Benchmarks extend gains in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks extended gains in morning deals, led by broader recovery in heavyweight stocks across all sectors. Sentiments remained positive with data released by the Central Board of Direct Taxes showing that the government’s direct tax-to-GDP ratio stood at a 23-year high of 6.11% in FY23. The Centre’s direct tax collections rose 17.8% year-on-year at Rs 16.6 trillion in FY23. Corporate tax collections during the year stood at Rs 8.26 trillion, up 16% on year, and income tax collections stood at Rs 8.33 trillion, 19.6% higher on year. Sectorally, stocks related to cement industry remained in watch as Crisil Ratings’ report stated that the cement industry is on course to add capacity by 150-160 million tonnes from FY25 to FY28 as it aims to meet rising demand from the infrastructure and housing sectors. In the past five fiscals, the industry has added capacity by 119 million tonnes (MT) per annum to reach a total of 595 MT now. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in red amid heightened geopolitical tensions, uncertainty over when the Fed will cut rates.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 70855.08, up by 484.53 points or 0.69% after trading in a range of 70001.60 and 70875.72. There were 24 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 1.03%, while Small cap index was up by 1.03%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were PSU up by 2.29%, Metal up by 1.98%, Telecom up by 1.71%, Basic Materials up by 1.50% and Utilities up by 1.29%, while Realty down by 0.01% was the lone losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 2.39%, SBI up by 2.21%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.08%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.99% and Power Grid Corporation up by 1.91%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 2.06%, Asian Paints down by 1.79%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.33%, TCS down by 0.31% and Sun Pharma down by 0.25% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) in its latest data has said the number of tax payers filing income tax returns has more than doubled to 7.78 crore in the past 10 years. It stated the number of Income Tax Returns (ITRs) filed in FY23 stood at 7.78 crore, showing an 104.91 per cent increase as compared to the 3.8 crore ITRs filed in 2013-14.

Further, it mentioned, during the same period, the net direct tax collections increased 160.52 per cent from Rs 6,38,596 crore in FY14 to Rs 16,63,686 crore in 2022-23.  According to CBDT data, gross direct tax collections increased 173.31 per cent to Rs 19,72,248 crore in FY23 from Rs 7,21,604 crore in FY14. 

At the same time direct tax-to-GDP ratio went up from 5.62 per cent to 6.11 per cent. The cost of collection, however, has decreased from 0.57 per cent of total collection in FY14 to 0.51 per cent of the total collection in the previous fiscal.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 21400.80, up by 162.00 points or 0.76% after trading in a range of 21137.20 and 21408.10. There were 41 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 4.09%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 2.91%, Indusind Bank up by 2.63%, Power Grid Corporation up by 2.23% and SBI up by 2.21%. On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.98%, Axis Bank down by 1.98%, Asian Paints down by 1.73%, Eicher Motors down by 0.55% and Maruti Suzuki down by 0.28% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 362 points or 0.99% to 36,155.57, KOSPI dropped 11.02 points or 0.44% to 2,467.59, Jakarta Composite plunged 43.43 points or 0.6% to 7,212.80 and Shanghai Composite weakened 4.19 points or 0.15% to 2,766.79.

On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted added 34.41 points or 0.19% to 17,909.00, Hang Seng advanced 122.87 points or 0.79% to 15,476.85 and Straits Times rose 7.32 points or 0.23% to 3,142.57.