By Manvi Pant and Bharath Rajeswaran
BENGALURU -Indian shares fell for a fifth straight session on Thursday as Axis Bank’s disappointing results added to the sour sentiment since the government raised taxes on equity trading.
The NSE Nifty 50 fell 0.5% to 24,280.65 as of 10:00 a.m. IST, while the S&P BSE Sensex shed 0.6% to 79690.46. The Nifty has slid about 2 in the last five sessions.
The weakness was broad-based on the day, with 12 of the 13 major sectors lower and the small- and mid-caps down about 0.8% each.
Axis Bank slid 6%, the most on the Nifty, after reporting a smaller-than-expected quarterly profit. It pulled the heavyweight banks, financial services and private lender indexes down by 1%-1.5%.
The pace of the Nifty’s retreat from a record-high last week has accelerated in the three sessions since the budget on Tuesday, in which the government hiked tax on derivatives trading and on profits from equity trading.
“While the increase in short-term capital gains tax is understandable, given the need to curb excessive short-term speculation, the increase in LTCG (long-term capital gains) is regressive, especially the optics of it,” said Abhishek Goenka, founder and chief executive of treasury and wealth management firm IFA Global.
The monthly expiry of derivatives contracts has added to the pressure on the day.
“Players may cut off positions or roll over their positions … (and) this can cause large moves,” said Samrat Dasgupta, CEO at Esquire Capital Investment Advisors.
In a bright spot, L&T gained about 2%, the most on the Nifty, after the construction major’s quarterly results topped estimates.
In other stocks, JK Paper tumbled 8% after its first-quarter profit fell 54%, while PG Electroplast surged 7% as its first-quarter profit more than doubled.
(Reporting by Manvi Pant and Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Savio D’Souza)
