Benchmarks trim losses in early noon deals

Indian equity benchmarks trimmed most of their losses in early noon session, but continue to trade below the neutral lines with Sensex and Nifty trading lower at 34863.85 and 10468.05 respectively. Stocks from Healthcare, IT and Teck counters were supporting the markets, while those from Energy, Oil & Gas and Telecom counters were adding to the underlying cautious undertone. Markets made a sharp recovery as traders were getting solace with Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu’s statement that the New Industrial Policy, which will replace the 27-year-old existing policy, has been sent for the Union Cabinet’s consideration. The new industrial policy aims to resolve bottlenecks arising from inadequate infrastructure, restrictive labour laws and complicated business environment. Meanwhile, bilateral trade between India and Romania could touch $1 billion in the fiscal 2018-19. The total bilateral trade currently stands at $810 million.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed, as markets woke up to the United Kingdom’s Brexit plan going into turmoil after its Prime Minister Theresa May pulled parliamentary vote on the deal and a volatile yet positive end was seen from a US stock market fraught by the ongoing trade war between the US and China. Back home, on the sectoral front, Aviation industry stocks were trading mixed, as rating agency ICRA has assigned a negative outlook to the domestic airline industry. However, rating agency is expecting that the domestic passenger traffic growth will remain healthy at around 15-16 per cent over the medium term.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 34863.85, down by 95.87 points or 0.27% after trading in a range of 34426.29 and 34970.16. There were 17 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.89%, while Small cap index was up by 0.49%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 1.18%, IT up by 1.03%, TECK up by 0.81%, FMCG up by 0.74% and Consumer Durables was up by 0.69%, while Energy down by 1.00%, Oil & Gas down by 0.93%, Telecom down by 0.66%, Bankex down by 0.37% and Metal was down by 0.34% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Yes Bank up by 5.11%, Sun Pharma up by 2.52%, Asian Paints up by 2.46%, Axis Bank up by 1.33% and SBI was up by 1.04%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 1.76%, HDFC Bank down by 1.55%, ICICI Bank down by 1.54%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.39% and HDFC was down by 1.16% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the finance ministry stated that the income tax department has collected Rs 6.75 lakh crore in gross direct tax, comprising personal income tax (PIT) and corporate income tax (CIT), during the April-November period of current fiscal year (FY19), which is 15.7% higher than the gross collections for the corresponding period of last year. Direct Tax collections grew mainly on account of income tax mop-up from individuals.

Refunds worth Rs 1.23 lakh crore have been issued in the eight months of the current fiscal, which is 20.8% higher than refunds issued in the same period last year. After adjusting for refunds, net collections have increased by 14.7% to Rs 5.51 lakh crore during April-November, 2018. The net direct tax collections represent 48% of the total budget estimates of direct taxes for financial year 2018-19 (Rs 11.50 lakh crore).

Gross collections in CIT and PIT grew 17.7% and 18.3%, respectively. After adjustment of refunds, the net growth in CIT collections is 18.4% and that in PIT collections is 16%. The finance ministry said collections of the corresponding period of last fiscal also included extraordinary collections under the Income Declaration Scheme (IDS), 2016, amounting to Rs 10,833 crore (third and last instalment of IDS), which do not form part of the current year’s collections.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10468.05, down by 20.40 points or 0.19% after trading in a range of 10333.85 and 10495.75. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Yes Bank up by 4.98%, Indiabulls Housing up by 2.53%, Sun Pharma up by 2.44%, Asian Paints up by 2.30% and Tech Mahindra was up by 2.14%. On the flip side, HPCL down by 2.87%, Tata Steel down by 2.06%, Indian Oil Corporation down by 2.01%, HDFC Bank down by 1.53% and Bharti Airtel was down by 1.51% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed, Nikkei 225 slipped 57.13 points or 0.27% to 21,162.37, Straits Times declined 14.91 points or 0.49% to 3,057.53, Hang Seng lost 5.93 points or 0.02% to 25,746.45 and Jakarta Composite was down by 31.87 points or 0.52% to 6,079.49.

On the other side, , Taiwan Weighted strengthened 65.82 points or 0.63% to 9,713.36, KOSPI rose 2.55 points or 0.12% to 2,056.34 and Shanghai Composite was up by 5.01 points or 0.19% to 2,589.59.