Firm trade persists over Dalal Street

Firm trade continued over the Dalal Street in early afternoon deals, with both Sensex and Nifty trading with notable gains, despite negative cues from other Asian markets. Domestic sentiments remained optimistic, as Mathias Cormann, the secretary-general of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development (OECD) said that India has been growing very strongly - and as a key player in G20, India holds opportunity to help shape the global agenda. Adding more optimism, Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal has said that the Government today thinks like a startup, relentlessly focusing on newer and better ideas and striving to saturate them throughout the country to improve efficiency, effectiveness, productivity, transparency and integrity of systems and processes.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, as the International Labour Organization, or ILO, said that global employment growth is expected to ease to half of the current growth rate in 2022, as labor market recovery may be prevented by uncertain economic conditions amid persisting Covid pandemic conditions. The Geneva-based ILO said in its World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2023 report that growth in global jobs is forecast to drop to 1.0 percent in 2023 from 2.0 percent in 2022.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 60491.90, up by 398.93 points or 0.66% after trading in a range of 60072.34 and 60578.70. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

 The BSE Mid cap index fell by 0.15%, while Small cap index remained flat.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 1.55%, Utilities up by 1.36%, Power up by 1.32%, Industrials up by 1.05% and FMCG up by 0.80%, while Healthcare down by 0.33%, PSU down by 0.30%, Metal down by 0.28% and Consumer Durables down by 0.14% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Larsen & Toubro up by 3.12%, Hindustan Unilever up by 2.08%, HCL Tech. up by 1.60%, HDFC up by 1.27% and Tata Motors up by 1.19%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 1.25%, Bajaj Finserv down by 0.96%, SBI down by 0.90%, Tata Steel down by 0.63% and Bajaj Finance down by 0.50% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, rating agency Crisil in its latest report has said that driven by a 20 per cent rise in the number of originators to 120, securitisation volume jumped 42 per cent to over Rs 1.15 lakh crore in the first three quarters of the current fiscal.

The report said growth in the non-mortgage space was led by commercial vehicle (31 per cent) and microfinance (14 per cent) loans. Unsecured loans, including personal and business loans, also continued to draw investors' attention, comprising 7 per cent of the securitised assets compared to 3 per cent in FY22, but the share of property-backed loans declined to 38 per cent from 43 per cent in FY22.

It also stated that the securitisation market is continuing to regain its mojo post-pandemic, propped up by a resurgence in microfinance and increasing preference among investors for vehicle loans. Additionally, it said personal and business loans seem to be gaining greater acceptance, bringing diversity to the bouquet of asset classes being securitised. Direct assignment transactions accounted for 60 per cent of the quantum led by mortgage and gold loan pools. Correspondingly, the share of pass-through certificates (PTCs) was at 40 per cent, down marginally from 41 per cent.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18002.15, up by 107.30 points or 0.60% after trading in a range of 17886.95 and 18029.95. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Larsen & Toubro up by 3.39%, Hindustan Unilever up by 2.03%, HCL Technologies up by 1.69%, HDFC up by 1.23% and Tata Motors up by 1.23%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 1.08%, Bajaj Finserv down by 0.99%, SBI down by 0.80%, Tata Steel down by 0.71% and Bajaj Finance down by 0.59% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Straits Times fell 4.53 points or 0.14% to 3,279.07, Shanghai Composite weakened 5.44 points or 0.17% to 3,222.15, KOSPI dropped 20.47 points or 0.86% to 2,379.39 and Hang Seng declined 263.34 points or 1.21% to 21,483.38, while Nikkei 225 surged 316.36 points or 1.21% to 26,138.68, Jakarta Composite gained 93.4 points or 1.4% to 6,781.46 and Taiwan Weighted added 5.92 points or 0.04% to 14,932.93.