Sensex, Nifty continue to trade in green terrain

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade in green terrain in late morning session, with both Sensex and Nifty trading higher, despite negative cues from other Asian markets. Sentiments were positive, as India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) has said that the average collections across its rated securitization transactions have inched up to 79 percent in September 2021 from 70 percent in May 2021 as the economy started to open up due to acceleration in vaccine rollout. It noted that the performance of securitization transactions has witnessed a continued improvement with the increase in September collections and a drop in delinquencies percentage across asset classes.

Traders were seen taking a note of reports that the Finance Ministry said the Centre has released two instalments of tax devolution to the State Governments amounting to Rs 95,082 crore on November 22 2021, as against normal monthly devolution of Rs 47,541 crore. Currently, 41 per cent of the tax collected is devolved in 14 instalments among states during a fiscal.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, even after the manufacturing sector in Japan picked up steam in November, the latest survey from Jibun Bank revealed on Wednesday with a manufacturing PMI score of 54.2. That's up from 53.2 in October and it moves further above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 58821.92, up by 157.59 points or 0.27% after trading in a range of 58564.75 and 58941.02. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.43%, while Small cap index was up by 1.13%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 1.73%, Utilities up by 1.59%, Telecom up by 1.50%, PSU up by 1.44% and Realty up by 1.31%, while Auto down by 0.37%, IT down by 0.12% and FMCG down by 0.02% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 1.80%, ICICI Bank up by 1.79%, Power Grid up by 1.41%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.38% and HCL Tech. up by 1.11%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.89%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.25%, Titan Co down by 0.64%, Infosys down by 0.59% and Bajaj Finserv down by 0.47% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) has said that the average collections across its rated securitization transactions have inched up to 79 percent in September 2021 from 70 percent in May 2021 as the economy started to open up due to acceleration in vaccine rollout. It noted that the performance of securitization transactions has witnessed a continued improvement with the increase in September collections and a drop in delinquencies percentage across asset classes.

According to the report, average collection in September 2021 witnessed a sharp improvement in tractor loan pools. The current collections from unsecured business loan transactions are still lagging as compared to the other asset classes. This is primarily because of the non-performance of small ticket-size loans. The pace of improvement in commercial vehicles loan pools is slow due to increased fuel cost, which continues to put pressure on the trucker's profit margins.

The agency witnessed a drop in delinquency percentages for its rated transactions across asset classes except in unsecured business loans. It said the sharp improvement is seen in all other pools with delinquencies back to pre-second wave levels. It added that the positive impact of the festive season is likely to be seen in October-November 2021 collections.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17548.65, up by 45.30 points or 0.26% after trading in a range of 17485.05 and 17591.80. There were 31 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Ports & SEZ up by 5.36%, ONGC up by 4.91%, Coal India up by 2.11%, Indian Oil Corp. up by 1.98% and NTPC up by 1.80%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.96%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.23%, Divi's Lab down by 1.12%, Eicher Motors down by 1.05% and Grasim Industries down by 1.04% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 530.99 points or 1.78% to 29,243.12, Taiwan Weighted dropped 47.01 points or 0.27% to 17,619.11, Hang Seng decreased 15.72 points or 0.06% to 24,635.86, KOSPI fell 8.69 points or 0.29% to 2,988.64, Shanghai Composite declined 3.44 points or 0.1% to 3,585.65 and Jakarta Composite lost 1.73 points or 0.03% to 6,676.15. On the flip side, Straits Times advanced 4.77 points or 0.15% to 3,232.30.