Markets start Friday’s trade on optimistic note with rally in IT stocks

Indian equity benchmarks started last trading session of the week on optimistic note with IT shares leading the way. Markets are trading firm with gains of around half a percent each in early deals on Friday. Some support came in with a data showing that India's net direct tax collection increased 19 per cent on an annual basis to Rs 14.70 lakh crore till January 11. The data also revealed that the tax collection has reached 81 per cent of full-year target. The government has budgeted to collect Rs 18.23 lakh crore from direct taxes (personal income tax and corporate tax), 9.75 per cent higher than Rs 16.61 lakh crore mopped up last fiscal. Traders took note of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that the much-awaited direct listing of stocks at the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) in GIFT City would happen soon to enable Indian companies to access global funds easily. Meanwhile, investors are looking ahead to the India’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation and Index of Industrial Production (IIP) data to be out later in the day for more directional cues. 

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mixed, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, driven by the continuing strength in the Japanese market and as traders reacted to a bunch of economic data from China, Japan and Australia. Traders also digested the highly anticipated report on US consumer price inflation in December, which showed a bigger than expected increase. Back home, investors are keeping eye on Q3 earnings of HCL Technologies, Wipro, HDFC Life Insurance, Anand Rathi Wealth, Just Dial, JTL Industries, Tata Metaliks, Den Networks. In stocks specific development, TCS traded higher after it reported a 2 per cent rise in year-on-year net profit at Rs 11,058 crore.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 72061.26, up by 340.08 points or 0.47% after trading in a range of 71982.29 and 72213.89. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.28%, while Small cap index was up by 0.61%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 4.39%, TECK up by 3.54%, Realty up by 1.81%, Oil & Gas up by 0.25% and Telecom up by 0.22%, while Auto down by 0.69%, Consumer Durables down by 0.26%, FMCG down by 0.20%, Healthcare down by 0.16% and Energy down by 0.06% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 6.24%, TCS up by 3.95%, Wipro up by 3.75%, Tech Mahindra up by 3.75% and HCL Technologies up by 2.98%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.26%, Asian Paints down by 0.96%, Power Grid down by 0.95%, Nestle down by 0.85% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.75% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said the net direct tax collection so far this fiscal rose 19.41 per cent to Rs 14.70 lakh crore from the corresponding period of last year. The provisional figures of Direct Tax collections up to January 10, 2024, continue to register steady growth. 

This collection is 80.61 per cent of the total Budget Estimates of Direct Taxes for FY 2023-24. The government has budgeted to collect Rs 18.23 lakh crore from direct taxes (personal income tax and corporate tax), 9.75 per cent higher than Rs 16.61 lakh crore mopped up last fiscal. Refunds amounting to Rs 2.48 lakh crore have been issued during April 1, 2023 to January 10, 2024.

The gross collections of direct taxes are at Rs 17.18 lakh crore, 16.77 per cent higher than the gross collection for the corresponding period of last year. The growth rate in gross Corporate Income Tax (CIT) and Personal Income Tax (PIT) is 8.32 per cent and 26.11 per cent respectively. After adjustment of refunds, the net growth in CIT collections is 12.37 per cent and that in PIT collections is 27.26 per cent.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 21740.95, up by 93.75 points or 0.43% after trading in a range of 21715.15 and 21789.15. There were 19 stocks advancing against 31 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Infosys up by 6.40%, Wipro up by 4.08%, TCS up by 3.89%, Tech Mahindra up by 3.89% and LTIMindtree up by 3.10%. On the flip side, Cipla down by 1.27%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.27%, Asian Paints down by 1.08%, Power Grid down by 0.99% and Hero MotoCorp down by 0.94% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mixed; Nikkei 225 surged 411.22 points or 1.17% to 35,461.08, Jakarta Composite gained 12.29 points or 0.17% to 7,232.25, Hang Seng advanced 5.06 points or 0.03% to 16,307.10 and Shanghai Composite was up by 0.22 points or 0.01% to 2,886.87. On the other hand, Taiwan Weighted lost 19.59 points or 0.11% to 17,525.73, KOSPI fell 17.57 points or 0.69% to 2,522.70 and Straits Times was down by 16.81 points or 0.53% to 3,184.60.