Markets remain in green in late morning deals

Indian equity markets trimmed their gains but remained in green in late morning deals amid mixed cues from global markets. Indices traded higher mainly on account of buying in index majors Reliance Industries and Sun Pharma. Sentiments were further supported by Indian rupee appreciating 6 paise to 82.34 against the dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange on increased selling of the US currency by exporters and banks. However, gains got trimmed as a private report said that the Reserve Bank of India may go in for a 25 basis points hike in the bi-monthly monetary policy to be announced on April 6, with retail inflation remaining above the comfort level of 6 per cent and most global peers including US Fed continuing hawkish stance.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red as traders remained cautious and assess the impact of the banking sector turmoil in the US and Europe. The head of the International Monetary Fund warned of increased risks to financial stability. Back home, on the sectoral front,  traders were seen pilling up position in Healthcare, Metal, Energy, FMCG and TECK, while selling was witnessed in Utilities, Realty, Power, Industrials and Telecom.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 57636.63, up by 109.53 points or 0.19% after trading in a range of 57415.02 and 57851.15. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.14%, while Small cap index down by 1.13%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 0.95%, Metal up by 0.53%, Energy up by 0.33%, FMCG up by 0.31% and TECK up by 0.24%, while Utilities down by 1.24%, Realty down by 1.05%, Power down by 0.94%, Industrials down by 0.43% and Telecom down by 0.38% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Reliance Industries up by 1.50%, Sun Pharma up by 1.35%, ITC up by 0.86%, HCL up by 0.81% and Nestle up by 0.64%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.06%, Axis Bank down by 0.92%, Bajaj Finance down by 0.80%, ICICI Bank down by 0.80% and Bajaj Finserv down by 0.57% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) in its latest report said that as many as 346 infrastructure projects, each entailing an investment of Rs 150 crore or more, have been hit by cost overruns of more than Rs 4.46 lakh crore.  According to the Ministry, which monitors infrastructure projects worth Rs 150 crore and above, out of 1,418 projects, 346 reported cost overruns and as many as 823 projects were delayed.

It mentioned that total original cost of implementation of the 1,418 projects was Rs 20,38,026.75 crore and their anticipated completion cost is likely to be Rs 24,84,846.99 crore, which reflects overall cost overruns of Rs 4,46,820.24 crore (21.92 per cent of original cost). The expenditure incurred on these projects till February 2023 is Rs 13,62,707.98 crore, which is 54.84 per cent of the anticipated cost of the projects.

However, the report said the number of delayed projects decreases to 643 if delay is calculated on the basis of the latest schedule of completion. Further, it stated that for 316 projects neither the year of commissioning nor the tentative gestation period has been reported. It noted that out of the 823 delayed projects, 172 have overall delays in the range of 1-12 months, 171 have been delayed for 13-24 months, 355 projects for 25-60 months and 125 projects have been delayed for more than 60 months. The average time overrun in these 823 delayed projects was 38.63 months.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 16993.45, up by 48.40 points or 0.29% after trading in a range of 16918.55 and 17044.90. There were 38 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Apollo Hospital up by 1.56%, Reliance Industries up by 1.56%, Sun Pharma up by 1.52%, Divi's Lab up by 1.46% and Hindalco up by 1.45%. On the flip side, Adani Ports down by 1.14%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.08%, ICICI Bank down by 0.81%, Adani Enterprises down by 0.73% and Axis Bank down by 0.67% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Taiwan Weighted lost 84.39 points or 0.53% to 15,830.31, Hang Seng declined 163.9 points or 0.82% to 19,751.78, Shanghai Composite weakened 15.89 points or 0.49% to 3,249.76, KOSPI dropped 7.07 points or 0.29% to 2,407.89 and Jakarta Composite plunged 37.48 points or 0.56% to 6,724.77. However, Straits Times rose 32.14 points or 1% to 3,244.78 and Nikkei 225 surged 91.62 points or 0.33% to 27,476.87.