Benchmarks trade slightly in red in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks have made a weak start and are trading slightly in red in early deals on Wednesday, as traders remained on sidelines ahead of two day Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) policy meet which begins today. A surge in crude oil prices to one-month high and muted global cues also affected the sentiments. However, losses remained capped on report that the central government exceeding 2016-17 tax target, highest in last 6 years. Government reported a total tax collection of Rs 17.10 lakh crore during 2016-17 -- an increase of 18 per cent over 2015-16. In the revised estimates for FY17 presented in the budget, the government had raised the tax collection target to Rs 17.03 lakh crore against Rs 16.3 lakh crore estimated initially.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red at this point of time, as investors move to the sidelines before a potentially tense meeting between Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping later this week. The US markets closed modestly in green in the last session, though the trade remained lackluster and the major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line, ahead of some key events later this week.

Back home, software stocks were reeling under pressure on report that in the new guidelines issued by the US administration it has been said that companies applying for visas under the H-1B programme must provide “evidence to establish that the particular position is one in a specialty occupation”. The market breadth remained in favour of advances, as there were 1,524 shares on the gaining side against 625 shares on the losing side while 102 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 29867.85, down by 42.37 points or 0.14% after trading in a range of 29817.69 and 30007.48. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.34%, while Small cap index was up by 0.71%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.46%, Consumer Durables up by 1.87%, Metal up by 1.01%, Telecom up by 0.84% and Basic Materials was up by 0.83%, while IT down by 0.33%, TECK down by 0.17%, FMCG down by 0.15% and Bankex was down by 0.11% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Adani Ports up by 1.96%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.61%, Reliance Industries up by 1.44%, Tata Steel up by 1.42% and NTPC was up by 1.24%. On the flip side, HDFC down by 1.82%, Asian Paints down by 1.15%, ICICI Bank down by 1.15%, GAIL India down by 1.10% and ITC was down by 0.89% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the government’s revenue collection during fiscal year 2016-17 has shown a healthy growth of 18 percent at Rs 17.10 lakh crore as compared to last year. It was highest in last 6 years and also surpassed the revised tax collection target. Indirect tax collection surged by 22 percent at Rs 8.63 lakh crore on the back of robust collection in excise duty mop-up. This has exceeded the Revised Estimates (RE) of Rs 8.5 lakh crore for FY17. Direct tax jumped by 14.2 percent to Rs 8.47 lakh crore led by increase in personal income tax, which is 100 percent of the RE of Rs 8.47 lakh crore for FY17. Earlier, in the revised estimates for FY17 presented in the budget, the government had raised the tax collection target to Rs 17.03 lakh crore against Rs 16.3 lakh crore estimated initially.

In indirect tax collections, central excise collections during April-February jumped 33.9 percent to Rs 3.83 lakh crore as compared to Rs 2.86 lakh crore in the same period of previous financial year. Service tax collations in the same period clocked a growth of 20.2 percent to Rs 3.83 lakh crore as compared to Rs 2.86 lakh crore in FY16. Net Tax collections on account of Customs during FY17 stood at Rs 2.26 lakh crore as compared to Rs 2.10 lakh crore during the same period in the previous year, thereby registering a growth of 7.4 percent.

On the direct tax front, the gross collection of corporate income tax (CIT) grew at 13.1 percent, while under personal income tax (PIT) it was 18.4 percent over the corresponding period last fiscal. However, after adjusting for refunds, the net growth in CIT collections is 6.7 percent, while that in PIT collections is 21.0 percent. Refunds amounting to Rs 1.62 lakh crore have been issued during April 2016-March 2017, up 32.6 percent from a year ago period.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 9231.70, down by 6.15 points or 0.07% after trading in a range of 9215.40 and 9264.95. There were 30 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Infratel up by 2.82%, Hindalco up by 2.17%, Adani Ports up by 1.91%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.61% and Grasim Industries was up by 1.58%. On the flip side, HDFC down by 1.89%, ICICI Bank down by 1.15%, GAIL India down by 1.09%, Asian Paints down by 1.03% and SBI was down by 0.89% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 45.51 points or 0.19% to 24,215.97, Nikkei 225 slipped 19.45 points or 0.1% to 18,790.80, KOSPI Index shed 7.16 points or 0.33% to 2,153.94, Jakarta Composite dipped 5.44 points or 0.1% to 5,646.38 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 5.08 points or 0.29% to 1,742.11.

On the flip side, Shanghai Composite increased 34.16 points or 1.06% to 3,256.67 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 87.72 points or 0.89% to 9,899.24.