Benchmarks reel under pressure in morning trade

Indian equity benchmarks have made a gap-down opening and are reeling under pressure in morning deals on Thursday. Sentiments remained down-beat after Industrial production data contracted once again for the month of August. IIP dipped 0.7 percent in August due to a slump in manufacturing and mining, in the manufacturing space, capital goods brought about the maximum fall. Investors are eyeing the IT bellwether TCS’ earnings to be announced later in the day. Traders also remained on sidelines ahead of monthly inflation data based on consumer price index (CPI) for September due later in the day and wholesale price index (WPI) due on Friday. Sentiments also remained dampened on report that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 547.26 crore on 10 October 2016, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.

Weak global cues too weighed down sentiments with Asian stocks stumbling to three-week lows and US stock futures and Treasury yields fell after China’s September trade data showed a sharp decline in exports, raising fresh concerns about the health of the world's second biggest economy.

Back home, market participants shrugged off the government’s revenue collection in April to September -- the first half of the current fiscal -- where indirect tax grew at an impressive 26 percent. Moreover, the total direct and indirect tax collections at the end of September stood at Rs 7.35 lakh crore, almost half the Rs 16.26 lakh crore target for 2016-17.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27845.51, down by 236.83 points or 0.84% after trading in a range of 27815.32 and 28042.62. There were 5 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.59%, while Small cap index was down by 0.65%.

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 0.67% and IT up by 0.35%, while Finance down by 1.45%, Metal down by 1.30%, Realty down by 1.21%, Bankex down by 1.20% and Telecom down by 1.14% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 1.99%, ONGC up by 1.78%, Cipla up by 1.20%, GAIL India up by 0.81% and Asian Paints up by 0.19%. On the flip side, HDFC down by 2.23%, ICICI Bank down by 2.10%, Adani Ports &Special down by 2.03%, Tata Motors down by 1.80% and TCS down by 1.52% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the government's revenue collection in the first half of the current financial year has shown a healthy growth, indirect tax collection jumped by 25.9 percent to Rs 4.08 lakh crore on account of increase in excise duty mop-up, while direct tax collection too rose modestly by 9 percent to Rs 3.27 lakh crore led by increase in personal income tax. The total direct and indirect tax collections at the end of September stood at Rs 7.35 lakh crore, almost half the Rs 16.26 lakh crore target for 2016-17. The government is eyeing 12.64 percent growth in direct tax at Rs 8.47 lakh crore for the current fiscal and 10.8 percent in indirect tax at Rs 7.79 lakh crore.

In the Indirect tax collections, excise collections during April-September rose 46.6 percent to Rs 1.83 lakh crore on a year-on-year basis. Service tax collections in the same period climbed 22.1 percent to Rs 1.16 lakh crore. Net tax collections on account of customs duty during April-September 2016 stood at Rs 1.08 lakh crore as compared to Rs 1.03 lakh crore during the same period in the previous financial year, thereby registering a growth of 4.8 percent. The net indirect tax collection in the April-September period achieved 52.5 percent of the Budget estimates for 2016-17.

On the direct tax front, the gross collection of corporate income tax (CIT) grew at 9.54 percent, while the growth under personal income tax (PIT) was 16.85 percent over the corresponding period last fiscal. After adjusting for refunds however, the net growth in CIT collections is 2.56 percent, while under PIT it is 18.60 percent. Refunds amounting to Rs 86,491 crore have been issued during April-September 2016, up 26.99 percent from a year ago. Till September 2016, advance tax collections have hit Rs 1.58 lakh crore, a growth rate of 12.12 percent. Direct tax collection in the first six months of the current financial year accounted for 38.6 percent of the Budget estimates for 2016-17.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8643.45, down by 65.35 points or 0.75% after trading in a range of 8626.60 and 8681.55. There were 9 stocks advancing against 42 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 2.02%, Infosys up by 2.02%, Cipla up by 1.62%, BPCL up by 1.18% and GAIL India up by 0.89%. On the flip side, Bank Of Baroda down by 2.62%, HDFC down by 2.29%, Zee Entertainment down by 2.04%, ICICI Bank down by 2.02% and Adani Ports &Special down by 1.95% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng declined 262.99 points or 1.12% to 23,144.06, Nikkei 225 decreased 64.02 points or 0.38% to 16,775.98, Taiwan Weighted dipped 33.41 points or 0.36% to 9,219.19, KOSPI Index dropped 10.9 points or 0.54% to 2,022.83, Jakarta Composite slipped 10.79 points or 0.2% to 5,353.82 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 3.07 points or 0.18% to 1,663.96. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite was up by 0.24 points or 0.01% to 3,058.74.