Markets maintain gains in late morning deals

Domestic equity indices maintained their gains and were trading higher with over quarter a percent in late morning deals on account of buying in Bajaj Finance, SBI and Tata Steel stocks. Meanwhile, broader indices on the BSE were outperforming larger peers with gains in range of 0.70-0.80%. Strong quarterly earnings reports from some big companies, weak crude oil prices and positive cues from other Asian markets supported domestic sentiments. The sentiments were also supported by Indian rupee appreciating 8 paise to 81.71 against the dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange on increased selling of the US currency by exporters and banks.

On the global front, Asian markets were mostly trading in green despite weak cues from US markets overnight. Back home, in the stock specific developments, Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company (CIFCL) surged after the company delivered best-ever disbursals, collections, and profitability in the January-March quarter (Q4 FY23). However, Petronet LNG (PLNG) dipped on weak January-March quarter results. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 61380.63, up by 187.33 points or 0.31% after trading in a range of 61119.56 and 61417.28. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.71%, while Small cap index up by 0.81%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.02%, Industrials up by 0.78%, Metal up by 0.72%, PSU up by 0.59% and Capital Goods up by 0.52%, while FMCG down by 0.23% and Realty down by 0.23% were only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finance up by 1.79%, SBI up by 1.39%, Tata Steel up by 1.37%, TCS up by 0.99% and HDFC Bank up by 0.97%. On the flip side, Power Grid Corp down by 1.13%, ICICI Bank down by 0.97%, Indusind Bank down by 0.86%, ITC down by 0.57% and Nestle down by 0.50% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) has said that passenger vehicle retail sales in India declined by 1 per cent in April 2023 as buyers preponed purchases to March in order to avoid enhanced prices on account of stricter emission norms kicking in from April 1. The passenger vehicle retail sales declined to 2,82,674 units in April 2023 as compared with 2,86,539 units in April 2022. 

FADA noted that three-wheeler retail sales stood at 70,928 units in April 2023, up 57 per cent as compared with 45,114 units in April 2022. Similarly, commercial vehicle registrations were up 2 per cent to 85,587 units in April from 83,987 units in the year-ago period. Tractors' retail sales also witnessed an increase of 1 per cent to 55,835 units in April 2023 as against April 2022. Retail sales across categories declined by 4 per cent to 17,24,935 units in April 2023 as against 17,97,432 units in April 2022.  

It further said that two-wheeler registrations declined by 7 per cent to 12,29,911 units in April 2023 as against 13,26,773 units in the year-ago period. The drop in sales can be attributed to limited supplies due to the OBD 2A shift, untimely rains and pre-buying in March. Model mix availability, rural sentiment and demand in the two-wheeler motorcycle segment remain weak. The rural economy has yet to show significant progress. Compared to the pre-Covid April 2019, two-wheeler sales are still down by 19 per cent.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18148.10, up by 58.25 points or 0.32% after trading in a range of 18066.70 and 18158.65. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Enterprises up by 2.63%, SBI Life up by 2.20%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 1.95%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.77% and BPCL up by 1.70%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 1.17%, Indusind Bank down by 0.96%, ICICI Bank down by 0.93%, Tata Consumer down by 0.90% and ONGC down by 0.65% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Taiwan Weighted added 55.62 points or 0.36% to 15,609.03, Hang Seng advanced 210.8 points or 1.06% to 19,909.96, Shanghai Composite strengthened 28.35 points or 0.85% to 3,351.62 and Jakarta Composite gained 16.5 points or 0.24% to 6,829.22. However, KOSPI dropped 2.2 points or 0.09% to 2,499.20 and Straits Times fell 1.04 points or 0.03% to 3,260.97.