Sensex, Nifty trade volatile in late morning session

Indian equity benchmarks were trading volatile in late morning session, but both Sensex and Nifty now managing to remain in green terrain, on the back of positive cues from other Asian markets. Traders got support, amid reports that Indian companies have mopped up more than Rs 9 lakh crore through equity and debt routes in 2021 to meet their renewed thirst for business expansion in a buoyant stock market brimming with liquidity and helped by recovering macroeconomic indicators after pandemic-ravaged first few months.

Adding more relief, rating agency ICRA has said that the recent improvement in recovery of the non-performing assets (NPAs) and decline in provisioning of loans in the banking sector are expected to improve further in the coming year. Accordingly, it said the improvement in such parameters has helped realise better profitability for the banks. However, subdued credit growth and surplus liquidity continue to be a drag on the profit margins for the sector.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, after Singapore's manufacturing output logged a double-digit growth in November but the pace of expansion eased. The data from the Economic Development Board showed that manufacturing output rose 14.6 percent year-on-year in November, following a 17.0 percent rise in October.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 57145.96, up by 21.65 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 56543.08 and 57264.10. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.05%, while Small cap index was up by 0.31%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 0.89%, Capital Goods up by 0.44%, Industrials up by 0.36%, IT up by 0.31% and TECK up by 0.20%, while Metal down by 0.77%, Oil & Gas down by 0.75%, Energy down by 0.42%, FMCG down by 0.31% and Realty down by 0.24% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tech Mahindra up by 2.07%, Power Grid up by 1.25%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 0.86%, Sun Pharma up by 0.81% and TCS up by 0.53%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 3.36%, Bajaj Finance down by 0.88%, Asian Paints down by 0.77%, Wipro down by 0.50% and ITC down by 0.46% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Coal said that it has auctioned two more coal mines taking the tally of commercial auctioned mines to 30 which are likely to generate revenue of Rs 8,158 crore. It mentioned ‘With the conduct of this auction, Ministry of Coal has successfully auctioned 30 mines till date (comprising of 23 fully explored mines and 7 partially explored mines) from the launch of the first tranche in June 2020.’

It stated ‘Total Peak rated capacity auctioned till date is 63.17 MTPA with an average premium of approximately 27.78 per cent against the floor price of 4 per cent indicating strong demand for coal mines in market. These mines are expected to generate total annual revenue of nearly Rs 8,158.03 crore and estimated employment of 85,406.’ The Ministry of Coal had launched the 2nd attempt of the auction of 11 coal mines for commercial mining on September 27, 2021, and bids were received for four mines.

The auction was held for two mines that have received multiple bids. Commercial coal mine auction has witnessed strong competition and several first-time participants from the 'non-end user' category like Real Estate, Infrastructure, Pharma, etc., have also emerged as successful bidders in the auction, which is a positive sentiment shared by the industry after removal of 'End Use' criteria from the bidding process and is expected to bring in more efficiency and technological advancement in the mining industry.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17020.75, up by 17.00 points or 0.10% after trading in a range of 16833.20 and 17037.50. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tech Mahindra up by 2.38%, Cipla up by 1.38%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 0.89%, SBI Life Insurance up by 0.81% and Sun Pharma up by 0.71%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 2.62%, Hindalco down by 1.56%, ONGC down by 0.90%, Asian Paints down by 0.69% and Bajaj Finance down by 0.63% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Straits Times added 3.58 points or 0.12% to 3,111.86, Taiwan Weighted surged 102.69 points or 0.57% to 18,064.33, Jakarta Composite rose 3.66 points or 0.06% to 6,566.56 and Shanghai Composite was up by 5.53 points or 0.15% to 3,623.58. On the other hand, Nikkei 225 fell 84.89 points or 0.29% to 28,697.70 and KOSPI lost 11.57 points or 0.38% to 3,000.86.