Domestic indices trade lower with cut of around half percent

Key equity indices remained in red and were trading with cut of around half a percent in late morning deals owing to selling in index heavy-weight ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank stocks. Negative cues from global markets also weighed on the domestic sentiments. Sentiments were weak amid worries about the health of US banks and rising deflationary pressures in China. Further, persistent foreign fund outflows weighed down on the sentiments. Provisional data from the National Stock Exchange (NSE) showed foreign institutional investors (FII) offloaded shares worth Rs 711.34 crore on August 8. Meanwhile, market participants remained on sidelines ahead of key US inflation data and Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) policy decision due tomorrow. 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red following negative cues from US markets overnight. Traders were cautious after release of weak Chinese trade and inflation data and as they await key inflation readings from the U.S. later in the week for more clues on the growth and interest rate outlook. Back home, in the stock specific development, Ircon International jumped after the company reported a good set of numbers for June quarter, with a strong order book position.  

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 65500.13, down by 346.37 points or 0.53% after trading in a range of 65444.38 and 65810.96. There were 8 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were tradin mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.10%, while Small cap index up by 0.27%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 0.71%, Consumer Durables up by 0.46%, Healthcare up by 0.21%, Oil & Gas up by 0.20% and Industrials up by 0.20%, while Realty down by 1.27%, Bankex down by 0.84%, FMCG down by 0.32%, Power down by 0.20% and Auto down by 0.15% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tech Mahindra up by 1.55%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.36%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.29%, JSW Steel up by 0.76% and Wipro up by 0.13%. On the flip side, ICICI Bank down by 1.22%, HDFC Bank down by 0.96%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.90%, Bajaj Finance down by 0.89% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.88% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary has said that the government lost a little over Rs 1 lakh crore in 2020-21 on account of a cut in corporate taxes.

In September 2019, the government announced a cut in base corporate tax for existing companies to 22 per cent from 30 per cent; and for new manufacturing firms, incorporated after October 1, 2019, to 15 per cent from 25 per cent. Companies opting for these new tax rates had to forego all exemptions and incentives. The effective tax rate for existing units, after considering surcharges and cess -- such as Swachh Bharat cess and education cess, which are levied on top of the income and corporate tax rates -- is 25.17 per cent as compared to 34.94 per cent earlier. For new units, it is 17.01 per cent as against 29.12 per cent previously. 

In February, the Minister had informed Parliament that the revenue loss in 2019-20 fiscal due to reduction in corporate tax rate from 30 per cent to 22 per cent was Rs 1,28,170 crore. As per the corporate tax collection data shared by him, in fiscal 2022-23 the provisional revenues stood at over Rs 8.28 lakh crore, higher than over Rs 7.12 lakh crore in 2021-22. In 2018-19 and 2019-20 corporate tax collection stood at Rs 6.63 lakh crore and Rs 5.56 lakh crore respectively.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19481.35, down by 89.50 points or 0.46% after trading in a range of 19467.50 and 19581.80. There were 20 stocks advancing against 30 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 2.90%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.56%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.29%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.24% and BPCL up by 0.71%. On the flip side, Divi's Lab down by 2.42%, ICICI Bank down by 1.29%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.16%, HDFC Bank down by 0.99% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.91% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Taiwan Weighted lost 3.78 points or 0.02% to 16,873.29, Hang Seng declined 57.7 points or 0.3% to 19,126.47, Shanghai Composite weakened 16.55 points or 0.51% to 3,244.07 and Nikkei 225 slipped 133.24 points or 0.41% to 32,244.05. However, KOSPI increased 30.96 points or 1.2% to 2,604.94 and Jakarta Composite gained 3.86 points or 0.06% to 6,872.67.