Equity markets extend losses in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets extended their losses in late afternoon session, with the Sensex and the Nifty falling above 150 and 50 points, respectively. A level of pressure was seen on frontline stocks, especially Bajaj Finance and Ultratech Cement. Traders failed to take solace with Moody's Investors Service stating that high-frequency alternative data indicates a strong rebound in economic activity even as infection rates rise and restrictive measures remain in place across many countries. Traders also ignored, Ministry of Finance in its latest report has said that provisional Direct Tax collections for the Financial Year 2020-21 show growth of almost 5%, as net collections are at Rs. 9.45 lakh crore. The net Direct Tax collections include Corporation Tax (CIT) at Rs. 4.57 lakh crore and Personal Income Tax (PIT) including Security Transaction Tax (STT) at Rs. 4.88 lakh crore. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, as Sino-U.S. tensions and concerns about rising inflation in China overshadowed investor optimism over the global economic recovery. European markets were trading mostly in red as investors absorbed the latest comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, and fresh data showing inflationary pressures on the rise in China.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 49591.75, down by 154.46 points or 0.31% after trading in a range of 49461.01 and 49906.91. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green and red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.11%, while Small cap index was up by 0.53%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 2.05%, FMCG up by 0.96%, Consumer Durables up by 0.65%, IT up by 0.60% and TECK was up by 0.47%, while Metal down by 2.35%, Basic Materials down by 1.20%, Power down by 0.83%, Bankex down by 0.77% and PSU was down by 0.61% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindustan Unilever up by 2.72%, Sun Pharma up by 2.66%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.48%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 1.43% and Titan Company up by 1.23%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 3.26%, Ultratech Cement down by 2.41%, NTPC down by 2.24%, ICICI Bank down by 1.66% and Axis Bank down by 1.33% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance in its latest report has said that provisional Direct Tax collections for the Financial Year 2020-21 show growth of almost 5%, as net collections are at Rs. 9.45 lakh crore. The net Direct Tax collections include Corporation Tax (CIT) at Rs. 4.57 lakh crore and Personal Income Tax (PIT) including Security Transaction Tax(STT) at Rs. 4.88 lakh crore. The net Direct Tax collections represent 104.46% of the Revised Estimates of Rs. 9.05 lakh crore of Direct Taxes for the FY 2020-21.

As per the report, the gross collection of Direct Taxes (before adjusting for refunds) for the FY 2020-21 stands at Rs. 12.06 lakh crore. This includes Corporation Tax (CIT) at Rs. 6.31 lakh crore and Personal Income Tax (PIT) including Security Transaction Tax(STT) at Rs. 5.75 lakh crore; Advance Tax of Rs. 4.95 lakh crore; Tax Deducted at Source (including Central TDS) of Rs. 5.45 lakh crore; Self-Assessment Tax of Rs. 1.07 lakh crore; Regular Assessment Tax of Rs. 42,372 crore; Dividend Distribution Tax of Rs. 13,237 crore and Tax under other minor heads of Rs. 2,612 crore.

The Ministry of Finance further noted that despite an extremely challenging year, the Advance Tax collections for FY 2020-21 stand at Rs. 4.95 lakh crore which shows a growth of approximately 6.7% over the Advance Tax collections of the immediately preceding Financial Year of Rs. 4.64 lakh crore.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 14822.10, down by 51.70 points or 0.35% after trading in a range of 14785.65 and 14918.45. There were 18 stocks advancing against 32 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Cipla up by 4.82%, Hindustan Unilever up by 2.70%, Sun Pharma up by 2.68%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 1.51% and Tech Mahindra up by 1.47%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 3.20%, Tata Steel down by 3.12%, UPL down by 2.79%, Ultratech Cement down by 2.44% and Hindalco down by 2.42% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red, Hang Seng decreased 309.27 points or 1.07% to 28,698.80, Taiwan Weighted dropped 72.34 points or 0.43% to 16,854.10, Shanghai Composite declined 31.87 points or 0.92% to 3,450.68, KOSPI fell 11.38 points or 0.36% to 3,131.88, Straits Times trembled 5.88 points or 0.18% to 3,180.52 and Jakarta Composite was down by 1.51 points or 0.02% to 6,070.21. On the flip side, Nikkei 225 was up by 59.08 points or 0.2% to 29,768.06.

European markets were trading mostly in red, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 33.21 points or 0.48% to 6,909.01 and Germany’s DAX was down by 29.47 points or 0.19% to 15,173.21. On the flip side, France’s CAC was up by 6.39 points or 0.1% to 6,172.11.