We came up with lower tax rates for the corporate sector, and also lower taxes for new units that would be set up by 2023’. He added ‘So the whole idea is to give the corporate sector time to plan itself, and give it a stable tax regime so that you're able to decide on other things like, whether you want to invest, where you want to invest and how you want to invest. He asked industry to come forward to invest, manufacture, start services and tell the government about what it requires from it.

The government, last week, introduced the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021, to withdraw retrospective tax demands made using a 2012 legislation on indirect transfer of Indian assets and also refund the amount paid in these cases without any interest. On industry’s demands for reduction of goods and services (GST) rates on certain items, Bajaj pointed out that the council would look at solutions to bring down the rates. It would take out certain items from the tax-exempt category and correct the inverted duty structure in the upcoming meetings.

The CNX Nifty traded in a range of 16,375.50 and 16,286.90 and there were 32 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.    

The top gainers on Nifty were Power Grid Corporation up by 5.95%, Tech Mahindra up by 4.71%, Tata Motors up by 3.86%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.57% and HCL Technologies up by 2.38%. On the flip side, Eicher Motors down by 4.09%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 0.78%, Cipla down by 0.59%, Indian Oil Corporation down by 0.57% and ONGC down by 0.51% were the top losers.

European markets were trading mostly in green; France’s CAC increased 13.21 points or 0.19% to 6,871.20, Germany’s DAX increased 63.98 points or 0.4% to 15,890.07 and UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 8.11 points or 0.11% to 7,212.03.

Asian markets ended mostly lower on Thursday following concerns over regulatory crackdown in China, while increasing Covid-19 risks too pressurising market sentiments. China's State Council and Communist Party Central Committee jointly released a five-year blueprint detailing increased supervision of key areas such as national security, technology, and monopolies in the world's second largest economy. Hong Kong shares settled lower as weaker-than-expected lending data fuelled economic slowdown concerns. Moreover, Japanese shares declined on profit booking after recent gains.  However, some losses were capped by easing concerns about any monetary tightening by the Federal Reserve after data showed a slowdown in US inflation growth.

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