Benchmarks trade lower in early deals amid weak global cues

Indian equity benchmarks made negative start on Thursday tracking weakness in global peers. Markets soon extended their losses and are trading lower with cut of over half a percent each in early deals. Selling on almost all the sector indices, except Capital Goods, weighted down on the domestic indices. Traders were cautious ahead of expiry of the October F&O series contract later in the day. Some cautiousness crept in with report that cooking gas LPG prices may be hiked next week after under-recovery on the fuel widened to over Rs 100 per cylinder. Adding more pessimism, a report from the Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change (CMCC) said that in India, the decline in rice and wheat yields due to climate change could lead to economic losses between 43-81 billion EUR (or 1.8-3.4% of GDP) by 2050. Besides, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold shares worth Rs 1913.36 crore.

Most of the Asian markets traded lower following the mostly negative cues overnight from Wall Street, on sinking crude oil prices and U.S.-China tensions over Taiwan. Traders await the upcoming monetary policy announcements from the Bank of Japan and the European Central Bank for directional cues as inflation worries persisted.

Back home, banking sector stocks were in focus with a private report that Indian banking sector is set to witness a fresh round of consolidation over the medium term - spread over FY22-24 period - primarily driven by large private sector banks. In scrip specific development, IndusInd Bank traded higher as its net profit rose by 73 per cent at Rs 1,147 crore in the second quarter ended September 2021 on back of steady increase in net interest incomes and fees. Moreover, four stocks - Indiabulls Housing Finance, Canara Bank, NMDC and Sun TV Network - are under the F&O ban for October 28.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 60781.00, down by 362.33 points or 0.59% after trading in a range of 60770.96 and 61081.00. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.50%, while Small cap index was down by 0.76%.

The sole gaining sectoral index on the BSE was Capital Goods up by 1.63%, while Metal down by 2.05%, Consumer Durables down by 1.54%, Telecom down by 1.53%, Realty down by 1.53%, Power down by 1.52% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 6.13%, Larsen & Toubro up by 3.80%, Ultratech Cement up by 0.49%, Nestle up by 0.33% and Bajaj Finance up by 0.29%. On the flip side, Titan Company down by 2.84%, ITC down by 2.35%, Tata Steel down by 2.20%, ICICI Bank down by 2.11% and SBI down by 1.93% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) stated that refunds of over Rs 1,02,952 crore have been issued to the taxpayers during the current financial year. The CBDT frames policy for the Income Tax Department.

This figure includes income tax refunds of Rs 27,965 crore in 76,21,956 cases and corporate tax refunds of Rs 74,987 crore in 1,70,424 cases. CBDT issues refunds of over Rs 1,02,952 crore to more than 77.92 lakh taxpayers from April 01, 2021 to October 25, 2021. The Income Tax Department noted that ‘this includes 46.09 lakh refunds of AY (assessment year) 2021-22 amounting to Rs 6,657.40 crore’.

Recently, the government had once again extended the deadline to file income tax return (ITR) for FY 2020-21 by three months to December 31, 2021 from September 30, 2021. The deadline has been extended due to the glitches on the new income tax portal which had made it difficult for scores of taxpayers to complete their ITR filing process.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18078.70, down by 132.25 points or 0.73% after trading in a range of 18074.85 and 18190.70. There were 11 stocks advancing against 39 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indusind Bank up by 6.30%, Larsen & Toubro up by 3.77%, Ultratech Cement up by 0.91%, Britannia Industries up by 0.39% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.35%. On the flip side, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 4.52%, Titan Co down by 3.11%, ONGC down by 2.88%, ITC down by 2.60% and Hindalco down by 2.48% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 268.90 points or 0.92% to 28,829.34, Straits Times fell 10.16 points or 0.32% to 3,208.01, Hang Seng lost 97.57 points or 0.38% to 25,531.17, Taiwan Weighted declined 52.96 points or 0.31% to 17,021.59, Jakarta Composite plunged 64.31 points or 0.97% to 6,537.90 and Shanghai Composite was down by 33.31 points or 0.94% to 3,529.00, while KOSPI rose 4.90 points or 0.16% to 3,030.39.