Markets trade slightly higher in late morning deals

Indian equity markets traded slightly higher in late morning deals despite weak cues from global markets. Traders were cautious amid rising recession fears in the United States. Further, traders await more of financial results from India Inc for domestic cues. Maruti Suzuki India, Bajaj Finance and L&T Technology Services are among the companies reporting their quarterly earnings today. Besides, there was some cautiousness in the markets as the finance ministry in its Monthly Economic Review for March said that India’s economy continues to be robust, but downside risks such as rising crude oil prices, adverse weather conditions, and the global banking crisis outweigh the upside potential in gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the current financial year (FY24).

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed following the broadly negative cues from US markets overnight and reflecting renewed concerns about turmoil in the banking sector after First Republic reported a loss of more than $100 billion in deposits in the first quarter. In the stock specific development, Mahindra CIE Automotive jumped after reporting a 73% year-on-year rise in net profit in the March quarter.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 60166.43, up by 35.72 points or 0.06% after trading in a range of 59954.91 and 60187.92. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.18%, while Small cap index up by 0.43%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 0.87%, Capital Goods up by 0.82%, Telecom up by 0.82%, Industrials up by 0.62% and IT up by 0.55%, while Metal down by 0.74%, Oil & Gas down by 0.31%, Energy down by 0.21% and Bankex down by 0.07% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Power Grid up by 1.27%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.12%, Indusind Bank up by 0.95%, TCS up by 0.85% and Tata Motors up by 0.83%. On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.09%, Bajaj Finserv down by 0.92%, Bajaj Finance down by 0.78%, NTPC down by 0.64% and Reliance Industries down by 0.59% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, rating agency ICRA in its latest report has said that the Indian hotel industry is likely to report a 13-15% revenue growth in FY24, notwithstanding the potential impact on demand with further Covid waves, if any. The demand recovery has been strong in the last one year, and ICRA anticipates it to continue in FY24 as well. It noted that sustenance of domestic leisure travel, higher bookings from meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE), and business travel, along with an increase in foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs), would support revenues.

According to the report, the industry is also likely to benefit from specific events like the G20 summit and the ICC World Cup 2023. ICRA estimates pan India premium hotel occupancy at around 70-72% in FY24, after recovering to 68-70% in FY23. Pan-India premium hotel average room rates (ARRs) are expected to be at around Rs 6,000-6,200 in FY24. While the occupancy is expected to be at decadal highs, the RevPAR is expected to remain at a 20-25% discount to the FY2008 peak.

The report further stated that demand in leisure destinations has been strong since Q3 FY22, while markets like Chennai and Hyderabad have benefitted in FY23 from MICE (including weddings) and pick-up in business travel. However, FTAs are yet to reach pre-pandemic levels. Gateway cities like Mumbai and Delhi reported occupancy of over 75% in FY23. Pune and Bengaluru, which are business travel markets with a large part of the demand from the service sectors, have also picked up in the last few months, although they still lag behind other markets. The ARRs have also inched up sharply across markets, consequent to the demand improvement. However, despite this, the ARRs remain lower than the FY2008 peak. The sharp rise in ARRs of premium hotels also resulted in the spillover of demand to mid-scale hotels.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17775.75, up by 6.50 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 17711.20 and 17782.45. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Eicher Motors up by 1.51%, Apollo Hospital up by 1.49%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.19%, Adani Enterprises up by 1.08% and Power Grid up by 1.05%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 1.21%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.11%, JSW Steel down by 0.92%, Bajaj Finserv down by 0.82% and Adani Ports down by 0.78% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Taiwan Weighted added 3.9 points or 0.03% to 15,374.63, Hang Seng advanced 216.14 points or 1.1% to 19,834.02, Shanghai Composite strengthened 7.72 points or 0.24% to 3,272.59 and Jakarta Composite gained 38.95 points or 0.57% to 6,860.76. However, KOSPI dropped 3.38 points or 0.14% to 2,485.64, Straits Times fell 1.85 points or 0.06% to 3,294.71 and Nikkei 225 slipped 204.16 points or 0.71% to 28,415.91.