Benchmarks continue weak trade in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets continued their weak trade in the late afternoon session on account of selling in front line blue chip counters taking cues from global markets as doubts mounted about Beijing's ability to manage the world's second-biggest economy. The sentiments were also under pressure following reports of consumer sentiments in India which fell for the fourth consecutive month in December to the lowest on record, as consumers reported a further deterioration in their personal finances amid rising inflation. Traders were seen piling position in Auto stocks while selling was witnessed in PSU, IT and TECK sector stocks. In scrip specific development, Sun TV Networks was trading in red after the former telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran, his brother and Sun Group chief Kalanithi Maran and four others were charge sheeted by the Enforcement Directorate in the Special 2G court in connection with a money laundering case lodged in the Aircel-Maxis deal.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading in red while the European markets were trading mostly on pessimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading below the psychological 7,600 and 24,900 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 1147:1515 while 132 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 24848.91, down by 85.42 points or 0.34% after trading in a range of 24598.90 and 24861.74. There were 9 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.65%, while Small cap index down by 0.35%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE was Auto up by 0.38%, while PSU down by 0.98%, IT down by 0.94%, TECK down by 0.92%, Capital Goods down by 0.91% and Metal down by 0.73% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Reliance Industries up by 3.09%, Tata Motors up by 2.69%, Axis Bank up by 1.32%, NTPC up by 1.11% and Maruti Suzuki up by 1.11%.

On the flip side, Wipro down by 3.17%, Adani Ports &Special down by 2.50%, BHEL down by 2.44%, ONGC down by 2.27% and Cipla down by 2.22% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order to review the on-ground implementation of some of the recent initiatives announced by the government for a taxpayer-friendly regime and to widen the base of taxpaying people, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) will hold a high-level meeting with top income-tax department officials on January 13. The meeting will be chaired by the Chairman AK Jain of CBDT and will be attended by other members of the board who will interact with all the regional IT department heads via video conferencing. The inputs received by the CBDT after the meeting, will be used in preparation of the Union Budget.

According to the agenda proposed for the meeting, the top policy-making body of the Income Tax department will review the current status of revenue collection under the direct taxes category, prompt issuance of refunds up to Rs. 50,000 in non-scrutiny cases and progress on the new project of holding scrutiny of cases through email and internet-based communication. Besides, the meeting will assess the progress made by IT department in adding new assesses under the initiative to add one crore new taxpayers this fiscal.

Furthermore, the other subjects for review include the monitoring of pending legal cases and their effective disposal, implementation of recent orders for hike in monetary limits for appeal in the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) and High Courts, quick disposal of taxpayer grievances and status of scrutiny cases being worked out in the department.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7581.55, down by 19.80 points or 0.26% after trading in a range of 7494.35 and 7586.85. There were 17 stocks advancing against 33 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Vedanta up by 4.50%, Reliance Industries up by 2.93%, Tata Motors up by 2.48%, Power Grid up by 1.94% and NTPC up by 1.68%.

On the flip side, Wipro down by 3.13%, ONGC down by 2.72%, Adani Ports & Special down by 2.49%, BHEL down by 2.28% and Tata Power down by 2.18% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading in red; Hang Seng decreased 565.21 points or 2.76% to 19,888.50, Shanghai Composite decreased 169.71 points or 5.33% to 3,016.70, Taiwan Weighted decreased 105.55 points or 1.34% to 7,788.42, Jakarta Composite decreased 80.19 points or 1.76% to 4,466.09, KOSPI Index decreased 22.78 points or 1.19% to 1,894.84 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 18.63 points or 1.12% to 1,638.98.

Japanese stock exchange was closed on account of ‘Coming of Age (Adults) Day’ holiday.

The European markets were trading mostly in green; France’s CAC increased 10.94 points or 0.25% to 4,344.70, Germany’s DAX increased 13.08 points or 0.13% to 9,862.42 while, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 15.6 points or 0.26% to 5,896.84.