Indian equity benchmark -- Nifty -- ended Wednesday’s trading session in negative terrain as government’s decision to raise tax on gains from equity investments continued to dent investor’s sentiments. After making cautious start, soon index turned volatile in early morning session, as traders were cautious with Moody's Ratings’ statement that India's fiscal deficit glide path for 2025-26 is reasonable, but a coalition government at the center may challenge the passage of necessary economic reforms. Some concern also came as data showed the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) turned net sellers on July 23 as they sold equities worth Rs 2975 crore, while domestic institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 1418 crore on the same day.
In afternoon session, index extended its losses to trade deep in red, as traders remained cautious with Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) Chairman Sanjay Kumar Agarwal’s statement that though the Union Budget proposed to review the customs levies over the next six months for inverted duty correction, it will be a difficult task in many cases because of nil rate on some items under free trade agreements (FTAs). In last leg of trade, index managed to recover from day’s low point, but ended in negative terrain.
