Markets recover after mild setback

Following a positive start and subsequent retreat, Indian equity markets recovered and moved into the positive territory in the late morning session on Monday. Meanwhile, sentiments were hurt by sliding rupee and some brisk selling at several counters. Investors were adopting firming trend on the other Asian bourses following weekend gains at the US market on jobs report, which influenced the trading sentiments. The BSE benchmark Sensex was up by 43.73 points, while Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange was up by 12.85 points. Currency sentiments were also dampened with worries about the country's current account deficit, which is expected to complicate the RBI’s move for rate cut in its June policy review. On the sectoral front, information technology stocks managed to hold a good portion of their early gains, shares from power, FMCG and oil sectors were off their early highs. Consumer durables, Healthcare and Banking stocks were trading down.

On the global front, Asian stock markets were mostly trading notably higher with investors indulging in some hectic buying, tracking cues from Wall Street where stocks ended on a high note on Friday amid easing worries about the US economy. Some upbeat economic data from the region is also contributing to the firm trend. Back home, the market breadth was favoring positive trend; there were 970 shares on the gaining side against 911 shares on the losing side, while 121 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 19,472.96, up by 43.73 points or 0.23% after trading in a range of 19,585.75 and 19,419.07. There were 16 stocks advancing against 13 declines on the index and one remains unchanged.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.17% and Small cap index was up by 0.19%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, IT up by 0.97, Capital Goods up by 0.59%, TECk up by 0.42%, Auto up by 0.23% and Oil & Gas up by 0.18% while, Consumer Durables down by 1.24%, Health Care down by 0.95%, Bankex down by 0.39%, Metal down by 0.12% and Realty down by 0.05% were the top losers on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Wipro up by 2.35%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.96%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.22%, NTPC up by 1.22%, and Bajaj Auto up by 1.07%.

On the flip side, Bharti Airtel was down by 2.46%, Jindal Steel was down by 1.95%, Sun Pharma was down by 1.55% , Maruti Suzuki was down by 0.95% and ICICI Bank was down by 0.86% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, the net direct tax collection in April-May period rose by 6.44% at Rs 37,596 crore compared to the same period last fiscal. The Net direct tax collections, which are gross collections minus refunds, stood at Rs 35,322 crore in April-May period of FY13. The gross direct tax collections rose by 21.10% to Rs 63,252 crore, while, the gross collection of corporate taxes went up by 14.91% to Rs 27,957 crore in the reported period from a year-ago period. 

On category wise, the gross collection in personal income tax was up by 27.29% to Rs 34,805 crore compared to Rs 27,343 crore in the same period last fiscal year. The collection from wealth tax stood at Rs 28 crore, up from Rs 15 crore collected in April-May 2012-13. However, the growth in Securities Transaction Tax (STT) declined by 14.63% to Rs 461 crore in April-May period this fiscal from Rs 540 crore in the same period last fiscal.     

Meanwhile, in order to boost the tax revenue, the government is doing all efforts include issuing notices to tax evaders and set advertising campaign etc. Further, the government is addressing hurdles like human resources, technology and time to improve tax collection and deal with the menace of tax evasion. The government has fixed a direct tax collection target of Rs 6.68 lakh crore for the current fiscal, up from Rs 5.65 lakh crore in the previous fiscal.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,893.85 up by 12.85 points or 0.22% after trading in a range of 5,931.65 and 5,874.20. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were UltraTech Cement up by 2.14%, Cairn up by 1.98%, Hero Moto Co up by 1.91%, NTPC up by 1.42% and M&M up by 1.30%.

On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 2.31%, Jindal Steel down by 1.97%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.88%, Sun Pharmaceuticals down by 1.48% and JP Associaties down by 1.24% were the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian equity indices were trading in green; Hang Seng rose 0.27%, KLSE Composite jumped 0.77%, Nikkei 225 soared 4.82%, Straits Times increased 0.68%, KOSPI Composite surged 0.46% and Taiwan Weighted was up by 0.81%.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite was down by 1.57%. 

Chinese markets remained shut for trade today.