Domestic indices maintain gains in late morning deals

Domestic equity indices maintained their early gains and were trading higher with gains of over half a percent in late morning deals owing to buying by funds and retail investors. Meanwhile, broader indices on the BSE were also trading in green. Hectic buying in Larsen & Toubro and Reliance Industries supported the markets to maintain their gains. Traders took solace with minister of state for finance Pankaj Chaudhary’s statement that India’s general government debt moderated to 80.9% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2022-23 from 83.3% in 2021-22. The general government debt, which comprises the debts of the centre and states, had soared to 87.8% in FY21, the highest in at least four decades, as government expenditure rose during the Covid-19 pandemic, amid revenue slump. Further, sentiments were also upbeat as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) raised the FY24 economic growth forecast for India by 20 basis points to 6.1 per cent, citing the country’s stronger-than-expected growth momentum in the March quarter of FY23.   

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed ahead of Fed rate decision. Back home, almost all the sectoral indices on BSE were trading into positive territory; however stocks from Consumer Durables counter was the only exception. Stocks from Telecom, Capital Goods, Industrials, Energy and Oil & Gas counters were the prominent gainers of the session. In the stock specific development, Tata Motors DVR (Differential Voting Rights) zoomed after Tata Motors announced the termination of its DVR or A-share programme. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 66799.81, up by 444.10 points or 0.67% after trading in a range of 66431.34 and 66897.27. There were 23 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.37%, while Small cap index up by 0.51%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.94%, Capital Goods up by 1.86%, Industrials up by 1.30%, Energy up by 1.12% and Oil & Gas up by 1.07%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.25% was the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Larsen & Toubro up by 3.75%, Reliance Industries up by 2.33%, ITC up by 1.50%, Sun Pharma up by 1.11% and Hindustan Unilever up by 1.01%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.59%, Titan down by 0.41%, Asian Paints down by 0.29%, HDFC Bank down by 0.22% and Maruti Suzuki down by 0.09% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor M Rajeshwar Rao has said that central banks need to incorporate climate-related risks into their supervisory frameworks in order to contribute to the development of frameworks and standards for green finance. He said these frameworks can help promote transparency, standardization, and integrity in the green finance market. He stressed that financing the new green ventures alone will not be enough and there is a need for credible transition plans for existing emitting firms without compromising their output or growth. 

The deputy governor further said over the years, RBI has been taking various policy measures to promote and support green finance initiatives. He said earlier this year the Reserve Bank supported Government of India in successfully issuing sovereign green bonds (SGrBs). The proceeds of the SGrBs are intended to be deployed in public sector projects which will help in reducing the carbon intensity of the economy. He noted that the issuance of SGrBs would also help in price discovery for other financial instruments and give a fillip to development of a market for green financing ecosystem in the country.

Rao further stressed on the need to undertake a large-scale capacity building effort to equip central banks, financial firms, real economy players to understand, assess and plan for the climate issues and related financial risks. He said only then would they be able to innovate, make strategic decisions, mobilise capital and build effective transition plans for achieving sustainability targets and a very important aspect of this capacity building is going to be the handholding of the smaller firms and MSMEs to make it easier for them to navigate the transition.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19797.25, up by 116.65 points or 0.59% after trading in a range of 19716.70 and 19825.60. There were 35 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Larsen & Toubro up by 4.02%, Reliance Industries up by 2.19%, BPCL up by 1.92%, Adani Ports up by 1.78% and ITC up by 1.47%. On the flip side, SBI Life Insuran down by 0.92%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.56%, Divi's Lab down by 0.56%, Cipla down by 0.47% and Titan down by 0.34% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Taiwan Weighted lost 36.34 points or 0.21% to 17,162.55, Hang Seng declined 160.25 points or 0.83% to 19,274.15, Shanghai Composite weakened 13.86 points or 0.43% to 3,217.66 and KOSPI dropped 38.99 points or 1.5% to 2,597.47. However, Jakarta Composite gained 7.31 points or 0.11% to 6,925.02, Straits Times rose 23.81 points or 0.72% to 3,309.97 and Nikkei 225 surged 5.74 points or 0.02% to 32,688.25.