Benchmarks trade lower on global growth concerns

Indian equity benchmarks made a pessimistic start and are trading with a cut of half a percent in early morning deals on Tuesday, tracking weak trade in other Asian counterparts amid global growth concerns. Sentiments were dampened with a private report stating that India is the second-most underinsured country in the world with an insurance gap of $27 billion (approximately Rs 1.98 lakh crore). Traders reacted negatively to another private report that the crude oil import bill for India is expected to increase by $37 billion to $125 billion during the current financial year (2018-19, or FY19) - a 42% spike over the 2017-18 (FY18) bill of $88 billion. Market participants shrugged off report that the net direct tax collection in the country grew by 15.7% on year-on-year basis to reach Rs 4.89 lakh crore in the current fiscal till third week of October. This marks over 42% of the full-year direct tax collection target of Rs 11.5 lakh crore for the fiscal ending March 31, 2019.

Global cues remained sluggish with all the Asian counters trading deep in red at this point of time following weak trade on Wall Street, as investors remain cautious over mounting geopolitical tensions around the world. The US markets closed mostly lower on Monday, as investors braced for a deluge of earnings against the backdrop of higher interest rates and concerns about global growth.

Back home, sugar sector stocks remained in sweet spot with report that a second bailout package for sugar industry could be in the offing as the food ministry plans to float a Cabinet note seeking loan incentives for ethanol producers. This will be in addition to the sugar package announced in June. In scrip specific developments, A2Z Infra Engineering surged on bagging order worth Rs 225.26 crore and ZEEL gained on securing US patent for tech platform.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 33968.76, down by 165.62 points or 0.49% after trading in a range of 33852.70 and 34012.28. There were 12 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.57%, while Small cap index was down by 0.63%.

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 0.94%, Consumer Durables up by 0.50%, Bankex up by 0.17% and Metal was up by 0.11%, while IT down by 1.87%, TECK down by 1.68%, Oil & Gas down by 1.57%, Energy down by 1.04% and FMCG was down by 0.91% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 3.41%, Tata Motors up by 2.49%, Yes Bank up by 2.09%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 1.72% and HDFC up by 1.30%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 4.62%, Wipro down by 2.76%, Infosys down by 2.19%, ONGC down by 1.99% and TCS down by 1.82% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the policy-making body for the Income Tax Department (ITD), in its latest data showed that the net direct tax collection in India grew by 15.7 percent on year-on-year basis to reach Rs 4.89 lakh crore in the current fiscal till third week of October. This marks over 42% of the full-year direct tax collection target of Rs 11.5 lakh crore for the fiscal ending March 31, 2019.

According to the latest data, the number of taxpayers getting refunds is up by 62% from 1.22 crore refunds in the corresponding period of the last fiscal. In terms of the refund amount, there has been a surge of 31.7% from Rs 83,000 crore refunded to taxpayers in the corresponding period last year. The department received 5.8 crore IT Returns (ITRs) till October 21 as compared to 3.6 crore returns during the same period of last fiscal. This is an increase of about 61%.

The CBDT has given a target to the income tax department to add 1.25 crore new people by end of the current fiscal, as part of its efforts to widen and deepen the taxpayer base in the country. Moreover, 1.06 crore new income tax assesses were added in last year. The present taxpayer base in the country is over 6.26 crore.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10193.75, down by 51.50 points or 0.50% after trading in a range of 10152.25 and 10204.65. There were 17 stocks advancing against 33 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indusind Bank up by 3.03%, Indiabulls Housing up by 2.92%, Tata Motors up by 2.34%, Yes Bank up by 1.89% and HDFC up by 1.55%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 4.49%, HPCL down by 2.97%, Wipro down by 2.96%, BPCL down by 2.64% and Indian Oil Corporation down by 2.58% were the top losers.

All the Asian counters are trading in red; Nikkei 225 tumbled 538.89 points or 2.44% to 22,075.93, Taiwan Weighted declined 161.29 points or 1.64% to 9,812.99, Straits Times dropped 30.99 points or 1.02% to 3,047.07, Jakarta Composite decreased 21.46 points or 0.37% to 5,818.98, Hang Seng fell 530.32 points or 2.07% to 25,622.83, KOSPI shed 52.10 points or 2.47% to 2,109.61 and Shanghai Composite was down by 36.46 points or 1.39% to 2,618.42.