Sensex, Nifty remain in green terrain

Indian equity benchmarks maintain their trade in green terrain during late morning session, with Sensex and Nifty managing to keep their heads above water. Positive cues from other Asian markets helped key indices to remain higher. However, gains remained limited, as traders got cautious, amid reports that the non-food component in the price basket will continue to keep inflation at a high level and result in a 'long pause' in interest rates. The bank report said over a six month period, food inflation is likely to ease, but non-food may be sticky on account of rigidity in domestic fuel taxation, marginal hikes in manufacturing costs after months of the shutdown, commodity price rises, telecom price adjustments and return in demand impulses in certain core categories.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, after the private sector in Singapore moved into expansion territory in December, the latest survey from Markit Economics showed on Wednesday with a PMI score of 50.5. That's up from 46.7 in November, and it moves above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. Individually, new orders increased for the first times since January with respondents mentioning stronger demand, a rise in e-commerce sales and promotional activity.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 48261.05, up by 86.99 points or 0.18% after trading in a range of 48209.31 and 48558.34. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.99%, while Small cap index was up by 1.06%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 3.36%, Telecom up by 2.96%, Basic Materials up by 2.01%, Realty up by 1.98% and Industrials up by 1.75%, while IT down by 0.97%, FMCG down by 0.70%, TECK down by 0.49%, Consumer Durables down by 0.11% and Healthcare down by 0.03% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 3.35%, Indusind Bank up by 2.50%, HDFC up by 2.30%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.04% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.95%. On the flip side, Titan Co down by 2.05%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.44%, Infosys down by 1.40%, TCS down by 1.30% and Nestle down by 1.14% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Income Tax department said it has issued refunds worth over Rs 1.64 lakh crore to over 1.41 crore taxpayers till January 4, this fiscal. This includes Personal income tax (PIT) refunds amounting to Rs 53,070 crore and corporate tax refunds of over Rs 1.10 lakh crore during this period.

The department said ‘CBDT issues refunds of over Rs. 1,64,016 crore to more than 1.41 crore taxpayers between April 01, 2020 to January 04, 2021. Income tax refunds of Rs. 53,070 crore have been issued in 1,38,85,044 cases & corporate tax refunds of Rs. 1,10,946 crore have been issued in 2,06,847cases’.

The Department had said that over 5 crore income tax returns (ITRs) for fiscal year 2019-20 have been filed till January 4. The government has extended the ITR filing deadline for individuals till January 10, and for companies till February 15.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 14181.90, up by 35.65 points or 0.25% after trading in a range of 14165.45 and 14256.25. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Steel up by 5.33%, Hindalco up by 4.59%, Bharti Airtel up by 3.46%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 3.26% and Indusind Bank up by 2.54%. On the flip side, Titan Company down by 1.95%, Infosys down by 1.47%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.46%, Divis Lab down by 1.45% and TCS down by 1.25% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 414.96 points or 1.53% to 27,470.90, Straits Times advanced 42.57 points or 1.49% to 2,905.58, KOSPI rose 76.38 points or 2.57% to 3,044.59, Shanghai Composite gained 12.97 points or 0.37% to 3,563.85, Jakarta Composite soared 73.54 points or 1.21% to 6,139.22 and Taiwan Weighted strengthened 249.33 points or 1.66% to 15,232.46. On the flip side, Hang Seng decreased 120.35 points or 0.43% to 27,571.95.