Bourses trade flat with negative bias

Bourses traded flat with negative bias amid volatility in late morning deals. Selling in index heavyweights ITC, Larsen & Toubro and Asian Paints pressured markets to trade below neutral lines. Rising crude oil prices also weighed on the domestic sentiments. Traders remained on sidelines ahead of central bank meetings. The Federal Reserve's interest-rate decision is due on Wednesday, followed by the European Central Bank (ECB) on Thursday and the Bank of Japan (BOJ) on Friday. The Federal Reserve is widely expected to lift interest rates, but the central bank's statements will be scrutinized for clues on possible additional increases later in 2023. Metal stocks were trading higher after China, the world's largest producer and consumer of metals, announced plans to provide further support to support its post-COVID economic recovery.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly higher after China’s Politburo pledged to “adjust and optimize policies in a timely manner” for its ailing property sector. Back home, traders were seen pilling up position in Utilities, Metal, Power, Auto and Realty, while selling was witnessed in FMCG, Capital Goods, IT, TECK and Bankex. In the stock specific development, Sharda Cropchem fell after the company reported loss of Rs 89 crore in June quarter (Q1FY24), due to weak operational performance. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 66359.05, down by 25.73 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 66292.37 and 66559.29. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.18%, while Small cap index up by 0.40%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 1.89%, Metal up by 1.73%, Power up by 1.39%, Auto up by 0.94% and Realty up by 0.91%,  while FMCG down by 1.16%, Capital Goods down by 0.36%, IT down by 0.27%, TECK down by 0.26% and Bankex down by 0.18% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were JSW Steel up by 2.24%, Tata Steel up by 2.21%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.99%, NTPC up by 1.86% and Tata Motors up by 1.41%. On the flip side, ITC down by 2.76%, Asian Paints down by 1.68%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.22%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.21% and SBI down by 1.00% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, CBDT chairperson Nitin Gupta has said that more than four crore income tax returns (ITRs) for the financial year 2022-23 have been filed so far and about 7 per cent of these are new or first-time filers. He said that more than half of these ITRs have been processed leading to 80 lakh refunds till now. He said ‘the shortage of manpower at every level was impeding our efforts to give even better results’. He urged Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for a ‘quick approval’ of the department's cadre restructuring proposal.

The CBDT chairperson said direct tax collection, which includes personal income tax and corporate tax among others, has been making remarkable strides as the department collected more than Rs 16.61 lakh crore in taxes during the 2022-23 fiscal which was 17.67 per cent higher than the preceding year. This collection surpassed both the budget and revised estimates set by the government for revenue collections under the direct taxes category and is a testament to the hard work of the cadre.

Gupta said the department was working on the guidelines set by the finance minister of ensuring ‘quicker processing of returns and speedy issue of refunds’. He said ‘we have reduced ITR processing to just 16 days and more than 42 per cent of the ITRs were processed in one day during the last fiscal’. He said the tax authorities were ‘intensely monitoring’ the grievances of the taxpayers. To give a progressive tax administration, he said ‘not only do we need to augment our infrastructure but also human capital. The quick approval of our cadre restructuring will be a useful step to achieve this’. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19669.95, down by 2.40 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 19652.10 and 19729.35. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were JSW Steel up by 2.29%, Tata Steel up by 2.08%, Ultratech Cement up by 2.01%, NTPC up by 1.89% and Hindalco up by 1.74%. On the flip side, ITC down by 2.94%, Asian Paints down by 1.74%, Britannia down by 1.52%, SBI Life down by 1.47% and Tech Mahindra down by 1.25% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Taiwan Weighted added 165.28 points or 0.97% to 17,198.89, Hang Seng advanced 631.89 points or 3.38% to 19,300.04, Shanghai Composite strengthened 60 points or 1.9% to 3,224.16, KOSPI increased 3.77 points or 0.14% to 2,632.30, Jakarta Composite gained 21.85 points or 0.32% to 6,921.25 and Straits Times rose 9.42 points or 0.29% to 3,274.56. However, Nikkei 225 slipped 45.71 points or 0.14% to 32,655.23.