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Sensex Ends Day in Green, Realty Sector in Focus, and Top Stocks in Action
Tue, 26 Feb Pre-Open

On Monday, share markets in India opened on a positive note and ended the day in green after an optimistic day of trading.

The BSE Sensex closed higher by 342 points to end the day at 36,213. While the broader NSE Nifty ended up by 88 points, to end the day at 10,880 points.

Among BSE sectoral indices, IT stocks rose the most by 2.6%, followed by auto stocks at 1.1%. Yes Bank and TCS were among the top gainers.

Top Stocks in Action Today

Bank of Baroda share price will be in focus today as the lender has tied up with Germany's KfW Development Bank to extend funding of $113 million to refinance solar projects, under the Solar Partnership II - Promotion of Solar PV in India.

This proposal constitutes part of the overarching Indo-German Solar Energy Partnership. Under an inter-governmental Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in 2015, Germany has committed to providing financing support through KfW Development Bank for solar photo voltaic investments.

Infosys share price is likely to be in focus today as the IT major has launched new service offerings that will help enterprises imagine and create new economies with 5G technology, while simultaneously helping communication service providers accelerate and monetize their 5G network deployment.

As per an article in a leading financial daily, the company's newly established 5G Living Labs in five global locations - (Bengaluru, Richardson, Indianapolis, Frankfurt and Melbourne) will help ideate and bring these new economies to life.

GST Council Cuts Rates on Real Estate

Goods and Services Tax (GST) council reduced the GST rate on under-construction houses.

Sunteck realty share price, Mahindra Lifespace share price, and Oberoi realty share price gained around 2-5% on back of the above news.

For flats priced more than Rs 4.5 million, the new GST rate applicable from April 1, 2019 stands at 5% against 12%.

The council also cut GST rates on affordable housing to 1% from the current 8%. In both cases, the builders will not be eligible to claim input tax credit in the new structure.

Currently, GST is levied at an effective rate of 12% (standard rate of 18% less a deduction of 6% as land value) on normal housing and effective rate of 8% (concessional rate of 12% less a deduction of 4% as land value) on affordable housing on payments made for under-construction property or ready-to-move-in flats where completion certificate has not been issued at the time of sale.

According to reports, the committees will also look at issues such as transfer of development rights, joint development agreements, lease premium, sale and transfer of floor space index, among other issues.

The stamp duty and registration and other charges remain as they are. Flats, which have received completion certificates, are out of the purview of GST. The decision on GST rates on lottery, however, was not taken at the meeting.

Note that The BSE Realty index has been volatile in the last five years.

Here's what Sarvajeet Bodas wrote about it in one of the recent editions of The 5 Minute WrapUp...

  • In 2017, the BSE Realty index was the best performer with a massive gain of 98%. In the next year, the index was the worst performer with a decline of 31%.

    In 2018, the realty sector took a beating on the back of concerns of higher interest rates and accounting changes (from percentage of completion method to completion method). The NBFC crisis added to the woes.

    Interestingly, 2018 also witnessed some improvement in real estate sales.

    2019 hasn't been good so far with the index down about 3%.

    However, the recent budgetary support and interest rate reduction by the RBI could help to revive demand.

    Buying the right real estate stock today is the way to go.

He believes, this could be the turning point for the real estate sector.

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