Key gauges continue to trade higher in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade higher in morning deals, led by Banking, Energy and Oil & Gas stocks. Traders took support as a softer-than-expected US inflation data reinforcing expectations that the Federal Reserve may adopt a less aggressive monetary policy stance in the coming months. Some optimism also came with the government data showed net direct tax collection grew 16.40 per cent to over Rs 6.51 lakh crore till July 13 this fiscal, driven by higher corporate tax mop-up. Separately, Nepal and India have held meetings with a focus on strengthening bilateral cooperation in the energy sector, with emphasis on cross-border electricity trade. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green following the positive cues from Wall Street overnight, after softer-than-expected US inflation data reduced expectations of a near-term interest rate hike by the US Fed. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 77617.23, up by 562.29 points or 0.73% after trading in a range of 77072.53 and 77641.86. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 1.04%, Energy up by 0.86%, Oil & Gas up by 0.82%, Healthcare up by 0.81% and Telecom up by 0.79%, while Utilities down by 0.60%, Metal down by 0.11%, Power down by 0.03% and IT down by 0.01% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Interglobe Aviation up by 2.20%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.05%, State Bank of India up by 1.81%, Axis Bank up by 1.74% and Ultratech Cement up by 1.27%. On the flip side, TCS down by 1.00%, Infosys down by 0.82%, Power Grid down by 0.66%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.65% and NTPC down by 0.60% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the government data has showed that net direct tax collection increased 16.40 per cent to over Rs 6.51 lakh crore till July 13 of the current financial year (FY27). The growth was largely driven by higher corporate tax mop-up. 

During the period, net corporate tax collection rose 22 per cent to Rs 2.40 lakh crore, while net non-corporate tax (NCT) collections, which include taxes paid by individuals, Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs) and firms, grew nearly 12 per cent to over Rs 3.84 lakh crore. The government issued refunds worth Rs 1.22 lakh crore till July 13, marking a 14.57 per cent increase over the corresponding period last year. 

On a gross basis, direct tax collection increased 16.11 per cent to over Rs 7.73 lakh crore. Gross corporate tax collections stood at over Rs 3.35 lakh crore, while gross non-corporate tax (NCT) collections reached about Rs 4.12 lakh crore. For FY27, the government has set a direct tax collection target of Rs 26.97 lakh crore, representing a 15 per cent increase over the Rs 23.40 lakh crore collected in FY26.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24213.10, up by 161.05 points or 0.67% after trading in a range of 24069.05 and 24220.35. There were 35 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Shriram Finance up by 2.82%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 2.54%, Interglobe Aviation up by 2.21%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.03% and SBI Life Insurance up by 1.90%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 1.03%, Dr. Reddy's Labs. down by 0.87%, Hindalco Industries down by 0.85%, NTPC down by 0.67% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.63% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 721.5 points or 1.07% to 68,465.00, Taiwan Weighted added 994.3 points or 2.22% to 45,732.25, Jakarta Composite gained 32.69 points or 0.54% to 6,072.21, KOSPI increased 476.40 points or 6.95% to 7,333.23, Hang Seng advanced 328.27 points or 1.35% to 24,669.00 and Straits Times rose 56.32 points or 1.02% to 5,551.93.

On the flip side, Shanghai Composite weakened 12.94 points or 0.33% to 3,954.19.