Benchmarks trade slightly in green in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks made an optimistic start and are trading slightly in green in early deals on Thursday, as traders took some 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. Traders also took 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.

On the global front, Asian markets are exhibiting mixed trend at this point of time following the losses on the Wall Street. The US markets end lower on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average logging its longest losing streak in 3-month, as blue-chip Apple Inc. flirted with bear-market territory.

Back home, the renewable energy stocks remain in action on report that India’s renewable energy space is turning out to be an attractive domain for foreign investors. Over the next four years, the renewable energy sector is projected to attract investments pegged at $80 billion. More than $42 billion has been invested in the country’s renewable energy sector since 2014. Stocks related to agriculture sector remained 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 is currently trading at 35176.83, up by 34.84 points or 0.10% after trading in a range of 35118.42 and 35268.49. There were 16 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index slipped 0.08%, while Small cap index was down by 0.28%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 0.73%, Consumer Durables up by 0.71%, Capital Goods up by 0.64%, Industrials up by 0.44% and IT was up by 0.42%, while Oil & Gas down by 1.12%, Telecom down by 0.85%, Basic Materials down by 0.75%, Energy down by 0.46% and PSU was down by 0.46% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hero MotoCorp up by 1.67%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 1.51%, Tata Motors up by 1.41%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.30% and Sun Pharma up by 1.22%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 6.63%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.29%, ONGC down by 1.12%, Indusind Bank down by 0.62% and ICICI Bank down by 0.52% were the top losers.

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 10580.10, up by 3.80 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 10557.50 and 10607.90. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Titan Company up by 1.98%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.95%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.94%, HCL Tech up by 1.77% and Eicher Motors up by 1.75%. On the flip side, Grasim Industries down by 7.38%, Yes Bank down by 6.54%, Indiabulls Housing down by 3.71%, BPCL down by 1.85% and GAIL India down by 1.84% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mixed; Nikkei 225 decreased 129.81 points or 0.6% to 21,716.67, Straits Times slipped 0.34 points or 0.01% to 3,042.85, KOSPI dipped 1.30 points or 0.06% to 2,066.75 and Shanghai Composite was down by 4.37 points or 0.16% to 2,650.51.

On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted gained 3.21 points or 0.03% to 9,795.09, Jakarta Composite increased 63.09 points or 1.07% to 5,921.38 and Hang Seng was up by 106.49 points or 0.41% to 25,760.92.