After opening the day in green, share markets in India traded flat throughout the day and ended the day on a negative note. Losses were seen across most sectors with stocks in the realty sector and stocks in the banking sector, leading the losses.
At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood lower by 430 points (down 1.3%) and the NSE Nifty closed down by 110 points (down 1%). The BSE Mid Cap index ended the day down 0.8%, while the BSE Small Cap index ended the day down by 1.3%.
Asian stock markets finished in green. As of the most recent closing prices, the Hang Seng was up by 2.1% and the Shanghai Composite was up by 1%. The Nikkei 225 was up by 1.8%. Meanwhile, European markets, too were trading on a positive note. The FTSE 100 was up by 0.9%, The DAX, was up by 1.7% while the CAC 40 was up by 0.7%.
The rupee was trading at Rs 65.11 against the US$ in the afternoon session. Oil prices were trading at US$ 64.67 at the time of writing.
In news about the economy. According to a leading financial daily, the government is set to receive over Rs 100 billion as interim dividend from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
As per reports, the amount has been calculated for the six months through Dec 31 as RBI’s financial year runs from July to June.
The RBI had paid Rs 306 billion worth of dividend to the government in August 2017. The amount was almost half the normal rate, as the RBI cited costs related to demonetisation for the lower figure.
The central banker had earlier declined requests from the government for an additional payment after the dividend payout dropped to a five year low.
However an interim dividend worth Rs 100 billion looks to be on the cards.
Steady Decline in Fiscal Deficit Over the Years
The added revenue from the RBI could boost the government’s chances of meeting its fiscal deficit target.
The government missed its previous fiscal deficit target for FY18 by 30 basis points. Against a target of 3.2%, the government managed to keep fiscal deficit at 3.5% in FY18. It has also outlined the projected fiscal deficit target of 3.3% in FY19 in its budget.
