Markets continue to trade range bound in late morning deals

Indian equity markets continued to trade range bound in late morning deals as investors await quarterly earnings and macro-economic data. TCS will kickstart the Q4 earnings season today while Infosys will unveil its earnings on Thursday. Cautiousness prevailed in the markets as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its annual World Economic Outlook has lowered India's economic growth projection to 5.9 per cent for the current fiscal 2023-24 (FY24) from 6.1 per cent predicted earlier. Despite a significant drop in growth rate projections, it said India continues to be the fastest-growing economy in the world. There was some buzz in power industry stocks as rating agency Crisil in its latest report has said that power demand in the country rose 7 per cent on an annual basis in the three months ended March (Q4).

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed as investors await U.S. inflation data to gauge near-term trajectory for interest rates. However, China's Shanghai Composite index was up after data showed stronger-than-expected credit growth in the first quarter due to the lifting of stringent COVID-19 curbs. Back home, on the sectoral front, traders were seen pilling up position in Healthcare, Auto, IT, Metal and Realty, while selling was witnessed in FMCG, PSU, Utilities, Consumer Durables and Capital Goods.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 60236.41, up by 78.69 points or 0.13% after trading in a range of 60094.69 and 60313.24. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.40%, while Small cap index up by 0.56%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 1.13%, Auto up by 0.78%, IT up by 0.52%, Metal up by 0.49% and Realty up by 0.35%, while FMCG down by 0.41%, PSU down by 0.25%, Utilities down by 0.17%, Consumer Durables down by 0.06% and Capital Goods down by 0.04% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 1.43%, HDFC Bank up by 0.95%, Tech Mahindra up by 0.80%, Tata Steel up by 0.65% and Asian Paints up by 0.59%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 1.17%, Indusind Bank down by 1.00%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.98%, Nestle down by 0.87% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.79% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, credit rating agency ICRA in its latest report has estimates that securitisation volumes, originated largely by non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and housing finance companies (HFCs), at Rs 61,000 crore in Q4 FY2023, the highest quarterly volumes seen since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. The volumes for the quarter are largely dominated by securitisation of retail loans (90%). The overall securitisation volumes in FY2023 stood at Rs 1,78,000 crore, i.e. a healthy 41% expansion over Rs 1,26,500 crore seen in FY2022.

In FY2023, Mortgage-backed (MBS) loans formed the biggest chunk of the overall volumes at 33%, followed by vehicle loans at 28%. Microfinance loans have made a huge comeback accounting for 20% and 18% of Q4 FY2023 and full year FY2023 volumes, respectively. Securitisation is carried out either through direct assignment (DA) transactions (bilateral assignment of pool of retail loans from one entity to another) or through the pass-through certificate (PTC) route (instruments issued by bankruptcy remote trusts).

In FY2023, the share of PTC was 40% in retail securitisation which is largely in line with the historical trends. Securitisation of personal loans has remained strong throughout the year accounting for 3% of the total volumes.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17762.05, up by 39.75 points or 0.22% after trading in a range of 17717.25 and 17780.00. There were 32 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Divi's Lab up by 5.77%, Adani Enterprises up by 2.40%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.67%, Tata Motors up by 1.46% and Eicher Motors up by 1.43%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 1.32%, Power Grid down by 1.21%, Indusind Bank down by 1.03%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.01% and Nestle down by 0.84% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Taiwan Weighted added 13.44 points or 0.08% to 15,927.32, Shanghai Composite strengthened 8.75 points or 0.26% to 3,322.32, KOSPI increased 1.55 points or 0.06% to 2,549.41 and Nikkei 225 surged 184.09 points or 0.66% to 28,107.46. However, Hang Seng declined 138.74 points or 0.68% to 20,346.50, Jakarta Composite plunged 19.35 points or 0.28% to 6,791.96 and Straits Times fell 16.65 points or 0.5% to 3,281.18.