Markets extend previous session’s losses with gap-down opening

With a gap-down opening, Indian equity benchmarks have extended their previous session losses and are now trading lower by over half a percent, which dragged both the Sensex and Nifty below their psychological 65,500 and 19,600 levels respectively. Meanwhile, the session was also proving weak for broader indices on BSE which are trading with losses in the range of 0.20-0.50%. Sentiments were weak on account of negative global cues and rising crude oil prices. Traders were cautious as US Treasury yields jumped to multiyear highs, with the 10-year Treasury yield breaking above 4.9% for the first time since 2007. Further, foreign fund outflows also dented sentiments. Provisional data from the National Stock Exchange (NSE) showed that foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth Rs 1,831.84 crore on October 18.   

On the global front, Asian markets are trading in red following weak cues from global markets overnight. The US markets ended lower on Wednesday amid rising tensions in the Middle East, and higher bond yields on concerns about the outlook for interest rates. Back home, all the sectoral indices on the BSE were trading in red led by Metal, Realty, Basic Materials, Power and Utilities.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 65461.99, down by 415.03 points or 0.63% after trading in a range of 65386.58 and 65518.30. There were 2 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.50%, while Small cap index down by 0.23%.

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE Metal down by 1.72%, Realty down by 0.88%, Basic Materials down by 0.84%, Power down by 0.76% and Utilities down by 0.61%, while there were no gaining indices on BSE.

The only gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 0.49% and ITC up by 0.34%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 3.08%, Tata Steel down by 1.65%, JSW Steel down by 1.57%, Power Grid down by 1.50% and Bajaj Finserv down by 1.05% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the finance ministry has said that GST Intelligence Officers have detected GST evasion of Rs 1.36 lakh crore in the current fiscal. It said in order to tackle the menace of GST evasion, the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) develops intelligence, especially in new areas of tax evasion, through advanced tools for data analytics besides using its intelligence network across the country to collect such information.

In the 2022-23 fiscal, GST officers had detected evasion of over Rs 1 lakh crore. Six months into the current fiscal, the evasion detection has crossed last year's number. The ministry said ‘Overall in FY 2023-24, Rs 1.36 lakh crore has been detected as overall GST evasion (including fake ITC) and voluntary payment of Rs 14,108 crore has been made for the same.’

It stated a total of 1,040 fake ITC cases involving Rs 14,000 crore have been detected so far in the current fiscal. As many as 91 fraudsters have been apprehended till date. In case of evasion through fake input tax credit (ITC) between April 2020-September, 2023, GST intelligence officers have detected Rs 57,000 crore tax evasion.

Besides, it said ‘From April 2020 to September 2023, more than 6,000 fake ITC cases involving more than Rs. 57,000 crore GST evasion have been detected and a total of 500 persons have been arrested.’ Since June 2023, DGGI has laid special emphasis to identify and apprehend the masterminds and disrupting syndicates, operating across the country.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19553.50, down by 117.60 points or 0.60% after trading in a range of 19533.60 and 19573.05. There were 6 stocks advancing against 44 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Auto up by 4.11%, LTIMindtree up by 2.17%, Indusind Bank up by 1.07%, BPCL up by 0.87% and ITC up by 0.46%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 3.13%, Hindalco down by 2.07%, Tata Consumer down by 1.60%, Tata Steel down by 1.49% and Power Grid down by 1.48% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading lower; Hang Seng declined 346.61 points or 1.95% to 17,385.91, Nikkei 225 slipped 597.27 points or 1.86% to 31,444.98, Taiwan Weighted lost 40.26 points or 0.24% to 16,400.65, Straits Times fell 34.98 points or 1.12% to 3,101.64, KOSPI dropped 43.76 points or 1.78% to 2,418.84, Shanghai Composite weakened 37.16 points or 1.23% to 3,021.55 and Jakarta Composite plunged 55.41 points or 0.8% to 6,872.50.