Benchmarks continue to trade marginally in red in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade marginally in red in morning deals, due to foreign fund outflows. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 84.55 crore on Wednesday, as per exchange data. However, losses were limited as some support came with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that the government is looking at easing certain restrictions for units in the special economic zones (SEZ) to promote the sector's growth. SEZs in India are treated as foreign territories for trade and customs duties, with restrictions on duty-free domestic sales. Traders took a note of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) Chairman Sanjay Kumar Agarwal stating that the growth in October Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections, which is the second highest ever, is on account of economic activity and not due to show cause notices to online gaming companies. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green as traders reacted to Chinese data showing producer prices declined for the 13th straight month and consumer prices were down more than expected in October. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 64910.69, down by 64.92 points or 0.10% after trading in a range of 64872.40 and 65037.83. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.14%, while Small cap index was up by 0.10%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.40%, Auto up by 1.05%, Consumer Disc up by 0.42%, Healthcare up by 0.30% and Utilities up by 0.25%, while FMCG down by 0.68%, Energy down by 0.50%, Oil & Gas down by 0.46%, TECK down by 0.39% and IT down by 0.35% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.32%, Tata Motors up by 1.52%, Indusind Bank up by 1.51%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.04% and Larsen & Toubro up by 0.76%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 1.58%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.92%, Infosys down by 0.76%, Bajaj Finance down by 0.75% and JSW Steel down by 0.71% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) Chairman Sanjay Kumar Agarwal has said the growth in October Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections, which is the second highest ever, is on account of economic activity and not due to show cause notices to online gaming companies. Goods and Services Tax revenue in October grew 13.4 per cent to Rs 1.72 lakh crore. GST collection in October is the second highest ever since roll-out on July 1, 2017. In April, the mop-up was highest at Rs 1.87 lakh crore.

He stated ‘The growth in October GST collections was riding on economic activity and not because of notices that was sent (to online gaming companies). Growth has come purely on the economic activity which has taken place in the country.’ Moreover, he said October GST collection was not only because of domestic GST supplies, but also due to IGST on imports also.

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs has been issuing notices to companies for short payment of taxes in 2017-18 fiscal. The last date for sending notices for that fiscal was September 30, 2023. The CBIC in September had issued notices totalling about Rs 1 lakh crore to online gaming and casinos operators in September for alleged tax evasion.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19423.85, down by 19.65 points or 0.10% after trading in a range of 19402.70 and 19463.90. There were 19 stocks advancing against 31 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.33%, Apollo Hospital up by 1.82%, Indusind Bank up by 1.49%, Tata Motors up by 1.40% and Hero MotoCorp up by 1.21%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 1.62%, Tata Consumer Product down by 1.57%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.99%, Bajaj Finance down by 0.79% and JSW Steel down by 0.73% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 493.1 points or 1.53% to 32,659.58, Taiwan Weighted added 0.24 points or 0% to 16,741.07, Straits Times rose 14.64 points or 0.47% to 3,144.36, KOSPI increased 13.00 points or 0.54% to 2,434.62, Jakarta Composite gained 20.21 points or 0.3% to 6,824.32 and Shanghai Composite strengthened 2.31 points or 0.08% to 3,054.68.

On the flip side, Hang Seng declined 54.65 points or 0.31% to 17,513.81.