Sensex, Nifty turn negative

Indian equity benchmarks turned negative in late morning session, with both Sensex and Nifty falling sharply to trade in a deep red. Negative cues from other Asian markets impacted trade over the Dalal Street. Domestic sentiments turned negative, after the World Bank said remittances to India would fall this year by nine per cent to $76 billion due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and global economic recession. India followed by China, Mexico, Philippines, and Egypt continue to be the top five countries in 2020 to receive foreign remittances, the World Bank said in its latest report.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading lower, even after industrial output in Japan climbed a seasonally adjusted 4.0 percent on month in September. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said that exceeded expectations for a gain of 3.2 percent following the 1.0 percent increase in August. On a yearly basis, industrial production was down 9.0 percent - again beating expectations for a decline of 10.0 percent following the 13.8 percent fall in the previous month.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 39498.02, down by 251.83 points or 0.63% after trading in a range of 39490.61 and 39988.25. There were 12 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.57%, while Small cap index was up by 0.08%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.53%, Oil & Gas up by 1.32%, PSU up by 0.75%, Power up by 0.71% and Basic Materials up by 0.47%, while Telecom down by 1.74%, Auto down by 1.09%, Bankex down by 0.94%, TECK down by 0.49% and Consumer Discretionary down by 0.46% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Nestle up by 2.54%, Sun Pharma up by 0.99%, Ultratech Cement up by 0.88%, Tech Mahindra up by 0.69% and HCL Tech up by 0.52%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 2.68%, Bajaj Finance down by 2.34%, Bharti Airtel down by 2.28%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.81% and Hindustan Unilever down by 1.52% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with poor revenue realization, the government's fiscal deficit rose to Rs 9.14 lakh crore, about 114.8 per cent of the annual budget estimate, during the first six months of the current financial year. The revenue realisation during the current fiscal suffered on account of the lockdown imposed by the government to check the spread of coronavirus pandemic. the Controller General of Accounts’ (CGA) latest data showed that in absolute terms, the deficit was Rs 9,13,993 crore. The deficit at the end of the first six months of the previous financial year was 92.6 per cent of the annual target. The fiscal deficit or gap between the expenditure and revenue had breached the annual target in July this year.

The CGA data said the government received Rs 5,65,417 crore (25.18 per cent of BE 2020-21 of total receipts) up to September. The receipts were 40.2 per cent of the target a year ago. Of the total receipts, Rs 4,58,508 crore was tax revenue (Net to Centre), Rs 92,274 crore was non-tax revenue and Rs 14,635 crore non-debt capital receipts. Non-debt capital receipts consists of recovery of loans (Rs 8,854 crore) and disinvestment proceeds (Rs 5,781 crore). The finance ministry said Rs 2,59,941 crore has been transferred to state governments as devolution of share of taxes by Government of India up to this period, which is Rs 51,277 crore lower than the previous year.

As per the CGA data, the total expenditure incurred by the government was Rs 14,79,410 crore (48.63 per cent of BE 2020-21), out of which Rs 13,13,574 crore was on revenue account and Rs 1,65,836 crore on capital account. Out of the total revenue expenditure, Rs 3,05,652 crore was on account of interest payments and Rs 1,56,210 crore towards major subsidies. During the same period of the last fiscal, the total expenditure was 53.4 per cent of the annual target. The government had pegged the fiscal deficit for 2020-21 at Rs 7.96 lakh crore or 3.5 per cent of the GDP in the Budget, presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in February.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11579.15, down by 91.65 points or 0.79% after trading in a range of 11575.60 and 11748.95. There were 18 stocks advancing against 32 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Ports & SEZ up by 4.63%, BPCL up by 3.63%, Nestle up by 2.48%, Coal India up by 2.30% and Indian Oil Corporation up by 2.04%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 2.93%, Bharti Airtel down by 2.80%, Maruti Suzuki down by 2.78%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 2.58% and Eicher Motors down by 2.00% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading lower; Nikkei 225 slipped 195.16 points or 0.84% to 23,136.78, Taiwan Weighted dropped 47.68 points or 0.38% to 12,615.23, Hang Seng decreased 6.38 points or 0.03% to 24,580.22, Straits Times trembled 5.66 points or 0.23% to 2,445.02, KOSPI fell 28.16 points or 1.21% to 2,298.51 and Shanghai Composite declined 3.28 points or 0.1% to 3,269.45.