Local bourses add gains in afternoon deals

Adding some more gains, Indian equity benchmarks continued their trade in green in afternoon session, on the back of buying by funds and retail investors. Investors’ sentiment remained up-beat with the India Meteorological Department’s director general, K.J. Ramesh stating that India's monsoon is likely to be a robust and healthy one this year provided there is not a surprise El Nino phenomenon. Some optimism also came with a report that India has taken various measures to bolster the rural economy but the efficacy of the schemes would depend upon their implementation. The report also stated the prospects for rural development are encouraging in the current year and hoped that the general elections will increase attention to rural areas where the majority of voters live. Besides, short-covering by participants with Thursday being the last trading session of the March series of derivative contracts also supported the sentiments. Meanwhile, the commerce ministry has called a meeting of stakeholders including export promotion councils and other government departments to discuss ways to increase exports to China.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, as investors grow increasingly worried about the state of the global economy, sending them rushing to safe-haven assets and fuelling talk of possible recession. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 38339.44, up by 206.56 points or 0.54% after trading in a range of 38148.44 and 38379.80. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.69%, while Small cap index was up by 0.72%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.29%, IT up by 1.45%, TECK up by 1.37%, Consumer Durables up by 0.82% and Industrials was up by 0.69%, while Energy was down by 0.03% was the only losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HCL Tech. up by 3.27%, Sun Pharma up by 3.08%, Yes Bank up by 2.02%, Infosys up by 1.69% and Vedanta up by 1.22%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 2.15%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.43%, Power Grid down by 1.30%, Indusind Bank down by 1.13% and Hero MotoCorp down by 0.90% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest report has showed that bank credit growth increased by 14.46 percent to Rs 95.53 trillion, while deposits grew in double-digits at 10.03 percent to Rs 122.26 trillion for the fortnight ending March 15. In the year-ago fortnight, advances stood at Rs 83.46 trillion and deposits at Rs 111.11 trillion. 

In the previous fortnight ending March 1, credit had increased by 14.55 percent to Rs 95.29 trillion and deposits grew by 9.81 percent to Rs 122.30 trillion. Non-food credit rose 13.1 percent in January 2019 compared to a 9.5 percent growth in the year-ago month. Credit to agriculture and allied sectors grew 7.6 percent in January as against a growth of 9.4 percent in the same month last year.

Similarly loans to the services sector expanded at a healthy 23.9 percent, much higher than 13.2 percent registered in January 2018, while personal loans lost the momentum with a 16.9 percent growth in January as against a healthy 20 percent spike in demand in the same month last year. Industrial credit jumped six-fold to 5.2 percent in January from 1.1 percent in the year-ago period.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11519.15, up by 74.10 points or 0.65% after trading in a range of 11452.45 and 11521.25. There were 37 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were HCL Tech. up by 3.33%, Sun Pharma up by 3.18%, Indiabulls Housing Finance up by 3.01%, Adani Ports &SEZ up by 2.99% and Zee Entertainment was up by 2.60%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 2.15%, Hindalco down by 1.66%, Dr. Reddys Lab down by 1.35%, Power Grid down by 1.25% and Bajaj Auto was down by 1.14% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 344.97 points or 1.61% to 21,033.76, Shanghai Composite declined 18.40 points or 0.61% to 3,004.32, KOSPI fell 17.52 points or 0.82% to 2,128.10 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 6.44 points or 0.06% to 10,536.26.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite soared 5.66 points or 0.09% to 6,450.40, Straits Times advanced 10.07 points or 0.31% to 3,208.46 and Hang Seng was up by 79.18 points or 0.28% to 28,807.43.