Post Session: Quick Review

Extending southward journey for third straight session, Indian equity benchmarks ended Monday’s trade on pessimistic note, as global growth worries, including the U.S.-Sino tariff war, and lacklustre domestic earnings. Key indices opened in red and stayed in the negative terrain for whole trading session, as traders remain concerned about the International Monetary Fund warning governments to gear up for a possible economic storm as growth undershoots expectations. It said the bottom-line they see an economy that is growing more slowly than they had anticipated. Some cautiousness also crept in with Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg’s statement that the country actually faces shortage of capital more than the scarcity of jobs. Street also remained disappointed with a private report that India could lose a vital US trade concession, under which it enjoys zero tariffs on $5.6 billion of exports to the United States, amid a widening dispute over its trade and investment policies.

However, benchmarks pared some losses in late afternoon session as investors found some comfort with report that the Net direct tax collection stood at Rs 7,88,930 crore in the April-January period of current fiscal (2018-19). Total direct tax collection stood at Rs 10.02 lakh crore in 2017-18. Some relief also came with a survey of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) stating that higher production and a better growth outlook have instilled confidence in manufacturers in the October-December quarter of 2018-19 for ramping up hiring.

On the global front, Asian markets ended mostly higher on Monday, while European markets were trading in green, with market participants looking ahead to a fresh round of U.S.-China trade talks this week. Back home, power sector stocks ended lower with ASSOCHAM-Grant Thornton joint study stating that investments worth over Rs 2.5 lakh crore in thermal sector projects, based on domestic coal, imported coal, and gas, are facing stress and immediate remedial measures need to be undertaken to ensure that they are revived in a time-bound manner.

The BSE Sensex ended at 36428.04, down by 118.44 points or 0.32% after trading in a range of 36300.48 and 36588.41. There were 14 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 1.44%, while Small cap index was down by 1.49%.(Provisional)

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were TECK up by 0.36% and IT up by 0.27%, while Healthcare down by 1.89%, Energy down by 1.49%, Capital Goods down by 1.35%, Oil & Gas down by 1.34% and Basic Materials down by 1.32% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 1.99%, Power Grid up by 1.05%, HCL Tech. up by 1.00%, Tata Motors up by 0.99% and Indusind Bank up by 0.94%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 5.01%, ONGC down by 2.82%, Reliance Industries down by 1.87%, SBI down by 1.84% and Bajaj Finance down by 1.67% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, net direct tax collection stood at Rs 7,88,930 crore in the April-January period of current fiscal (2018-19). Total direct tax collection stood at Rs 10.02 lakh crore in 2017-18.

In the revised estimates for current fiscal, the government has pegged direct tax collection at Rs 12 lakh crore. The Direct Tax-GDP ratio stood at 5.98 per cent in the 2017-18 fiscal. A taxpayer is a person who either files a return of income or in whose case tax has been deducted or paid.

On the other hand, total indirect Taxes collection stood at Rs 2,89,661 crore during the April-January period of 2018-19, while Rs 4,69,092 crore was the total indirect Taxes collection for 2017-18.

The CNX Nifty ended at 10893.90, down by 49.70 points or 0.45% after trading in a range of 10857.10 and 10930.90. There were 21 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Steel up by 2.22%, Cipla up by 1.64%, Tata Motors up by 1.46%, Indian Oil Corp. up by 1.20% and Zee Entertainment up by 1.19%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Dr. Reddys Lab down by 5.62%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 4.87%, ONGC down by 4.13%, Hindalco down by 3.04% and Ultratech Cement down by 3.03% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 72.72 points or 1.03% to 7,143.90, France’s CAC added 54.45 points or 1.1% to 5,016.09 and Germany’s DAX rose 109.12 points or 1% to 11,015.90.

Asian markets ended mostly higher on Monday, after a highly lackluster session as investors stayed wary of making significant moves due to worries about global economic growth. The Chinese market, which resumed trading after Lunar New Year holidays, closed higher with investors lapping up some shares even as they awaited a new round of US-China trade talks, set to begin in Beijing later in the week. Meanwhile, the Japanese market remained closed for a holiday for National Foundation Day.