Markets trade in fine fettle in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets were trading in fine fettle in late afternoon session led by gains in Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Bajaj Finance, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finserv and Power Grid. The broader indices, the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index, were also trading in green. Nifty VIX was up by 0.76%. Traders took support after private report stated that Centre’s gross (post-refunds) direct tax collections rose 68% on year and 27% over the corresponding period of pre-pandemic year FY20, to Rs 6.93 lakh crore till November 23, 2021 of the current financial year. Direct tax collections prior to refunds till November 23, 2021 of FY22 rose 48% on year to Rs 8.15 lakh crore; such collections in the period were 18% higher than the corresponding period in FY20. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red and European markets were trading lower after the head of Moderna warned current coronavirus vaccines might be less effective at fending off the Omicron variant.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 57,435.96, up by 175.38 points or 0.31% after trading in a range of 57042.86 and 58183.77. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 1.29%, while Small cap index was up by 1.76%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 2.25%, IT up by 1.51%, Utilities up by 1.39%, Power up by 1.26% and Consumer Discretionary up by 1.25%, while Metal down by 1.09% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Power Grid up by 3.58%, Bajaj Finserv up by 2.48%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.36%, Axis Bank up by 2.06% and NTPC up by 1.94%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 2.10%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.79%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.43%, HDFC down by 0.38% and Bajaj Auto down by 0.18% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the government has informed that scheduled commercial banks have written off bad loans amounting to Rs 46,382 crore during the first six months of 2021-22 (H1FY22). As per the RBI guidelines and policy approved by bank boards, non-performing loans, including, inter-alia, those in respect of which full provisioning has been made on completion of four years, are removed from the balance sheet of the bank concerned by way of the write-off.

Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad said banks evaluate/consider the impact of write-offs as part of their regular exercise to clean up their balance-sheet, avail of tax benefit and optimise capital, in accordance with the RBI guidelines and policy approved by their boards. He said the borrowers of written-off loans continue to be liable for repayment and the process of recovery of dues from the borrower in written-off loan accounts continues.

He further said the total loans outstanding of Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) stood at Rs 3,34,171 crore at end-March 2021, up from Rs 2,98,214 crore at end-March 2020. He said RRBs have been playing an important role in purveying agricultural credit, particularly to small and marginal farmers and weaker sections of society.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17,086.10, up by 32.15 points or 0.19% after trading in a range of 16987.50 and 17324.65. There were 34 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Power Grid Corp up by 3.55%, Shree Cement up by 2.52%, Bajaj Finserv up by 2.45%, SBI Life up by 2.19% and Bajaj Finance up by 2.17%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 2.05%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.79%, Hindalco down by 1.70%, Adani Ports down by 1.29% and JSW Steel down by 1.22% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red, Nikkei 225 slipped 462.16 points or 1.63% to 27,821.76, Hang Seng decreased 376.98 points or 1.58% to 23,475.26, Jakarta Composite lost 74.36 points or 1.13% to 6,533.93, KOSPI fell 70.31 points or 2.42% to 2,839.01 and Straits Times was down by 46.64 points or 1.49% to 3,073.94. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite gained 1.19 points or 0.03% to 3,563.89 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 99.67 points or 0.58% to 17,427.76.

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 79.51 points or 1.12% to 7,030.44, France’s CAC decreased 90.05 points or 1.33% to 6,686.20 and Germany’s DAX was down by 181.49 points or 1.19% to 15,099.37.