Investor wealth up by Rs 6.8 trillion in a day following FM's announcements

Investor wealth on Friday zoomed a whopping Rs 6.82 trillion in single day as equity markets rallied, with the Sensex skyrocketing 2,284 points in intra-day trade, following a slew of economy-boosting measures announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

The 30-share key BSE index saw a hike by 1,921.15 points or 5.32 per cent to close at 38,014.62. During the day, it advanced 2,284.55 points to 38,378.02, its biggest intra-day spike in over a decade.

The bull market led the market capitalisation of the BSE-listed companies to soar Rs 6,82,938.6 crore to Rs 1,45,37,378.01 crore in single day.

The government on Friday slashed the corporate tax rate for companies by almost 10 percentage points to 25.17 per cent and offered a lower rate to 17.01 per cent for new manufacturing firms to boost economic growth rate.

"Today's measures, without exaggeration, have revived the sagging economic situation and has reinfused the "Josh" among the corporate and capital market fraternity. Apart from the benchmark indices correcting, it was more to do with the sentiment which was hitting new lows day after day. That seems to be dealt with by daring to cut corporate tax, which clearly has a positive impact on the earnings," Devang Mehta, head (equity advisory) of Centrum Wealth Management, said.

In the fourth phase of post-budget economic stimulus measures, Sitharaman cut base corporate tax for existing companies to 22 per cent from the current 30 per cent; and for new manufacturing firms, incorporated after October 1, 2019, and starting operations before March 31, 2023, to 15 per cent from the current 25 per cent.

Sitharaman also said no tax will be charged on share buyback by listed companies that announced such a move prior to July 5.

Also, super-rich tax by way of enhanced surcharge on income, announced in the July 5 Budget, will not apply to capital gains arising on equity sale or equity-oriented funds liable to securities transaction tax (STT) with a view to stabilise flow of funds into capital markets.

"The biggest event of the week was the cut in corporate tax rates as announced by the finance minister. This is a huge step in boosting the overall profitability of corporate India.

"This step, along with some other measures announced including the enhanced tax surcharge introduced in July 2019 to not apply to capital gains on sale of equity share which is subject to STT, would go a big way in restoring confidence in the Indian equity markets," said Shibani Kurian, senior vice-president and head of equity research, Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company.

Religare Broking Ltd Vice-President (Research) Ajit Mishra said it turned out to be a historic session for equity markets as Nifty gained over 5 per cent. Participants rejoiced the announcements made by the finance minister to boost the economy and market sentiments, wherein the cut in corporate tax turned out to be the catalyst.

The announcements came just in time as markets were reeling under tremendous pressure, citing weak domestic sentiments and not-so-encouraging global markets, Mishra added.

From the BSE 30-share basket, 25 scrips closed with hefty gains led by Hero MotoCorp, Maruti Suzuki India, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance, State Bank of India and Mahindra & Mahindra and zoomed up to 12.52 per cent.

On the BSE, 1,864 scrips advanced, while 728 declined and 144 remained unchanged.

Sectorally, the BSE auto, bankex, capital goods, consumer durables, finance, energy, oil and gas, metal and telecom indices rallied up to 9.85 per cent.

In the broader market, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices also rose by up to 6.28 per cent.