Markets trade flat with negative bias in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks made flat-to-positive start on Thursday tracking overnight gains on Wall Street. Soon, markets turned volatile and are struggling for direction ahead of weekly Nifty F&O expiry. Now, domestic indices are trading flat with negative bias in early deals as buying activity in the markets remained somewhat subdued as investors are looking ahead to the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) and Consumer Price Index (CPI) data to release later in the day for more cues. There are expectations that India's retail inflation likely held steady last month, staying within the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) comfort range of 2%-6% for a second month. On the global front, Asian markets erased their initial gains and are traded mixed ahead of the release of US consumer price inflation data later today, which could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance said Japan posted a current account surplus of 1,803.6 billion yen in November - up 16.4 percent on year.

Back home, broader indices BSE Mid & Small cap indices were outperforming larger peers with gains of 0.10% & 0.27%, respectively. In stock specific developments, Infosys and HCL Tech were in focus ahead of December quarter earnings. RailTel Corporation gained amid reports that the government will invite Expression of Interest (EoI) for privatising Concor this month. However, Sun Pharma was marginally lower after receiving a FDA warning for GMP violations for its Halol facility.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 60043.47, down by 62.03 points or 0.10% after trading in a range of 60039.86 and 60290.35. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.10%, while Small cap index was up by 0.27%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 0.89%, Industrials up by 0.62%, Power up by 0.44%, Utilities up by 0.40%, Consumer Durables up by 0.39%, while Oil & Gas down by 0.96%, Energy down by 0.63%, TECK down by 0.41%, IT down by 0.39%, Metal down by 0.27% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Ultratech Cement up by 1.28%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.27%, Titan Company up by 0.86%, Indusind Bank up by 0.78% and HCL Technologies up by 0.78%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 1.09%, Infosys down by 0.92%, Axis Bank down by 0.88%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.53% and ICICI Bank down by 0.50% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the government data has showed that the country's gross direct tax collection rose 24.58 per cent to Rs 14.71 lakh crore till January 10 this fiscal, buoyed by an upsurge in personal income tax mop-up. After adjusting refunds, net direct tax collection stood at Rs 12.31 lakh crore, 19.55 per cent higher than the net collections for the corresponding period of last year.

The provisional figures of direct tax collections up to January 10, 2023 continue to register steady growth. The net collection is 86.68 per cent of the total budget estimates of direct taxes for the current fiscal. The Budget had estimated direct tax collection at Rs 14.20 lakh crore this fiscal.

On gross basis, collections from corporate income tax (CIT) grew 19.72 per cent, while that for personal income tax (PIT) increased 30.46 per cent. After adjusting refunds, the net growth in CIT collections is 18.33 per cent and that in PIT (including securities transaction tax) is 20.97 per cent. Refunds amounting to Rs 2.40 lakh crore have been issued between April 1, 2022, to January 10, 2023, which are 58.74 per cent higher than refunds issued during the same period last year.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17885.60, down by 10.10 points or 0.06% after trading in a range of 17881.45 and 17945.80. There were 24 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Grasim Industries up by 1.47%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.29%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.27%, Coal India up by 1.03% and SBI Life Insurance up by 0.87%. On the flip side, BPCL down by 1.76%, Divi's Lab down by 1.75%, Asian Paints down by 1.14%, Infosys down by 0.95% and Axis Bank down by 0.89% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mixed; Straits Times fell 7.17 points or 0.22% to 3,264.34, Hang Seng declined 95.74 points or 0.45% to 21,340.31, Taiwan Weighted lost 8.26 points or 0.06% to 14,743.18 and Shanghai Composite was down by 7.13 points or 0.23% to 3,154.71. On the other hand, Nikkei 225 rose 25.92 points or 0.10% to 26,471.92, KOSPI added 7.84 points or 0.33% to 2,367.37 and Jakarta Composite was up by 66.70 points or 1.01% to 6,651.15.