People walk past the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) building in Mumbai.
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

Benchmark Sensex and Nifty settled marginally lower in volatile trade on Tuesday as the government proposed to hike securities transaction tax on futures & options in the budget for 2024-25.

Recovering most of its intra-day losses of over 1,200 points, the 30-share BSE Sensex settled lower by 73.04 points or 0.09% 80,429.04.

The index gyrated between highs and lows during the day as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced budget proposals for 2024-25.

The barometer tanked 1,277.76 points or 1.58% to hit a low of 79,224.32 as the Minister announced a hike in STT on F&O trade and an increase in long-term capital gains tax on equities. However, tax exemptions and customs duty cuts helped boost consumer durables and FMCG shares, aiding stocks to recover from the day’s lows.

The NSE Nifty dipped 30.20 points or 0.12% to 24,479.05. Intra-day, it dropped 435.05 points or 1.77% to 24,074.20. Among the Sensex pack, Titan jumped over 6%, followed by ITC which surged more than 5%.

Adani Ports, NTPC, Infosys, Hindustan Unilever, HCL Technologies and Sun Pharma were among the other big gainers.

However, Larsen & Toubro, Bajaj Finance, State Bank of India, Axis Bank and HDFC Bank were amonh the major laggards.

“From the markets perspective the raising of STCG (Short-Term Capital Gains Tax) to 20% and LTCG (Long Term Capital Gains Tax) to 12.5% is a body blow. We need to brace ourselves for a negative reaction in the short term,” Sanjay Sinha, Founder, Citrus Advisors, said.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on July 23 announced income tax relief for the middle class, a ₹2 lakh crore outlay for job creation schemes over the next five years and a spending splurge for states run by her party’s new coalition partners as she unveiled Modi 3.0 government’s first budget after the general elections.

With rural distress and unemployment being blamed for BJP losing its majority, Ms. Sitharaman in her seventh straight budget provided ₹2.66 lakh crore for rural development and maintained spending on long-term infrastructure projects at ₹11.11 lakh crore to boost economic growth.

The Finance Minister said the government plans to raise the capital gains exemption limit on certain financial assets to ₹1.25 lakh per year for the middle and upper middle class.

Presenting the Budget for 2024-25, she announced a hike in STT (Securities Transaction Tax) on F&O (futures and options) securities by 0.02% and 0.1%.

She abolished ‘angel tax’ for all classes of investors in startups, cut customs duty on mobile phones and gold and simplified capital gains tax.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth ₹3,444.06 crore on July 22, according to exchange data.

In Asian markets, Seoul settled higher while Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended lower.

European markets were trading higher.

The U.S. markets ended in the positive territory on July 22.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.25% to $82.63 a barrel.

Falling for the second day in a row, the BSE benchmark fell 102.57 points or 0.13% to settle at 80,502.08 on July 22.

The NSE Nifty dipped 21.65 points or 0.09% to 24,509.25.

In the Sensex pack, 20 stocks ended in the red while 37 of the Nifty constituents closed the session with losses. File
| Photo Credit: PTI

Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty broke their six-day winning run on February 21 and settled with a steep fall amid fag-end selling triggered by a rush for profit booking and mixed global cues.

The 30-share benchmark Sensex stayed mostly firm during intra-day but settled 434.31 points or 0.59% lower at 72,623.09 points. It touched the intra-day low of 72,450.56, down 0.83% from previous closing level of 73,057.40 points.

Similarly, the broader Nifty also paired all its intra-day gains before closing 141.90 points or 0.64% down at 22,055.05 points. The 50-share barometer had hit a lifetime peak of 22,196.95 points on February 20 and remained mostly in the upward trajectory on February 21.

In the Sensex pack, 20 stocks ended in the red while 37 of the Nifty constituents closed the session with losses.

NTPC was the biggest loser among the Sensex constituents, ending with a loss of 2.71%. It was followed by PowerGrid, Wipro, HCLTech, L&T and Tech Mahindra.

In contrast, Tata Steel, SBI, JSW Steel and IndusInd Bank closed in the positive territory. Tata Steel gained 1.99% and SBI ended 1.51% higher.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said the Indian market is facing stiff resistance at higher levels and the valuation of a broader index is at a significant premium, leading to an unfavourable risk reward, which influences investors to book profits.

“Global markets treaded cautiously awaiting the US Federal Reserve (meeting) minutes while Chinese markets were buoyed by policy interventions.

“Concerns lingered since investors were heavily betting on a US Fed rate cut, which is put at risk by January’s higher-than-expected inflation.” he noted.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, declined 0.68% to $81.78 per barrel.

Asian stocks witnessed mixed trends while European markets were trading largely in the negative zone. The U.S. stocks ended Tuesday’s session with losses.

On February 20, Sensex continued its upward movement for the sixth straight session and jumped 349.24 points to close at 73,057.40 points while Nifty went up 74.70 points to end the day at 22,196.95 points.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers on February 20 as they offloaded securities worth ₹1,335.51 crore, according to exchange data.

Stock brokers watch the markets, at a brokerage in Kolkata. Representational image.
| Photo Credit: ANI

Equity benchmark Sensex climbed over 385 points to reclaim the 66,000 mark on Thursday (September 7), propelled by robust buying in index majors HDFC Bank, L&T and SBI amid a weak trend in global equities.

A decline in crude oil prices in the international market also supported the domestic equities, traders said.

Rising for the fifth straight day, the BSE Sensex recovered all the early lost ground and finally closed with a gain of 385.04 points or 0.58% at 66,265.56. During the day, it hit a low of 65,672.34 and a high of 66,296.90.

The Nifty advanced 116 points or 0.59% to settle at 19,727.05.

From the Sensex pack, Larsen & Toubro jumped 4.26% to emerge as the biggest gainer, followed by IndusInd Bank, Tech Mahindra, State Bank of India, HCL Technologies, Power Grid, NTPC, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Bank and Wipro.

Mahindra & Mahindra, Infosys, UltraTech Cement and Hindustan Unilever were the major laggards.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended lower.

European markets were trading in the green in early deals. The US markets ended in negative territory on Wednesday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.72% to $89.95 a barrel.

“The domestic market initially opened with a lacklustre performance, influenced by weak global cues. However, as the day progressed, a decline in U.S. bond yields and crude oil prices injected some positivity into the market.

“This optimism was most prominent in banking stocks. Interestingly, mid-and small-cap stocks managed to retain investor interest even though their valuations are relatively high. Nonetheless, the persistently weak trade data from China continues to cast a shadow over the global market’s outlook,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 3,245.86 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

In the previous session on Wednesday, fag-end buying helped the BSE benchmark climb 100.26 points or 0.15% to settle at 65,880.52. The Nifty advanced 36.15 points or 0.18% to end at 19,611.05.