Markets trade flat with positive bias in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks made cautious start on Wednesday amid weakness in global peers. Markets are trading flat with positive bias in early deals on the back of buying in IT, TECK and Capital Goods stocks. Though, selling in Oil & Gas, PSU and Telecom stocks kept upside in check. Some support came in with the commerce ministry's preliminary data stating that India's exports grew 17.27 per cent to $14.22 billion during March 1-14 as compared to the year-ago period, showing healthy signs of revival. The key sectors which recorded a healthy growth in exports include engineering, rice, gems and jewellery. However, there was some cautiousness as India reported 28,869 fresh Covid-19 cases on Tuesday pushing the overall tally to 11,438,464, according to Worldometer. The death toll from the deadly infection jumped to 159,079.

Global markets remained weak with all the Asian markets trading lower following mixed lead overnight from Wall Street as investors stayed cautious as they looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement. They are also looking for central bank's forecasts for the economy, inflation and interest rates.

Back home, metal stocks were in focus as ratings agency India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) revised its outlook on the domestic steel sector from negative to stable for the fiscal year beginning April 1, 2021. In scrip specific development, Aditya Birla Capital rallied after its board gave in principle approval to explore an initial public offering of Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 50416.24, up by 52.28 points or 0.10% after trading in a range of 50287.59 and 50522.83. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index lost 0.16%, while Small cap index was up by 0.14%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.93%, TECK up by 0.70%, Capital Goods up by 0.60%, Industrials up by 0.31%, Realty up by 0.31%, while Oil & Gas down by 1.02%, PSU down by 0.95%, Telecom down by 0.83%, Energy down by 0.68%, Metal down by 0.47% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Larsen & Toubro up by 1.48%, HCL Technologies up by 1.48%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.11%, TCS up by 1.05% and HDFC Bank up by 0.91%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 2.61%, Asian Paints down by 1.62%, NTPC down by 1.19%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.05% and Power Grid down by 1.03% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) in its latest report has said that the performance of unsecured assets classes, such as microfinance loans, unsecured business loans and consumer loans, is worsening with deteriorating financial conditions of borrowers. For secured asset classes, it has a stable performance outlook given the recovery in the economy in FY22.

The report stated that the Reserve Bank of India's moratorium on repayment of loans has delayed the stress in these segments where delinquencies have not yet stabilised and higher loan losses are expected to materialise in FY22. It also noted that vehicle loans -- including loans for commercial vehicles, passenger vehicles and two-wheelers -- have a stable asset performance outlook, given the pickup in economic activities witnessed in the second half of FY21. It added that small business loans are expected to witness differentiated performances depending on the loan type.

As per the report, secured business loans (principally loans against property) also has a stable asset performance outlook, due to the borrower's higher propensity to repay. digitisation initiatives are also expected to help with better portfolio monitoring and in reducing soft delinquencies. It noted that the focus has shifted to building quality secured loan portfolios, upping process efficiency and automating customer follow-ups. It added that recovery momentum and continued policy support in FY22 will be key for loan performance.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 14913.90, up by 3.45 points or 0.02% after trading in a range of 14884.55 and 14956.55. There were 14 stocks advancing against 36 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were HCL Technologies up by 1.45%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.41%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.27%, TCS up by 1.22% and Wipro up by 0.86%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 2.48%, BPCL down by 2.14%, Coal India down by 1.99%, Asian Paints down by 1.60% and Power Grid down by 1.29% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in red; Nikkei 225 declined 82.27 points or 0.27% to 29,838.82, Straits Times lost 2.97 points or 0.10% to 3,102.54, Hang Seng slipped 69.36 points or 0.24% to 28,958.33, Taiwan Weighted fell 48.08 points or 0.29% to 16,265.08, KOSPI plunged 31.74 points or 1.03% to 3,035.43, Jakarta Composite weakened 27.48 points or 0.44% to 6,282.22, and Shanghai Composite was down by 10.77 points or 0.31% to 3,435.96.