Key gauges extend losses in noon deals

Indian equity benchmarks extended their losses in noon deals to breach their crucial 35,800 (Sensex) and 10,750 (Nifty) levels. Selling in metal and oil and gas segment mainly played the spoil sports for the markets. Selling in Indian rupee against dollar too dampened sentiments. The rupee slipped 22 paise to 70.40 against the US dollar on Thursday amid strengthening greenback and sustained foreign fund outflows. Global cues too remained subdued with most of the Asian counters trading in red at this point of time and US stock futures dropped sharply after Apple Inc cut its revenue forecast due in part to weaker sales in China, adding to concerns about the slowing global economy. Back home, Telecom stocks edged lower as data shows poor growth in mobile phone customer base. The country's mobile phone customer base rose 0.06 per cent, or a net 0.72 million, to 1.17 billion in October. In scrip specific developments, PNB Housing Finance edged higher on raising Rs 1,853 crore and  Bank of Baroda soared on fixing exchange ratio for amalgamation of Vijaya Bank, Dena Bank.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 35723.70, down by 167.82 points or 0.47% after trading in a range of 35710.52 and 35999.66. There were 7 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index shed 0.38%, while Small cap index was down by 0.06%.

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 0.51%, Consumer Durables up by 0.20%, Realty up by 0.13% and Telecom was up by 0.03%, while Metal down by 1.45%, Oil & Gas down by 1.36%, Energy down by 0.87%, Basic Materials down by 0.86% and PSU down by 0.86% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindustan Unilever up by 0.80%, HCL Tech. up by 0.51%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.40%, Asian Paints up by 0.38% and Bajaj Auto up by 0.32%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 2.78%, Tata Steel down by 1.68%, HDFC down by 1.47%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.34% and Coal India down by 1.27% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Finance Ministry has stated that India achieved the direct tax-to-GDP ratio of 5.98% in fiscal year 2017-18 (FY18) and it is the best in the last 10 years. Besides, in the previous years that is in 2016-17 and 2015-16 it was 5.57% and 5.47% respectively. The ministry said the larger purpose of demonetisation was to move India from a tax non-compliant society to a compliant society and the impact of note ban has been felt on collection of personal income tax.

The Ministry in its 2018 review said there is a constant growth in direct tax-GDP ratio over last three years and the ratio of 5.98% in FY18 is the best DT-GDP ratio in last 10 years. It further said there is a growth of over 80% in the number of returns filed in the last four financial years from 3.79 crore in 2013-14 to 6.85 crore in 2017-18. It added that the number of individuals filing return of income has also increased by about 65% during this period from 3.31 crore in 2013-14 to 5.44 crore in 2017-18.It also said there has been a continuous increase in the amount of income declared in the returns filed by all categories of taxpayers over the last three assessment years (AYs).

For AY 2014-15, corresponding to FY 2013-14 (base year), the return filers had declared gross total income of Rs 26.92 lakh crore, which has increased by 67% to Rs 44.88 lakh crore for AY 2017-18, showing higher level of compliance resulting from various legislative and administrative measures taken by the government, including effective enforcement measures against tax evasion. Refunds amounting to Rs 1.23 lakh crore have been issued during the April-November 2018 period, which is 20.8% higher than refunds issued during the corresponding period in the preceding year. Growth rate for corporate income tax (CIT) and personal income tax (PIT) stood at 17.7% and 18.3%, respectively.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10726.35, down by 66.15 points or 0.61% after trading in a range of 10725.50 and 10814.05. There were 12 stocks advancing against 38 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Infratel up by 1.76%, Hindustan Unilever up by 0.73%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.57%, Sun Pharma up by 0.42% and HCL Tech. up by 0.40%. On the flip side, HPCL down by 3.22%, Indian Oil Corporation down by 2.59%, Eicher Motors down by 2.44%, ONGC down by 2.35% and BPCL down by 2.22% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Straits Times declined 32.32 points or 1.06% to 3,006.57, HANG SENG dropped 163.87 points or 0.65% to 24,966.48, Taiwan Weighted fell 61.72 points or 0.65% to 9,492.42 and KOSPI was down by 15.80 points or 0.79% to 1,994.20.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite gained 16.47 points or 0.27% to 6,197.65 and Shanghai Composite was up by 2.57 points or 0.10% to 2,467.86.