Sensex, Nifty end flat; auto, realty stocks zoom

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After opening with strong gains, domestic equity benchmarks retreated from their respective highs amid profit booking. After hitting a new peak of 60,412, Sensex ended 29 points or 0.05% up at 60,077. Likewise, Nifty 50 settled at 17,855, up 1 point or 0.01%.

“Due to profit booking in IT, Pharma and FMCG, domestic markets failed to uphold its winning streak to close flat in a volatile session. Realty stocks continued their rally on positive developments in the sector while the sentiments in the auto sector were lifted on expectation of better sales numbers for September. The market is also awaiting the release of August’s core sector output data and September’s manufacturing PMI data this week,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Gainers & losers

Sectoral strand

Sectoral indices ended mixed on the NSE. Nifty Auto zoomed 3.22% followed by Nifty Realty rallied 2.99%, Nifty Media index advanced 1.63% and Nifty Bank rose 0.90%. While Nifty Metal index was up 0.11%.

On the downside, Nifty IT index slipped 2.88%, Nifty Pharma and Nifty FMCG index declined 0.93% and 0.90% respectively.

The volatility gauge India VIX spiked 6.67% to 18.05 levels.

Broader markets

Mirroring volatility in benchmark indices broader markets also remained volatile to end flat with negative bias. BSE MidCap index ended at 25,195 up by 1 point while the BSE SmallCap index lost 35 points or 0.13% to 27,988.

The market breadth turned negative as 1,712 shares declined compared to 1,639 advanced while 185 remained unchanged.

Economy

The direct tax collections for the financial year 2021-22, as on 22 September 2021 showed that net collections are at Rs 5,70,568 crore, a year-on-year increase of 74.4%. In the last financial year, the net collection was Rs 3,27,174 crore, a Finance Ministry release stated on 24 September 2021. The net direct tax collection of Rs 5,70,568 crore, includes corporation tax of Rs 3,02,975 crore (net of refund) and personal income tax including security transaction tax (STT) of Rs 2,67,593 crore (net of refund).

The advance tax collection in the second quarter (1 July 2021 to 22 September 2021) of FY 2021-22 is Rs 1,72,071 crore, a growth of 51.50% over Rs 1,13,571 crore in the corresponding period in FY 2020-21. Refunds amounting to Rs 75,111 crore have been issued in the FY 2021-22 so far. The gross collection of direct taxes (before adjusting for refunds) for the FY 2021-22 stands at Rs 6,45,679 crore compared to Rs 4,39,242 crore in the corresponding period of the preceding financial year, registering a growth of 47% over collections of FY 2020-21.

Global markets

European stocks opened higher while Asian stocks were trading mixed on Monday, with investors monitoring stocks related to embattled developer China Evergrande Group.

In Germany, preliminary results on Monday morning showed the center-left Social Democratic Party gaining the largest share of the vote with 25.8%. Angela Merkel’s right-leaning bloc of the Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union was seen with 24.1% of the vote. But coalition negotiations, which could begin on Monday, are likely to take weeks or even months.

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde today will deliver a statement to a European Parliament committee.