Firm trade continues over Dalal Street

Firm trade continued over the Dalal Street in early noon deals, with both Sensex and Nifty holding their heads above neutral lines, aided by buying at Realty and Utilities counters, despite negative cues from other Asian markets. Sentiments were positive, as Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das exuded confidence that India's current account deficit (CAD), a key external sector indicator, is likely to remain moderate in the January-March quarter of 2022-23 and also eminently manageable going forward.

Adding more comfort among traders, a data report showed that to promote entrepreneurship at the grass root level, banks have sanctioned more than Rs 40,700 crore to over 1.80 lakh beneficiaries under Stand-Up India Scheme in seven years. Stand up India Scheme, launched on April 5, 2016, with a focus on economic empowerment and job creation, has been extended up to 2025.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, after Hong Kong's private sector kept its strong growth momentum in March despite slowing down slightly from February amid better business conditions led by the easing of restrictions related to the pandemic. The survey results from S&P Global showed that the seasonally adjusted S&P Global Hong Kong SAR Purchasing Manager's Index, or PMI, dropped to 53.5 in March from 53.9 in February.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 59874.60, up by 185.29 points or 0.31% after trading in a range of 59520.12 and 59925.08. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose by 0.62%, while Small cap index was up by 0.64%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.09%, Utilities up by 0.97%, Industrials up by 0.89%, Capital Goods up by 0.85% and Power up by 0.83%, while IT down by 0.47%, Metal down by 0.45%, TECK down by 0.39% and FMCG down by 0.04% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 2.31%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.16%, Tata Motors up by 1.89%, Bajaj Finserv up by 1.73% and SBI up by 1.51%. On the flip side, HCL Technologies down by 1.73%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.16%, Nestle down by 0.61%, Wipro down by 0.55% and Axis Bank down by 0.54% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest data has showed that bank credit increased by 15 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in the fiscal ended March 2023 (FY23) as against 9.6 per cent YoY in the previous financial year (FY22). FY23 credit growth is highest since 2011-12, when it was 19.3 per cent. Bank deposits expanded 9.58 per cent YoY in FY23, as against 8.9 per cent YoY growth seen in FY22.

Data further showed that bank deposit mobilisation lagged behind credit disbursements in FY23. They raised Rs 15.78 trillion through deposits in FY23, against Rs 13.51 trillion raised in FY22. The credit in absolute terms rose Rs 17.83 trillion in FY23, up from Rs 10.43 trillion in FY22. Credit offtake was strong for most of FY23, but the challenge was in garnering additional resources amid tightening liquidity in the aftermath of a change in the RBI’s stance and hike in policy repo rates.

According to the RBI’s Scheduled Bank’s Statement of Position in India, the outstanding credit stood at Rs 136.75 trillion at the end of the last fortnight of FY23 (March 24, 2023), up from Rs 118.91 trillion a year ago (March 25, 2022).

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17602.45, up by 45.40 points or 0.26% after trading in a range of 17502.85 and 17621.80. There were 31 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Enterprises up by 3.80%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.23%, Indusind Bank up by 2.17%, Bajaj Finserv up by 1.81% and Tata Motors up by 1.69%. On the flip side, HCL Technologies down by 1.76%, ONGC down by 1.47%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.29%, Nestle down by 0.74% and Britannia Industries down by 0.64% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 340.63 points or 1.24% to 27,472.63, Hang Seng declined 70.28 points or 0.35% to 20,204.31, Taiwan Weighted lost 57.29 points or 0.36% to 15,810.77, KOSPI dropped 35.98 points or 1.46% to 2,459.23, Straits Times fell 26.44 points or 0.8% to 3,292.43 and Jakarta Composite plunged 9.74 points or 0.14% to 6,809.94, while Shanghai Composite strengthened 0.22 points or 0.01% to 3,312.78.