Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks traded in green for most part of the day and finally ended with marginal gains on Thursday, on the back of broadly positive global cues and a recovery in the domestic currency. Sensex and Nifty settled above their crucial 35,000 and 10,600 levels, respectively. Key indices begun day on positive note and traded with small gains, as traders took encouragement with Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairman Sushil Chandra’s statement that direct tax collection has already crossed Rs 5 lakh crore that is 44% of the net direct tax collection target and will exceed the budgeted target of Rs 11.5 crore set for the current fiscal. He further highlighted that so far the I-T department has issued refunds to 2.15 crore assessees amounting to Rs 1.15 lakh crore and from now onwards the net collections will increase. Markets also received some support with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) calling for a change in regulations to improve access to credit for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME), which the lobby group says are facing increased risk of financial stress due to a liquidity crunch in the market.

In the early noon session, Indian markets extended their gains, as sentiments on the street improved further with a report stating that the government will seek immediate relief on liquidity and credit availability at the board meeting of the Reserve Bank of India on November 19. Domestic sentiments were also buoyed with Assocham secretary general Uday Kumar Varma’s statement that expanding investment in infrastructure will generate jobs, promote tourism and play catalytic role in overall growth and development of Indian economy. He also said that the government’s vision for new and improved infrastructure that can serve the nation for a long time. However, key indices gave up some of their initial gains in last leg of trade, due to some selling witnessed in Telecom, Utilities and FMCG stocks.

On the global front, Asian markets ended mostly higher on Thursday, cheered by a bounce in Chinese equities on signs China and the United States may be taking steps to de-escalate their bitter trade dispute. European markets were trading mostly in green, after British Prime Minister Theresa May won the backing of her cabinet for her Brexit deal but suffered a ministerial resignation. Back home, steel sector was in focus with the Centre committed to bringing in all steel products under the quality regime. The government has already brought 53 steel products consumed in the country under the quality control order (QCO), representing around 85 per cent of the total steel products. Stocks related to agriculture sector too were in focus on report that Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh has launched Rs 1000 crore start-up scheme to encourage youth to join cooperative business ventures in agriculture and allied sectors.

The BSE Sensex ended at 35224.66, up by 82.67 points or 0.24% after trading in a range of 35118.42 and 35402.00. There were 17 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended mixed; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.66%, while Small cap index was down by 0.04%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 1.61%, Realty up by 1.60%, Industrials up by 0.74%, Bankex up by 0.68% and Capital Goods up by 0.53%, while Telecom down by 1.54%, Utilities down by 0.62%, FMCG down by 0.32%, Power down by 0.29% and Oil & Gas down by 0.25% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Adani Ports & SEZ up by 4.10%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.70%, Hero MotoCorp up by 2.26%, Axis Bank up by 1.78% and Vedanta up by 1.54%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 7.44%, NTPC down by 2.29%, ONGC down by 1.37%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.07% and Coal India down by 1.05% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, expressing optimism over tax collection, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairman Sushil Chandra stated that direct tax collection has already crossed Rs 5 lakh crore and will exceed the budgeted target of Rs 11.5 crore set for the current fiscal (FY19). He added that so far the I-T department has issued refunds to 2.15 crore assessees amounting to Rs 1.15 lakh crore and from now onwards the net collections will increase.

Chandra elaborated that the government already crossed the Rs 5 lakh crore figure that is 44% of the net direct tax collection target. This is despite the fact there is a surge in refund. He also said the number of people voluntarily filing tax returns has gone up substantially, and 6.85 crore income tax returns (ITRs) were filed last year.

The CBDT chief said that this year so far 6.02 crore ITRs have been filed with the Income Tax Department. He also said that so far the net growth rate in direct tax collection is 14.5%, while the gross collection grew 16.5%. Meanwhile, he said in the second quarter, there has been good profit to India Inc and they saw very good advance tax collection.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10602.40, up by 26.10 points or 0.25% after trading in a range of 10557.50 and 10646.50. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Ports & SEZ up by 4.14%, Titan Co up by 3.26%, Eicher Motors up by 2.86%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.82% and Hero MotoCorp up by 2.77%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Grasim Industries down by 7.85%, Yes Bank down by 7.51%, Indiabulls Housing Finance down by 4.10%, NTPC down by 2.29% and Bharti Infratel down by 2.06% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading mostly in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 19.43 points or 0.28% to 7,053.22 and Germany’s DAX was up by 1.06 points or 0.01% to 11,413.59, while France’s CAC decreased 16.48 points or 0.33% to 5,052.37.

Asian markets ended mostly higher on Thursday. Beijing's pledge of support for the economy and news that European Union leaders will meet on November 25 to endorse the divorce deal with Britain helped regional stock finish off their day's lows. Chinese shares closed sharply higher on hopes for possible government action to boost growth. Though, Japanese shares edged lower, dragged down by financials and Apple suppliers.