Benchmarks continue weak trade in late morning session

Indian equity benchmarks continued their weak trade in the late morning session on account of selling in frontline blue chip counters. The sentiments were under pressure after data showed that foreign institutional investors sold shares worth Rs 493.56 crore on Wednesday. Traders were seen piling position in Power, Metal and PSU stocks while selling was witnessed in Consumer Durables, TECK and IT sector stocks. In scrip specific development, Maruti Suzuki India was trading in red due to appreciation in Japanese yen which is bound to hit Maruti’s margins, given that about one-fifth of its cost (including royalty) is yen-denominated. Ashoka Buildcon continued its yesterday’s fall on reports of a raid being conducted by the Enforcement Directorate and the Income Tax Department at the infrastructure company’s Nashik office. Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company was trading in red on receiving a demand notice for Rs 212.64 crore (including tax and interest) from the Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax, Chennai, for Assessment Year 2009-10.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading mostly in green. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading below the psychological 7,600 and 24,800 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1035:944 while 78 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 24729.38, down by 171.25 points or 0.69% after trading in a range of 24648.21 and 25013.13. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.11%, while Small cap index up by 0.12%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 0.92%, Metal up by 0.13%, PSU up by 0.12%, Realty up by 0.09% and Oil & Gas up by 0.09%, while Consumer Durables down by 1.14%, TECK down by 0.69%, IT down by 0.69%, Auto down by 0.66% and FMCG down by 0.60% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Lupin up by 1.78%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 1.70%, BHEL up by 1.62%, Coal India up by 1.00% and Cipla up by 0.90%.

On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 3.06%, HDFC down by 2.65%, Infosys down by 1.46%, ITC down by 1.41% and Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone down by 1.25% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the government’s total tax collection for the financial year 2015-16 has exceeded the revised estimate in the budget. Total tax collection during the financial year is pegged at Rs 14.60 lakh crore, which compares favourably with the revised target and represents a growth of 17.6% compared to the last financial year.The aggregate Budget Estimates (BE) for total direct and indirect tax revenues for the fiscal year 2015-16 was Rs 14.45 lakh crore, which was revised to Rs 14.55 lakh crore.

The indirect tax revenue has exceeded budget estimates for 2015-16 by Rs 65,618 crore and the revised estimates by Rs 9,885 crore. The collection represents a growth of 31.1 per cent over 2014-15. Among indirect taxes in the form of customs, excise and service tax, the highest revision was seen for excise duty, which was revised to Rs 2.84 lakh crore from Rs 2.30 lakh crore for 2015-16.  On the other hand, direct tax realisations fell short by Rs 4,000 crore over the revised estimates. The realisation was 7.61 per cent higher than 2014-15 receipts.

While presenting Union Budget for 2016-17, finance minister Arun Jaitley had revised downwards the estimate for direct taxes Rs 45,974 crore to Rs 7,52,021 crore from Rs 7,97,995 crore estimated earlier for the financial year 2015-16. The estimates for indirect taxes, on the other hand, were revised upwards due to which the gross tax revenue target for 2015-16 was revised upwards to Rs 14,59,611 crore from Rs 14,49,490 crore estimated earlier.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7576.20, down by 38.15 points or 0.50% after trading in a range of 7542.15 and 7630.75. There were 21 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Power up by 4.51%, Aurobindo Pharma up by 2.34%, Lupin up by 1.82%, BHEL up by 1.76% and Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 1.73%.

On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 3.09%, HDFC down by 2.76%, Infosys down by 1.43%, ITC down by 1.38% and Larsen & Toubro down by 1.27% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 increased 1.73 points or 0.01% to 15,717.09, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 3.57 points or 0.21% to 1,720.58, Jakarta Composite increased 14.38 points or 0.3% to 4,882.61 and Hang Seng increased 33.35 points or 0.17% to 20,240.02.

On the other hand, Shanghai Composite decreased 25.99 points or 0.85% to 3,024.61, Taiwan Weighted decreased 25.27 points or 0.3% to 8,488.03 and KOSPI Index decreased 0.79 points or 0.04% to 1,970.53.