Equity markets continue lackluster trade in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets continued their lackluster trade in late afternoon session on the back of weak global cues. Traders were seen piling up positions in Metal, Healthcare and Basic Materials sectors while selling was witnessed in Capital Goods, Energy and Telecom sectors’ stocks. Traders remain concerned, as India’s forex reserves declined by $4.148 billion to reach $603.933 billion for the week ended June 18 due to a fall in gold and currency assets. The forex kitty had surged by $3.074 billion to a record high of $608.081 billion in the previous reporting week. Traders failed to took support after foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) in June turned net buyers by pumping in a net Rs 12,714 crore into Indian markets. Traders took note of report that Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman may announce some relief measures amid economic distress caused by the second wave of COVID-19 in the country.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red after Wall Street hit a new high as investors looked ahead to manufacturing indicators from Japan, China and South Korea. European markets were trading lower with travel shares slumping amid restrictions prompted by Covid-19 strains, while U.S. futures were little changed alongside Asian equities.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 52811.84, down by 113.20 points or 0.21% after trading in a range of 52728.70 and 53126.73. There were 11 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index, while 1 stock remains unchanged.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.39%, while Small cap index was up by 0.51%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.17%, Healthcare up by 1.14%, Basic Materials up by 0.82%, PSU up by 0.60% and Utilities was up by 0.39%, while Capital Goods down by 0.48%, Energy down by 0.41%, Telecom down by 0.34%, TECK down by 0.34% and IT was down by 0.30% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 1.72%, Tata Steel up by 1.17%, Sun Pharma up by 1.03%, Tech Mahindra up by 0.84% and NTPC up by 0.60%. On the flip side, Titan Company down by 1.65%, TCS down by 0.97%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.83%, Bajaj Finserv down by 0.75% and HCL Tech down by 0.75% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in a big relief to the taxpayers, the Government has granted further extension of timelines of compliances under Income Tax Act. It has also announced tax exemption for expenditure on COVID-19 treatment and ex-gratia received on death due to COVID-19.

As per the notification, many taxpayers have received financial help from their employers and well-wishers for meeting their expenses incurred for treatment of Covid-19. In order to ensure that no income tax liability arises on this account, it has been decided to provide income-tax exemption to the amount received by a taxpayer for medical treatment from employer or from any person for treatment of Covid-19 during FY 2019-20 and subsequent years.

The notification further noted that unfortunately, certain taxpayers have lost their life due to Covid-19. Employers and well-wishers of such taxpayers had extended financial assistance to their family members so that they could cope with the difficulties arisen due to the sudden loss of the earning member of their family. In order to provide relief to the family members of such taxpayer, it has been decided to provide income-tax exemption to ex-gratia payment received by family members of a person from the employer of such person or from other person on the death of the person on account of Covid-19 during FY 2019-20 and subsequent years.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15833.80, down by 26.55 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 15810.85 and 15915.65. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Divi's Lab up by 1.79%, Hindalco up by 1.78%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 1.66%, ONGC up by 1.53% and Adani Ports up by 1.53%. On the flip side, HDFC Life Insurance down by 3.55%, Titan Company down by 1.57%, TCS down by 1.03%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.84% and Shree Cement down by 0.82% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red, Jakarta Composite lost 82.93 points or 1.38% to 5,939.47, Hang Seng decreased 19.92 points or 0.07% to 29,268.30, Nikkei 225 slipped 18.16 points or 0.06% to 29,048.02, Shanghai Composite declined 1.19 points or 0.03% to 3,606.37 and KOSPI was down by 0.95 points or 0.03% to 3,301.89. On the flip side, Straits Times advanced 4.38 points or 0.14% to 3,125.98 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 87.98 points or 0.5% to 17,590.97.

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 31.56 points or 0.44% to 7,104.51, France’s CAC decreased 24.18 points or 0.37% to 6,598.69 and Germany’s DAX was down by 22.58 points or 0.14% to 15,585.39.