Markets remain in red in late morning deals

Indian equity markets remained in red and were trading with cut of around quarter a percent in late morning deals on account of selling in ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Larsen & Toubro and TCS companies' stocks. Market participants remained on sidelines as they looked forward to an upcoming RBI policy meeting and the start of Q4 earnings season. However, broader indices were trading in fine fettle with BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index gaining in the range of 0.80-1.00%. Traders were getting encouragement with report that the Centre collected Rs 1.78 lakh crore as gross goods and services tax in the month of March, up 11.5% against the same month last year. This is the second highest monthly gross GST collection. This surge was driven by a significant rise in GST collections from domestic transactions at 17.6%. 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green as investors assessed economic data from South Korea. South Korea’s March inflation rate held steady at 3.1%, in line with street expectations. Back home, on the BSE sectoral front, traders were seen pilling up position in Realty, Consumer Durables, Utilities, Consumer Disc and Oil & Gas, while selling was witnessed in Telecom, TECK, IT and Bankex. In the stock specific development, Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail (ABFRL) jumped after the company is eyeing to vertically demerge its Madura Fashion & Lifestyle business into a separate listed entity. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 73841.93, down by 172.62 points or 0.23% after trading in a range of 73746.22 and 74099.78. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.81%, while Small cap index up by 0.96%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.72%, Consumer Durables up by 1.64%, Utilities up by 0.87%, Consumer Disc up by 0.65% and Oil & Gas up by 0.61%, while Telecom down by 0.66%, TECK down by 0.51%, IT down by 0.30% and Bankex down by 0.14% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 1.65%, HDFC Bank up by 1.06%, Nestle up by 1.04%, Tata Motors up by 0.96% and Bajaj Finserv up by 0.68%. On the flip side, ICICI Bank down by 1.36%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.10%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.02%, TCS down by 0.75% and Wipro down by 0.72% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the finance ministry has said that Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections in March 2024 witnessed the second highest collection ever at Rs 1.78 lakh crore, with a 11.5 per cent year-on-year growth. This surge was driven by a significant rise in GST collection from domestic transactions at 17.6 per cent. The highest-ever GST collection was recorded at Rs 1.87 lakh crore in April 2023.

The Ministry highlighted that GST collections have shown strong consistent performance in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) and the fiscal ended March 31, 2024 marks a milestone with total gross GST collection of Rs 20.18 lakh crore, a 11.7 per cent increase compared to the previous year. The average monthly gross collection for FY24 stood at Rs 1.68 lakh crore, exceeding Rs 1.5 lakh crore in the preceding fiscal.

It further said GST revenue net of refunds as of March 2024 is Rs 18.01 lakh crore, which is a growth of 13.4 per cent over the same period a year ago. During FY24, Central (GST) collection was Rs 3.76 lakh crore, State GST was Rs 4.71 lakh crore; Integrated GST was 10.27 lakh crore, including Rs 4.83 lakh crore collected on imported goods. Cess collection was Rs 1.44 lakh crore, including Rs 11,915 crore collected on imported goods.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22417.45, down by 44.55 points or 0.20% after trading in a range of 22388.15 and 22497.60. There were 20 stocks advancing against 30 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Auto up by 2.83%, BPCL up by 2.56%, Adani Ports up by 1.92%, Indusind Bank up by 1.51% and Nestle up by 1.01%. On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.49%, ICICI Bank down by 1.36%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.16%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.14% and SBI Life down by 1.13% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng advanced 371.3 points or 2.24% to 16,912.72, Nikkei 225 surged 46.68 points or 0.12% to 39,849.77, Taiwan Weighted added 244.24 points or 1.21% to 20,466.57, Straits Times rose 8.86 points or 0.27% to 3,243.75, KOSPI increased 2.39 points or 0.09% to 2,750.25. However, Shanghai Composite weakened 6.18 points or 0.2% to 3,071.20 and Jakarta Composite plunged 32.13 points or 0.45% to 7,172.93.