Markets erase most of gains in afternoon session

Indian equity markets erased most of their gains and were trading near natural lines with slight gains in afternoon deals amid mixed cues from global markets as traders awaited further updates on the health of the banking sector, and looking ahead to some crucial economic data for direction. Traders also remained concerned as private report said that the Reserve Bank of India will raise its main interest rate by 25 basis points on April 6 and then pause for the rest of the year. Depreciation in Indian rupee against dollar too weighed down sentiments. Rupee weakened by 19 paise to 82.35 against the dollar at the Inter-bank Foreign Exchange market on account of increased demand for the American currency from importers and banks. On the sectoral front, traders were seen pilling up position in Auto, Industrials, Bankex, Realty and Capital Goods, while selling was witnessed in Energy, Oil & Gas, TECK and IT.

Asian markets were trading mostly higher despite the broadly negative cues from US markets overnight. The Japanese stock market was trading higher, extending the gains in the previous two sessions, with gains across most sectors, led by commodity-linked stocks amid a spike in commodity prices. Back home, in the stock specific development, RPP Infra Projects rose after the company bagged a new order worth Rs 148.08 crore. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 57640.86, up by 27.14 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 57569.36 and 57905.70. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.74%, while Small cap index was up by 0.77%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 1.05%, Industrials up by 0.53%, Bankex up by 0.51% and Realty up by 0.44%, Capital Goods up by 0.40%, while Energy down by 0.61%, Oil & Gas down by 0.43%, TECK down by 0.11% and IT down by 0.04% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.76%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.40%, Tata Motors up by 1.18%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.12% and HCL up by 0.84%. On the flip side, Reliance Industries down by 1.51%, Asian Paints down by 0.78%, Infosys down by 0.67%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.45% and Tata Steel down by 0.44% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that public sector banks could recover only 14 per cent of the written-off loans worth Rs 7.34 lakh crore in the last five years ending March 2022. Of Rs 7.34 lakh crore written-off loans, state-owned lenders recovered Rs 1.03 lakh crore. So after recovery, net written-off stood at Rs 6.31 lakh crore in the last five years.

The Minister said non-performing assets (NPAs), including, 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 write-off as per RBI guidelines and policy approved by bank boards. Banks evaluate/consider the impact of write-offs as part of their regular exercise to clean up their balance sheets, avail tax benefits and optimise capital, in accordance with RBI guidelines and policy approved by their boards. Such write-off does not result in waiver of liabilities of borrowers to repay.

She further said as 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, write-off does not benefit the borrower. Banks continue to pursue recovery actions initiated in written-off accounts through various recovery mechanisms available, such as filing of a suit in civil courts or in Debts Recovery Tribunals, action under the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 16974.35, up by 22.65 points or 0.13% after trading in a range of 16963.10 and 17048.80. There were 33 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Enterprises up by 6.13%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 4.61%, Eicher Motors up by 2.30%, Hero MotoCorp up by 2.08% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.73%. On the flip side, UPL down by 2.08%, Reliance Industries down by 1.51%, Asian Paints down by 0.75%, BPCL down by 0.74% and Infosys down by 0.74% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green, Taiwan Weighted added 51.41 points or 0.33% to 15,752.89, Hang Seng advanced 422.75 points or 2.14% to 20,207.40, KOSPI increased 1.96 points or 0.08% to 2,436.90, Jakarta Composite gained 53.38 points or 0.78% to 6,813.71, Straits Times rose 5.76 points or 0.18% to 3,261.30 and Nikkei 225 surged 308.72 points or 1.12% to 27,826.97. However, Shanghai Composite weakened 1 point or 0.03% to 3,244.38.