Bourses enlarge gains in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets enlarged their gains in late afternoon session despite weak cues from global markets. Among heavy-weights Banking, Metal and Oil& Gas counters exhibited a smart performance. As for broader indices, the BSE Mid cap index traded flat, while Small cap index continued to trade in green. Meanwhile, globally traders awaited a slew of upcoming central bank meetings, most notably the Fed, European Central Bank and Bank of England meetings due over the next two weeks. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red. Amid increasing anxiety about high interest rates and tightening economic conditions, investors awaited earnings from tech giants Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet and Meta Platforms for directional cues. European markets were trading lower as investors scrutinised more corporate earnings and weighed comments by European Central Bank policymakers on the outlook for interest rates.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 60240.61, up by 184.51 points or 0.31% after trading in a range of 59967.02 and 60268.67. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.02%, while Small cap index was up by 0.36%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 1.71%, Utilities up by 1.44%, Oil & Gas up by 1.01%, PSU up by 0.87% and Energy was up by 0.80%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.85% and Healthcare was down by 0.12% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finance up by 2.48%, Bajaj Finserv up by 2.15%, Indusind Bank up by 1.93%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.79% and SBI up by 1.75%. On the flip side, HDFC Bank down by 1.16%, HDFC down by 0.93%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.70%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.50% and Sun Pharma down by 0.46% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, expressing need to increase banking penetration in rural areas, Union Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad has said that the bankers should focus on Banking the unbanked, Securing the unsecured and funding the unfunded. The Minister further said that PM Svanidhi scheme gives small loans to needy people without the condition of a collateral or a CIBIL score.

The minister also directed banks to reduce the waiting period for loan disbursement. Minister added that even a developed state like Maharashtra has scope for increasing the number of bank branches in rural areas. He noted that in the country’s target towards becoming five trillion economy, banking sector is a big pillar.

Karad further added that new voters should be incorporated into the banking sector by opening their bank accounts, and special camps should be arranged for the same. He suggested imbibing a competitive spirit among the banking sector for development of all.

Union Minister further added that with respect to schemes like Svanidhi, Maharashtra has performed better than national average. However, there is scope for performance improvement in the MUDRA Scheme, where Maharashtra is lagging behind the national average.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17798.00, up by 54.60 points or 0.31% after trading in a range of 17716.85 and 17807.45. There were 38 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Enterprises up by 3.39%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.41%, Bajaj Finserv up by 2.09%, Indusind Bank up by 1.98% and Britannia up by 1.90%. On the flip side, HDFC Life Insurance down by 2.40%, UPL down by 2.01%, HDFC Bank down by 1.19%, HDFC down by 0.96% and Tech Mahindra down by 0.75% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red, Hang Seng declined 342.06 points or 1.74% to 19,617.88, Taiwan Weighted lost 256.14 points or 1.67% to 15,370.73, KOSPI dropped 34.48 points or 1.39% to 2,489.02, Straits Times fell 29.26 points or 0.88% to 3,295.29 and Shanghai Composite was down by 10.54 points or 0.32% to 3,264.87. On the flip side, Nikkei 225 surged 26.55 points or 0.09% to 28,620.07 and Jakarta Composite was up by 34.23 points or 0.5% to 6,821.81.

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 18.81 points or 0.24% to 7,893.39, France’s CAC fell 45.2 points or 0.6% to 7,528.66 and Germany’s DAX was down by 13.82 points or 0.09% to 15,850.13.