Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks remained upbeat throughout day, as investors continued to hunt for fundamentally strong stocks. After making cautious start, key indices soon witnessed buying activity to trade in positive trend even after Asian markets sank under global recession fears. Domestic traders took support as the gross direct tax collections have grown 26 per cent to over Rs 13.63 lakh crore so far this fiscal, aided by TDS deductions and healthy corporate advance tax mop-up. After adjusting for refunds, the net direct tax collection so far this fiscal stands at Rs 11.35 lakh crore, which is about 80 per cent of the full-year gross Budget target. Markets continued to move forward helped by healthy gaining momentum in Auto and FMCG sectors’ stocks. Some support also came as data released by the Reserve Bank showed that India’s forex reserves rose by $2.908 billion to $564.06 billion for the week ended on December 9.

Traders remain energized in afternoon session as report stated that foreign investors continued their positive momentum and have injected a net Rs 10,555 crore in Indian equities so far in December amid stabilisation in oil prices and moderating US inflation. Besides, department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) is working closely with 24 sectors in order to boost domestic manufacturing, increase exports and cut down imports. It said efforts are on to boost the growth of these sectors in a holistic and coordinated manner. Traders ignored Icra Ratings' report that with exports continuing to remain under stress for the second consecutive month in November, and imports also falling, the current account deficit is likely to moderate in the second half and close the fiscal with a 3.3 percent of GDP or $108-112 billion, which still be a record high. In late afternoon session, markets added traction to touch day’s high points despite fears of a global economic recession. 

On the global front, European markets were trading higher boosted by energy firms, after a bruising selloff last week sparked by growing fears of a recession as major central banks promised more interest rate hikes ahead. Asian markets ended mostly in red as investors wrestled with fears the Federal Reserve and European central banks might be willing to cause a recession to crush inflation. Back home, in sector specific, IT stocks came under pressure after Accenture forecast lower-than-expected sales for the upcoming quarter. Besides, sugar stocks remained in limelight with report that government slashed Goods & Services Tax (GST) on ethanol meant for blending under the Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) programme to 5 per cent from 18 per cent.

The BSE Sensex ended at 61,806.19, up by 468.38 points or 0.76% after trading in a range of 61,265.31 and 61,844.92. There were 24 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.67%, while Small cap index up by 0.29%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 1.67%, FMCG up by 1.43%, Power up by 0.94%, Energy up by 0.93% and Metal was up by 0.91%, while IT down by 0.55% and TECK was down by 0.28% were the only losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.97%, Power Grid up by 2.65%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.31%, Bajaj Finserv up by 2.07% and HDFC up by 1.75%. On the flip side, TCS down by 1.07%, Infosys down by 0.81%, Tata Motors down by 0.77%, Sun Pharma down by 0.63% and Indusind Bank down by 0.47% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has said that the gross direct tax collections have grown 26 per cent to over Rs 13.63 lakh crore so far this fiscal, aided by TDS deductions and healthy corporate advance tax mop-up. After adjusting for refunds, the net direct tax collection so far this fiscal stands at Rs 11.35 lakh crore, which is about 80 per cent of the full-year gross Budget target. Refunds worth about Rs 2.28 lakh crore have been issued till December 17, 2022, a growth of 68 per cent over the year-ago period.

The gross collection of Rs 13,63,649 crore includes Corporation Tax (CIT) at Rs 7.25 lakh crore and Personal Income Tax (PIT) including Securities Transaction Tax (STT) at Rs 6.35 lakh crore. The robust tax mop-up shows the economy rebounded from pandemic lows with rise in earnings of both companies and individuals. The mop-up includes advance tax collection of Rs 5.21 lakh crore, Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) of Rs 6.44 lakh crore, and self-assessment tax of Rs 1.40 lakh crore.

As per the CBDT, so far this fiscal, the net collections from income and corporate taxes are at Rs 11.35 lakh crore, 19.81 per cent higher than the Rs 9,47,959 crore collected in the corresponding period of the preceding financial year (2021-22). This includes Rs 6.06 lakh crore and Rs 5.26 lakh crore of CIT and PIT collections, respectively. The CBDT further said there has been a remarkable increase in the speed of processing of income tax returns filed during the current fiscal, with almost 96.5 per cent of the duly verified ITRs having been processed till December 17.

The CNX Nifty ended at 18,420.45, up by 151.45 points or 0.83% after trading in a range of 18,244.55 and 18,431.65. There were 41 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Ports up by 3.77%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.12%, Eicher Motors up by 2.96%, Power Grid up by 2.67% and Adani Enterprises up by 2.37%. On the flip side, TCS down by 1.18%, Infosys down by 0.98%, ONGC down by 0.95%, Tata Motors down by 0.85% and Sun Pharma down by 0.57% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 37.22 points or 0.51% to 7,369.34, France’s CAC increased 55.40 points or 0.86% to 6,508.03 and Germany’s DAX was up by 92.31 points or 0.66% to 13,985.38.

Asian markets settled mostly down on Monday tracking Wall Street losses last Friday along with worries that further policy tightening by the Federal Reserve could result in a global recession next year. Chinese shares tumbled amid uncertainty over China's economic reopening, despite China's top leaders pledged to revive domestic consumption and support the real estate market. Moreover, Japanese shares plummeted due to selling pressure, with renewed speculation that the Bank of Japan could tighten its ultra-loose monetary policy amid rising inflationary pressures.