Domestic indices trade in fine-fettle in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks started the F&O series expiry session on positive note tracking firm global cues. Markets extended their opening gains and are trading in fine-fettle with gains of 0.40% each in early deals. Sentiments got a boost as Revenue Secretary Tarun Bajaj said India's tax collection will exceed the budget estimate by nearly Rs 4 lakh crore in the current fiscal on the back of buoyant income tax, customs duty and GST mop-up. Strong opening of rupee also aided the market sentiments. Rupee appreciated by 13 paise from its previous to 81.72 vs US dollar on Thursday amid fall in global crude oil prices. Weakness in the value of greenback against a basket of six peers also supported the currency.

On the global front, most of the Asian markets are trading higher, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight, as traders reacted positively to the minutes of the US Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting, which suggested slowing the pace of its interest rate hikes. Back home, sugar stocks were in focus as the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) said India is likely to extend the limit of sugar exports by 2-4 million tonnes in the 2022-23 season. The move will leave total exports at 8-10 million tonnes and below last year's level. In stock specific development, Tata Consumer Products rallied on a report that it plans to acquire Bisleri for Rs 7,000 crore.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 61756.42, up by 245.84 points or 0.40% after trading in a range of 61600.42 and 61790.34. There were 26 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.37%, while Small cap index was up by 0.55%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were PSU up by 0.68%, Oil & Gas up by 0.54%, Industrials up by 0.49%, Capital Goods up by 0.48%, Power up by 0.48%, while Metal down by 0.12%, Telecom down by 0.02% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HDFC Bank up by 1.07%, HDFC up by 1.04%, Power Grid up by 0.91%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.89% and Indusind Bank up by 0.86%. On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.53%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.26%, Sun Pharma down by 0.16% and Tata Steel down by 0.14% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Revenue Secretary Tarun Bajaj has expressed optimism over India’s tax collection and said that it will exceed the budget estimate by nearly Rs 4 lakh crore in the current fiscal (FY23) on the back of buoyant income tax, customs duty and GST mop-up. He said the growth in tax revenues will continue to be higher than the GDP growth, helped by formalisation of the economy and better compliance. For this financial year ending March 2023 (FY23), the tax collection target set in the Union Budget is around Rs 27.50 lakh crore.

He said the direct tax collection comprising personal and corporate taxes would be close to Rs 17.50 lakh crore in the current fiscal. Mop up from indirect taxes (customs, excise and GST) would be close to Rs 14 lakh crore. He added that the total tax collection is expected to be about Rs 31.50 lakh crore in 2022-23. The Budget had pegged direct and indirect tax mop up at Rs 14.20 lakh crore and Rs 13.30 lakh crore for current fiscal, taking the total figure to Rs 27.50 lakh crore. Last fiscal, the direct tax collection grew nearly 50 per cent to Rs 14.10 lakh crore compared to 2020-21.

He further said ‘We are using a lot of data. We have data from income tax and GST departments, and MCA (Ministry of Corporate Affairs). We are also getting data regarding high value expenditure. Formalisation of economy and technology has helped improved compliance’. He noted that ‘The trend of higher tax collection than GDP growth will continue’. He also said that even though there was a reduction in customs and excise duties during this fiscal, the government will be very close to the target set in the Budget. The Budget has set a target of collecting Rs 2.13 lakh crore and Rs 3.35 lakh crore from customs and excise duties, respectively.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18340.25, up by 73.00 points or 0.40% after trading in a range of 18294.25 and 18346.55. There were 41 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Apollo Hospital Ent. up by 2.45%, Tata Consumer Products up by 2.42%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 2.28%, BPCL up by 1.98% and HDFC Bank up by 1.05%. On the flip side, Adani Enterprises down by 0.94%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.49%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.35%, JSW Steel down by 0.23% and Tata Motors down by 0.17% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 298.79 points or 1.06% to 28,414.53, Hang Seng advanced 84.83 points or 0.48% to 17,608.64, Taiwan Weighted rose 94.77 points or 0.65% to 14,703.31, KOSPI added 14.43 points or 0.60% to 2,432.44 and Jakarta Composite was up by 41.02 points or 0.58% to 7,095.14. On the other hand, Straits Times fell 2.98 points or 0.09% to 3,253.01 and Shanghai Composite was down by 3.40 points or 0.11% to 3,093.51.