Indian bourses trade on weak note in afternoon deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade on weak note in the afternoon session on account of selling in front line blue chip counters, tracking weak global markets. Sentiments remained downbeat with the report that India slipped by one spot to become the fourth-largest foreign investor into the UK. India set up 127 new projects in Britain last year and safeguarded 7,645 existing jobs as a result and created 3,999 new jobs in 2016-17. Moreover, investors maintained cautious approach ahead of the quarterly earnings starting next week. However, losses remained capped as some support came with report that net direct tax collection grew by 14.8 per cent to Rs. 1.42 lakh crore at the end of first quarter on account of surge in advance tax payments. Meanwhile, the rupee went up 5 paise to 64.72 against the dollar in early trade on fresh selling of the American unit by exporters and banks. In scrip specific development, Balaji Amines was up by over three and half percent after receiving Environmental Ministry nod for project expansion in Maharashtra.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, following the weak cues overnight from Wall Street after data showed weaker-than-expected U.S. private sector job growth in June. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 31329.08, down by 40.26 points or 0.13% after trading in a range of 31286.62 and 31394.16. There were 19 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.16%, while Small cap index was up by 0.35%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 1.38%, Realty up by 1.17%, Capital Goods up by 0.57%, Industrials up by 0.48% and Metal up by 0.35%, while IT down by 0.35%, Consumer Durables down by 0.22%, TECK down by 0.18%, FMCG down by 0.15% and Bankex down by 0.12% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Lupin up by 4.51%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 1.99%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.41%, Cipla up by 1.38% and Larsen & Toubro up by 1.23%. On the flip side, HDFC down by 1.20%, Asian Paints down by 0.95%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.88%, ICICI Bank down by 0.87% and ITC down by 0.82% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the government’s revenue collection during April-June of current fiscal year has shown a good growth. The net direct tax collection for the first quarter (April-June) 2017-18 stood at Rs 1.42 lakh crore, registering a growth of 14.8% higher than the net collections for the corresponding period of last year, on the back of surge in advance tax payments. According to the Ministry of Finance, the net direct tax collection represents 14.5% of the total Budget estimates of direct taxes of Rs 9.8 lakh crore for FY18.

The gross collection under corporate income tax (CIT) grew at 4.8%, while under personal income tax (PIT) including Securities Transaction Tax (STT) it was 12.9% over the corresponding period last fiscal. However, after adjusting for refunds, the net growth in CIT collections is 22.4%, while that in PIT collections is 8.5%. Refunds amounting to Rs 55,520 crore have been issued during April to June, 2017, which is 5.2% lower than the refunds issued during corresponding period of FY17.

Besides, an amount of Rs 58,783 crore has been received as advance tax up to June 30, 2017, reflecting a growth of 11.9% over the advance tax payments of the corresponding period of last year. Also, the growth in corporate advance tax was at 8.1% and that in personal advance tax was at 40.3%.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 9660.80, down by 13.75 points or 0.14% after trading in a range of 9642.65 and 9672.70. There were 27 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Lupin up by 4.49%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 2.05%, Cipla up by 1.58%, Aurobindo Pharma up by 1.45% and Hindustan Unilever up by 1.41%. On the flip side, Bharti Infratel down by 1.81%, HDFC down by 1.55%, Asian Paints down by 1.12%, ITC down by 1.07% and GAIL India down by 1.07% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 75.54 points or 0.3% to 25,389.68, Taiwan Weighted shed 70.95 points or 0.68% to 10,297.25, Nikkei 225 slipped 64.97 points or 0.32% to 19,929.09, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 9.14 points or 0.52% to 1,761.39, KOSPI Index decreased 7.94 points or 0.33% to 2,379.87 and Jakarta Composite declined 0.33 points or 0.01% to 5,849.25.

On the flip side, Shanghai Composite was up by 6.54 points or 0.2% to 3,218.98.