Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity markets scaled new high levels during the day but as the day progress come off from day’s high and ended with limited gains. Markets remained in green terrain till the end of the session following the US Federal Reserve’s decision to cut policy rates by a widely expected 50bps. Besides, other Asian markets provided much needed support to domestic markets. However, the broader indices, the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index ended in red.

Markets made positive start and hit lifetime highs as Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) cut its policy rate by half a percentage point to a target range of 4.75 per cent to 5 per cent. Foreign fund inflows also boosted investors sentiments. As per NSE data, Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) were net buyers of Indian equities worth Rs 1,153.69 crore. Some support also came as net direct tax collection grew 16.12 per cent to over Rs 9.95 trillion so far this fiscal on higher advance tax mop up. Refunds worth over Rs 2.05 trillion were issued, a 56.49 per cent jump over the same period last fiscal. In late morning session, indices trimmed most of their gains but remained in green as traders took encouragement as Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal expressed optimism that India's merchandise and services exports will surpass $825 billion despite facing global economic challenges. Further, markets continued to trade above neutral lines in afternoon session. Traders got relief, amid reports that food secretary Sanjeev Chopra said that prices of major agricultural commodities such as wheat, rice, edible oil and sugar will not see a sharp increase in this festive season, and added that the government will partially restore the distribution of 3.5 million tonnes of wheat under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) which it had replaced with rice in the past two years due to lower production. Finally, Nifty and Sensex settled above the psychological 25,400 and 83,100 levels, respectively. 

On the global front, European markets were trading higher after the U.S. Federal Reserve slashed its key rate by 50 basis points and signaled further easing, raising hopes of a soft landing for the world's largest economy. All Asian markets ended higher. Back home, South Asian nation’s Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth said that the U.S. Federal Reserve’s decision to cut interest rates will not significantly impact inflows into India.

The BSE Sensex ended at 83,184.80, up by 236.57 points or 0.29% after trading in a range of 83,071.66 and 83,773.61. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.53%, while Small cap index was down by 1.06%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 0.64%, Realty up by 0.47%, Bankex up by 0.46%, FMCG up by 0.40% and Consumer Discretionary was up by 0.34%, while Telecom down by 3.89%, Oil & Gas down by 1.81%, Industrials down by 1.56%, Capital Goods down by 1.46% and PSU was down by 1.34% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 2.48%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.95%, Titan Company up by 1.86%, Nestle up by 1.78% and Bharti Airtel up by 1.11%. On the flip side, Adani Ports down by 1.30%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.18%, JSW Steel down by 0.91%, TCS down by 0.87% and HCL Tech down by 0.86% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, net direct tax collection grew 16.12 per cent to over Rs 9.95 lakh crore so far this fiscal on higher advance tax mop up. Refunds worth over Rs 2.05 lakh crore were issued, a 56.49 per cent jump over the same period last fiscal.

The net personal income tax (PIT) collection grew 19 per cent to Rs 5.15 lakh crore between April 1, 2024 and September 17, 2024. Corporate tax collection went up 10.55 per cent to over Rs 4.52 lakh crore. Revenues from Securities Transaction Tax (STT) stood at Rs 26,154 crore. After taking into account refunds, net collection from PIT and corporate taxes stood at Rs 9,95,766 crore so far this fiscal, a growth of 16.12 per cent over the year-ago period. Advance tax collection grew 22.61 per cent to Rs 4.36 lakh crore. The growth in PIT advance tax mop up was 39.22 per cent while for corporate tax, it was 18.17 per cent.

On a gross basis, direct tax collection stood at Rs 12.01 lakh crore, a growth of 21.48 per cent so far this fiscal. The government has budgeted to collect Rs 22.12 lakh crore in the current fiscal from direct taxes (personal income tax, corporate tax and other taxes), up 13 per cent over the previous fiscal.  

The CNX Nifty ended at 25,415.80, up by 38.25 points or 0.15% after trading in a range of 25,376.05 and 25,611.95. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were NTPC up by 2.37%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.75%, Titan Co up by 1.49%, Nestle up by 1.43% and Hindustan Unilever up by 1.25%. On the flip side, BPCL down by 3.47%, Coal India down by 1.88%, ONGC down by 1.77%, Adani Ports down by 1.44% and Shriram Finance down by 1.38% were the top losers.

European markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 95.88 points or 1.15% to 8,349.56, France’s CAC rose 138.35 points or 1.82% to 7,583.25 and Germany’s DAX was up by 261.62 points or 1.38% to 18,973.11.

Asian markets settled higher on Thursday as investors reacted to the US Federal Reserve’s announcement of a larger-than-usual 50-bps cut in borrowing costs. Japanese shares gained as the yen slumped against the US dollar ahead of Bank of Japan policy meeting due Friday. Moreover, Hong Kong shares rose after beleaguered real estate market is set for some relief after the Hong Kong Monetary Authority today cut its base interest rate for the first time in four years.