Benchmarks extend losses in morning deals

Local equity benchmarks extended their losses in morning session, with Sensex and Nifty falling around 300 and 130 points, respectively, led by oil prices rising to levels of $86 per barrel and the dollar strengthening, the rupee drifted down new lows to the dollar unnerved Dalal Street. ONGC, Vedanta and Reliance Industries were the prime losers among heavy-weights, pushing Sensex 0.89% lower. The rupee opened marginally lower, but soon recovered and was trading little changed against the US dollar. Traders took note of a report that direct tax collection net of refunds for the April-September period grew by 14% to Rs 4.44 lakh crore, marginally below the growth rate of 14.4% required to achieve the Budget estimate of Rs 11.50 lakh crore for the current fiscal. Meanwhile, FIIs sold shares worth Rs 2,760.63 crore on net basis, while DIIs purchased equities to the tune of Rs 1,823.59 crore on October 5. However, investors ignored Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement that a total relief of Rs 2.5 per litre on petrol and diesel in collaboration with oil companies. The government cut excise duty by Rs 1.5 per litre on petrol and diesel, while oil marketing companies absorb the loss of Rs 1 per litre.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in red, after benchmark US Treasury yields surged to a seven-year high and strong economic data fanned concerns about inflation and the risk of faster-than-expected interest rate rises. The surge in Treasury yields has also prompted a rise in government bond yields across the globe. Back home, in scrip specific development, Titan Company advances as its Jewellery business picks up in Q2 FY19. Besides, Cadila Healthcare soars with its Biologics manufacturing facility getting EIR from USFDA.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 34857.29, down by 311.87 points or 0.89% after trading in a range of 34806.86 and 35118.54. There were 10 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index slipped 0.95%, while Small cap index was down by 0.64%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 1.98%, IT up by 0.53%, TECK up by 0.50%, Healthcare up by 0.37% and Telecom was up by 0.27%, while Oil & Gas down by 9.48%, Energy down by 5.30%, PSU down by 4.36%, Utilities down by 2.13% and FMCG was down by 2.13% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 1.86%, Infosys up by 1.28%, Indusind Bank up by 1.05%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 0.91% and Power Grid was up by 0.69%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 10.24%, Vedanta down by 3.12%, Reliance Industries down by 3.12%, Adani Ports down by 2.94% and Bajaj Auto was down by 2.66% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the government’s revenue collection during April- September period of fiscal year 2017-18 (H1FY19) has shown a steady growth. Finance Ministry said that gross direct tax collection in the first six months of the financial year grew 16.7% to Rs 5.47 lakh crore. Refunds amounting to Rs 1.03 lakh crore have been issued during April 2018 to September 2018, which is 30.4 per cent higher than refunds issued during the same period in the preceding year.

Net collections (after adjusting for refunds) have increased by 14% to Rs 4.44 lakh crore during April, 2018 to September, 2018. The net direct tax collections represent 38.6% of the total budget estimates of direct taxes at Rs 11.50 lakh crore for current fiscal. According to the data, gross corporate income tax (CIT) and personal income tax (PIT) collection grew 19.5% and 19.1%, respectively. After adjustment of refunds, the net growth in CIT collections is 18.7% and that in PIT collections is 14.9%.

Besides, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has collected Rs 2.10 lakh crore as advance tax, which is 18.7% higher than the advance tax collections during the corresponding period of last year. The growth rate of corporate advance tax is 16.4 per cent and that of PIT advance tax is 30.3%.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10468.55, down by 130.70 points or 1.23% after trading in a range of 10447.95 and 10540.65. There were 16 stocks advancing against 34 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Titan Company up by 4.54%, Indiabulls Housing Finance up by 2.69%, Sun Pharma up by 1.82%, Bharti Infratel up by 1.39% and Infosys was up by 1.24%. On the flip side, HPCL down by 20.10%, BPCL down by 16.84%, Indian Oil Corporation down by 13.44%, ONGC down by 9.28% and GAIL India was down by 8.37% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in red, Jakarta Composite slipped 19.92 points or 0.35% to 5,736.70, KOSPI declined 6.78 points or 0.3% to 2,267.71, Hang Seng dropped 115.12 points or 0.43% to 26,508.75, Nikkei 225 fell 121.11 points or 0.51% to 23,854.51, Taiwan Weighted decreased 209.58 points or 1.99% to 10,509.33 and Straits Times was down by 30.43 points or 0.95% to 3,201.16.