Markets continue to trade in green in afternoon session

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade in green in afternoon session amid buying witnessed in frontline blue chip stock such as Hero MotoCorp, Coal India and NTPC. Investors’ sentiments got support as the gross direct tax collection rose by 13.18 percent to Rs 3.68 lakh crore during the April-November period of 2013-14 fiscal. Consumer Durable was the top gaining indices on BSE up by nearly 1.66% followed by power and auto both up by over 0.90%. Meanwhile, market gains remained capped amid selling witnessed in IT and TECK stocks as weak global cues weighted on the sentiments. On stock specific front, Hero MotoCorp, Coal India and NTPC were trading up by over 1.90%, while, Bharti Airtel, Hindalco Inds and HDFC down by over 0.79% on BSE. PSU stocks were trading higher on hopes that these companies may announce an interim or special dividend to equity shareholders in third quarter of current fiscal.

Among other stocks, shares of sugar manufacturer were trading higher on the bourses ahead of group of ministers (GoM) meeting today to discuss a bailout package for cash-starved sugar mills and to ensure timely payments to cane growers. Jubilant Life Sciences slipped 5% extending its previous day’s 10% fall, after the company said that US drug regulator has issued a warning letter with regards to its facility in the US.

On global front, Asian markets were trading in red with Straits Times down by 0.30% and Seoul Composite down by 0.22% amid uncertainty about the outlook for the US and Federal Reserve’s stimulus program. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading near their psychological 6,200 and 21,000 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive, out of 2,151 stocks traded, 1,128 stocks advanced, while 879 stocks declined on the BSE. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 20,994.68 up by 36.87 points or 0.18% after trading in a range of 21,049.84 and 20,922.45. There were 21 stocks advancing against only 9 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.47%, while Small cap index up by 0.36%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durable up by 1.66%, Power up by 1.34%, Auto up by 0.92%, Healthcare up by 0.50% and Capital Goods up by 0.47%. While, IT down by 0.08% and Teck down by 0.04% were losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hero Moto Corp up by 2.61%, Coal India up by 1.97%, NTPC up by 1.94%, Tata Power up by 1.80% and ONGC up by 1.29%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 1.07%, Hindalco Inds down by 0.94%, HDFC down by 0.79%, HDFC Bank down by 0.77% and Wipro down by 0.77%.

Meanwhile, Amid rising concerns over the widening fiscal deficit of the country, the gross direct tax collection has risen only by 13.18 percent to Rs 3.68 lakh crore during the April-November period of 2013-14 fiscal as compared to Rs 3.25 lakh crore during the same period of previous fiscal. The government had set direct tax collection target of Rs 6.68 lakh crore for 2013-14, envisaging a growth of 19 percent, as against Rs 5.65 lakh crore in 2012-13.

Direct taxes mainly include corporate tax and personal income tax, the biggest sources of revenue for the government. During the April-November period of 2013-14 fiscal, the gross collection of corporate taxes increased 9.66 percent to Rs 2,25,124 crore from Rs 2,05,291 crore in the year-ago period, while, gross collection of personal income tax was up by 19.60 percent to Rs 1,39,763 crore in the initial eight months of this fiscal, from Rs 1,16,862 crore reported in the same period of previous fiscal. During the reported period, Securities Transaction Tax (STT) stands at Rs 3,053 crore and wealth tax collection posted a growth of 13.38 percent to Rs 712 crore, from Rs 628 crore.

Furthermore, net direct tax collections rose 14.60 per cent to Rs 3,10,317 crore during April-November, as against Rs 2,70,771 crore in the year-ago period. The government has been taking measures to enhance tax collection, as India's fiscal deficit, the difference between government receipts and spending, touched Rs 4.57 lakh crore or 84.4% of budget estimates in the first seven months of the current fiscal, reflecting signs of stress in government finances. Meanwhile, the government has expressed confidence that fiscal deficit will be contained within set target at 4.8% of GDP in the current fiscal.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 6,254.55 up by 13.45 points or 0.22% after trading in a range of 6,268.15 and 6,230.75. There were 34 stocks advancing against 16 declining on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Hero Moto Corp up by 2.66%, NTPC up by 2.02%, Tata Power up by 1.86%, Coal India up by 1.82% and Cairn India up by 1.76%. On the flip side, IDFC down by 1.42%, JP Associates down by 1.26%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.12%, Hindalco Inds down by 0.99% and Wipro down by 0.93% were the major losers on the index.

The Asian equity indices were trading mixed; Straits Times down by 0.30%, Seoul Composite down by 0.22%, Jakarta Composite down by 0.80%, Taiwan Weighted down by 0.09%, and Shanghai Composite down by 0.53%. While, KLSE Composite up by 0.10%, Nikkei 225 up by 0.92% and Hang Seng up by 0.31%.