Sensex, Nifty off day's lows supported by IT, Metal, TECK

Trimming some of their losses, Indian equity benchmarks were off their day’s lows in late morning session, but still the trade was lower owning to selling in Auto, Industrials and Power stocks. A weak trend at other Asian markets following a sell-off in the US on escalating geopolitical tensions, kept the domestic bourses sluggish. Some concerns also came with the report stating that India's retail inflation is expected to have picked up slightly in July after cooling in the previous three months, but likely remained well below the central bank's 4 percent medium-term target. However, some losses were capped as direct tax collections jumped 19 per cent in the first four months of the current fiscal as demonetisation of higher denomination currency brought in more number of individuals in tax net.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in red on elevated geopolitical tensions after North Korea said it is considering launching intermediate missiles into waters near the U.S. territory of Guam. Back home, in scrip specific development, Bharat Forge was trading higher after the company received an approval for acquisition of remaining 40% stake in its subsidiary company - Analogic Controls India (ACIL). Upon acquisition, ACIL will become a wholly owned subsidiary of the company.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 31719.37, down by 78.47 points or 0.25% after trading in a range of 31588.26 and 31756.27. There were 8 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.67%, while Small cap index was down by 0.81%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.70%, Metal up by 0.57%, TECK up by 0.51% and Realty up by 0.32%, while Auto down by 1.61%, Industrials down by 1.53%, Power down by 1.24%, Utilities down by 1.11% and Capital Goods down by 0.91% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 1.79%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 1.39%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.38%, Lupin up by 1.32% and Tata Steel up by 1.09%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 6.13%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 6.13%, ONGC down by 1.51%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.17% and NTPC down by 1.12% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, continuing its steady growth, net direct tax collections, which are made up of personal and corporate taxes, was up by 19.1 percent to Rs 1.90 lakh crore in the first four months (April to July) of the financial year 2018, as demonetisation of higher denomination currency brought in more number of individuals in tax net. This indicates that 19.5 percent of the annual budget target of direct taxes (Rs 9.8 lakh crore) had been achieved. In April-July of 2016-17, the direct tax collection grew by 24.01 percent to Rs 1.59 lakh crore.

Apart from this, the gross revenue collection of Corporate Income Tax (CIT) grew at 7.2 percent, while Personal Income Tax (PIT) grew at 17.5 percent. However, after adjusting for refunds, the net growth in CIT collections is 23.2 percent while that in PIT collections is 15.7 percent.  Further, refunds amounting to Rs 61,920 crore have been issued during April-July, 2017 which are 5.1 percent lower than the refunds issued during the corresponding period last year. 

Earlier this week, the government had released the numbers of income tax returns filed, showing demonetisation of old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes had given the substantial growth. The total number of returns filed as on August 5 stands at around 2.83 crore up from 2.27 crore filed during the corresponding period of 2016-17. This was an increase of 24.7 per cent compared to growth rate of 9.9 per cent in the previous year. Individual tax returns filed were up 25.3 per cent at 2.79 crore.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 9886.25, down by 21.80 points or 0.22% after trading in a range of 9835.95 and 9892.65. There were 16 stocks advancing against 35 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tech Mahindra up by 4.48%, Aurobindo Pharma up by 2.69%, Hindalco up by 1.94%, Infosys up by 1.82% and Lupin up by 1.44%. On the flip side, Tata Motors - DVR down by 6.21%, Tata Motors down by 6.09%, Eicher Motors down by 3.06%, BPCL down by 2.21% and ONGC down by 1.63% were the top losers.

All the Asian markets were trading in red; Hang Seng decreased 269.88 points or 0.97% to 27,487.21, Taiwan Weighted decreased 140.64 points or 1.34% to 10,329.74, Shanghai Composite decreased 24.85 points or 0.76% to 3,250.72, Nikkei 225 decreased 16.59 points or 0.08% to 19,722.12, KOSPI Index decreased 10.01 points or 0.42% to 2,358.38, Jakarta Composite decreased 3.61 points or 0.06% to 5,820.39 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 1.17 points or 0.07% to 1,776.77.