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Local equity benchmarks managed to keep their head above water in noon deals with both Sensex and Nifty were trading above 59300 and 17650 levels, respectively. Buying was witnessed in Oil & Gas, Energy and Metal stocks, while selling was observed in TECK, IT and Healthcare stocks. Some support came as Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) remained net buyers in the capital market on Thursday as they purchased shares worth Rs 2,298.08 crore, exchange data showed. However, upside remain capped as traders were worried as U.K. economy contracted in the second quarter of 2022, as the country’s cost-of-living crisis hit home. Gross domestic product fell 0.1% in the three months through June, a slightly better outcome than the 0.2% expected but a sharp drop from the 0.8% gain posted in the previous quarter. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green as investors considered whether easing inflation will enable the Federal Reserve to pivot to less aggressive interest-rate hike.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 59362.95, up by 30.35 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 59113.01 and 59457.62. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.19%, while Small cap index was up by 0.57%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 2.04%, Energy up by 1.84%, Metal up by 1.71%, PSU up by 1.26% and Utilities was up by 1.05%, while TECK down by 0.82%, IT down by 0.75%, Healthcare down by 0.71%, Auto down by 0.32% and Capital Goods was down by 0.19% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 2.66%, NTPC up by 2.12%, Power Grid up by 1.91%, Reliance Industries up by 1.40% and SBI was up by 0.95%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 1.72%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.36%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.30%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.19% and Ultratech Cement was down by 1.02% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Finance Ministry in the notification has said that income tax payers will not be allowed to enroll in the government's social security scheme Atal Pension Yojana (APY) from October 1, 2022. The government introduced APY on June 1, 2015, to provide social security to workers mainly in the unorganised sector. Subscribers of the scheme get a minimum guaranteed pension of Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000 per month after attaining 60 years of age depending on their contributions.

The new notification will not apply to subscribers who have joined or joins the scheme before October 1, 2022. In case a subscriber, who joined on or after October 1, 2022, is subsequently found to have been an income tax payer on or before the date of application, the APY account shall be closed and the accumulated pension wealth till date would be given to the subscriber. Under the income tax law, people having taxable income of up to Rs 2.5 lakh are not required to pay income tax.

Currently, all Indian citizens between the age group of 18-40 years can join APY through bank or post office branches where one has the savings bank account. The government had co-contributed 50% of the total contribution or Rs 1,000 per annum, whichever is lower, to each eligible subscriber, who joined the scheme during the period from June 2015 to March 2016. It was also subject to the condition that the subscriber was not a beneficiary of any social security scheme and also not an income tax payer.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17673.25, up by 14.25 points or 0.08% after trading in a range of 17597.85 and 17699.90. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 4.14%, Tata Steel up by 2.66%, NTPC up by 2.08%, UPL up by 1.88% and Power Grid was up by 1.79%. On the flip side, Apollo Hospital down by 3.27%, Divi's Lab down by 2.75%, Infosys down by 1.70%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.30% and Mahindra & Mahindra was down by 1.29% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly higher; Hang Seng increased 92.05 points or 0.46% to 20,174.48, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 91.12 points or 0.6% to 15,288.97, Shanghai Composite gained 2.19 points or 0.07% to 3,283.86, KOSPI rose 4.01 points or 0.16% to 2,527.79 and Nikkei 225 was up by 727.65 points or 2.62% to 28,546.98.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite lost 25.99 points or 0.36% to 7,134.40 and Straits Times was down by 31.59 points or 0.96% to 3,270.37.

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