Domestic indices continue to trade in fine fettle

Domestic equity indices continued to trade in fine fettle in late morning deals on account of buying by fund and retails investors. Meanwhile, the broader markets were also trading higher. Traders were getting encouragement as India and the UK on Tuesday agreed to conclude the free trade agreement talks at the earliest. Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal met UK's secretary of state for international trade Kemi Badenoch to review the progress of talks for a bilateral free trade agreement and agreed to conclude it at the earliest. Traders took note of report that Asian Development Bank (ADB) has kept its outlook for India's economic growth unchanged at 7 per cent for the current fiscal year while forecasting a weaker-than-previously expected pace for developing Asia.

On the global front, Asian markets were mostly trading in green following the broadly positive cues from US markets overnight, as data showing a tamer-than-expected increase in U.S. consumer prices helped ease concerns about the outlook for interest rates ahead of the US Fed's rate decision later in the day. Back home, in stock specific development, Triveni Turbine surged after the company fixed the record date for proposed share buyback via tender offer.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 62790.24, up by 256.94 points or 0.41% after trading in a range of 62674.18 and 62835.11. There were 25 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.49%, while Small cap index up by 0.64%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.50%, Power up by 1.18%, Utilities up by 1.14%, PSU up by 1.00% and Oil & Gas up by 0.99%, while Telecom down by 0.30% and FMCG down by 0.10% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 2.30%, Power Grid up by 1.85%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.32%, SBI up by 1.03% and HDFC up by 0.93%. On the flip side, Nestle down by 1.29%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.77%, Asian Paints down by 0.35%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.31% and ICICI Bank down by 0.17% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary has said that the government has garnered Rs 60.46 crore through tax from entities for transactions in virtual digital assets (VDAs), including cryptocurrencies, since the introduction of Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) provisions in July. He noted that the government, from April 1, has brought in a 30 per cent income tax plus surcharge and cess on transfer of crypto assets, like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether and Dogecoin.

Also, the minister said to keep a tab on the money trail, a 1 per cent TDS under section 194S of I-T Act has been brought in on payments over Rs 10,000 towards virtual digital currencies from July 1.  He also said CBDT conducts outreach/ awareness programmes for deductors/taxpayers and also takes appropriate action, including search & seizure operations, surveys, enquiries etc, as required. Post insertion of Section 194S in the Income-tax Act, 1961 through Finance Act, 2022, a total of 318 direct tax challans having TDS code 194S have been received having total amount of Rs 60.46 crore.

Chaudhary stated that under the Income-tax Act, 1961, Section 194S has been inserted through the Finance Act, 2022 for deduction of tax at source in respect of transfer of VDAs which is to be complied with by any person engaged in transactions related to VDAs. He further said currently, crypto assets are unregulated in India and the government does not register foreign crypto exchanges. Crypto assets are by definition borderless and require international collaboration to prevent regulatory arbitrage.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18684.30, up by 76.30 points or 0.41% after trading in a range of 18651.65 and 18696.10. There were 40 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 2.60%, NTPC up by 2.42%, Eicher Motors up by 1.93%, Power Grid up by 1.87% and Hindalco up by 1.74%. On the flip side, Nestle down by 1.31%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.73%, Asian Paints down by 0.44%, ICICI Bank down by 0.38% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.34% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 213.51 points or 0.76% to 28,168.36, Straits Times advanced 16.60 points or 0.51% to 3,287.88, Shanghai Composite gained 3.25 points or 0.1% to 3,179.58 KOSPI rose 23.87 points or 1.01% to 2,396.27, Hang Seng increased 168.32 points or 0.86% to 19,764.52 and Taiwan Weighted strengthened 216.40 points or 1.49% to 14,739.36. However, Jakarta Composite lost 26.76 points or 0.39% to 6,783.56.