Barometers trade at day’s high points in late afternoon session

Barometer gauges wiped out all their losses and traded at day’s high points in late afternoon session, as traders picked stocks at lower levels and shrugged off ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. Mid-cap and small-cap shares were trading in the positive zone. Sun Pharma, TCS and Infosys were the prime gainers among heavy-weights, pushing the Sensex higher. Traders took support after US President Joe Biden administration plans to collaborate with India on building resilient supply chains and promote a transparent rules-based trading system for market economies and democracies. Sector wise. Steel sector remain in focused, as the price of steel will continue to move upwards on ‘good demand' and as the supply chain remains affected amid the Ukraine-Russia conflict. The prices in the international market have moved up by around $135 a tonne and are moving up since the conflict started in the last week of February.

On the global front, all Asian markets were trading lower on surging crude prices as the United States mulls a ban on oil imports from Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, while strength in commodity markets boosted energy exporter Indonesia's rupiah. European markets were trading higher as banking stocks found some reprieve after hefty losses in the past sessions.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 53,094.67, up by 251.92 points or 0.48% after trading in a range of 52260.82 and 53086.19. There were 12 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.41%, while Small cap index was up by 0.45%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 2.27%, TECK up by 2.15%, Healthcare up by 1.55%, Realty up by 1.32% and Telecom was up by 0.66%, while Metal down by 2.06%, Oil & Gas down by 1.65%, Energy down by 1.44%, Auto down by 1.37%, Bankex down by 1.05% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 3.29%, TCS up by 2.86%, Infosys up by 2.70%, NTPC up by 2.46% and Tech Mahindra up by 2.36%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 2.14%, SBI down by 2.10%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.91%, Tata Steel down by 1.84% and Nestle down by 1.83% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, credit rating agency, India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) in its latest report has said that the direct impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on Indian credits appears to be limited. Ind-Ra’s initial assessment indicates that the impact would be largely restricted to small entities and those at the lower end of the credit spectrum.

According to the report, the impact will be more pronounced in few sectors and given the relatively small exposure, it would remain manageable from a credit point of view. The agency is reviewing its portfolio of entities and will take communicate rating actions wherever appropriate. Ind-Ra further said that the entities in the pharma and subsidy-linked sectors, such as fertilisers, are the most exposed. Expressing worries, the agency noted that the increase in commodity prices could result in a stretched working capital cycle for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), thereby weakening their debt servicing ability. Additionally, any material rise in interest rates could increase the EMI burden on borrowers.

As per the report, the non-banking financial institutions have adequately provided towards standard and delinquent assets and also have capital buffers to absorb a rise in credit cost. Hence, Ind-Ra does not expect a substantial impact on their capital buffers, provided the crisis is not prolonged.  On the other hand, Ind-Ra expects commercial vehicle financiers to face some credit deterioration in their borrower segment as borrower’s cash flow gets impacted with an increase in the fuel cost which accounts for up to two-thirds of the operating cost for vehicle operators.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15,924.40, up by 61.25 points or 0.39% after trading in a range of 15671.45 and 15911.60. There were 21 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Consumer up by 3.63%, Cipla up by 3.62%, Sun Pharma up by 3.40%, Indian Oil up by 2.90% and TCS up by 2.88%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 4.24%, ONGC down by 4.12%, Britannia down by 2.99%, Eicher Motors down by 2.57% and Tata Motors down by 2.47% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading lower, Nikkei 225 slipped 430.46 points or 1.71% to 24,790.95, Taiwan Weighted dropped 353.44 points or 2.06% to 16,825.25, Hang Seng decreased 291.76 points or 1.39% to 20,765.87, Shanghai Composite declined 79.33 points or 2.35% to 3,293.53, Jakarta Composite lost 54.89 points or 0.8% to 6,814.18, Straits Times trembled 42.11 points or 1.32% to 3,145.71 and KOSPI was up by 28.91 points or 1.09% to 2,622.40.

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 41.73 points or 0.6% to 7,001.21, France’s CAC increased 154.83 points or 2.59% to 6,137.10 and Germany’s DAX was up by 214.70 points or 1.67% to 13,049.35.