Indian equity benchmarks were trading almost flat in Wednesday’s afternoon session. Sensex ended at a fresh all-time high on Tuesday and crossed the 62,000 mark for the first time in late midday deals. The market got a boost when Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairman Nitin Gupta said that the direct tax collection is likely to exceed the budget target of Rs 14.20 lakh crore by about 30% in the ongoing fiscal year.

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The Sensex was trading at 61,958.28 up by 85.29 points or 0.14% after trading in a high-low range of 62,052.57 and 61,708.63. On the index, only 12 stocks were advancing against 17 declining and 1 stable.

The broader indices were trading mostly red with the BSE Midcap index down by 0.38% and the Small-cap index up by 0.03%.

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The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up 0.47%, Industrials 0.46%, TECK 0.40%, Bankex 0.31%, and Capital Goods 0.30%. While Metal down by 1.14%, Realty 0.88%, Utilities 0.88%, Power 0.76%, and Commodities  0.67% were the top losing sectoral index on the BSE.

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The top gainers on the Sensex were Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.17%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab 1.26%, Wipro 0.99%, TCS 0.78%, and Infosys 0.66%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 1.41%, Tata Steel 1.38%, NTPC 1.22%, IndusInd Bank 1.18%, and  Bajaj Finserv 1.03% were the top losers on the index.

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The Nifty was trading at 18,408.50 up by 5.10 points or 0.03% after trading in a high-low range of 18,442.15 and 18,354.70. On the index, only 19 stocks were advancing, against 31 stocks declining.

The top gainers on Nifty were Kotak Mahindra Bank up 2.29%,  Dr. Reddy’s Lab 1.38%,  Eicher Motors 1.07%, Wipro 0.93, and Coal India 0.93%. While Apollo Hospital Enterprises down 1.86%,  Hindalco 1.77%, JSW Steel 1.74%, Tata Steel 1.43%, and Bajaj Finance 1.41% were the top losers on the index.

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Asian markets were trading mostly lower, Nikkei 225 rose 0.14%, Shanghai Composite fell 0.48%, KOSPI Composite fell 0.12%, and Hang Seng slipped 1.04%.