Markets continue to trade above neutral lines in late morning deals

Indian equity markets continued to maintain their head above neutral lines in late morning deals on account of buying in Mahindra & Mahindra and Sun Pharma stocks. Meanwhile, broader indices on the BSE were also trading in green in the range of 0.20-0.30%. The sentiments were supported by Indian rupee appreciating 8 paise to 82.73 against the dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange on increased selling of the US currency by exporters and banks. However, gains were limited as most of traders remained on sidelines ahead of U.S. inflation data and the RBI's monetary policy decision, both on Thursday. On the BSE sectoral front, traders were seen pilling up position in Telecom, Healthcare, TECK, Industrials and Capital Goods, while selling was witnessed in Consumer Durables, Metal, Oil & Gas, Bankex and Energy.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed as investors looked ahead to China’s inflation figures and trade balance later this week. China will release its trade balance for Tuesday and inflation data on Wednesday, which will give clues to the country’s recovery trajectory. Back home, in the stock specific development, Britannia Industries fell despite posting 36 percent growth in the June quarter net profit.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 65835.11, up by 113.86 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 65748.25 and 65961.16. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.21%, while Small cap index was up by 0.30%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 2.26%, Healthcare up by 1.07%, TECK up by 0.32%, Industrials up by 0.26% and Capital Goods up by 0.21%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.57%, Metal down by 0.39%, Oil & Gas down by 0.17%, Bankex down by 0.09% and Energy down by 0.06% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.27%, Sun Pharma up by 1.77%, NTPC up by 0.92%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.88% and ICICI Bank up by 0.70%. On the flip side, Nestle down by 1.09%, SBI down by 0.84%, Bajaj Finance down by 0.74%, Tata Steel down by 0.50% and Tata Motors down by 0.43% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest data has indicated that bank credit growth to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) has decelerated on a year-on-year basis in the first three months of the current fiscal (Q1FY24). Players in the MSME sector, the backbone of domestic industry and largest employer, said risk averseness makes banks reluctant to provide loans to small units, leading to a deceleration in bank credit growth.

As per the data, the credit to medium industries in June grew by 13.2 per cent (47.8 per cent last year) and micro and small industries by 13 per cent (29.2 per cent a year ago). In absolute terms, the gross bank credit outstanding to medium industries at June-end was Rs 2,63,440 crore compared to Rs 2,32,776 crore in June last year. In the case of micro and small industries, the credit outstanding in June was Rs 6,25,625 crore against Rs 5,53,675 crore in the corresponding month of 2022. In May, the credit to medium industries grew by 18.9 per cent (42.9 per cent last year) and micro and small industries by 9.5 per cent (32.7 per cent a year ago). 

According to another set of RBI data for April, loan growth of medium industries was 19.1 per cent against 53.7 per cent last year. The growth in the case of micro and small industries was 9.7 per cent in April 2023 compared to 29.8 per cent in the year-ago month.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19551.25, up by 34.25 points or 0.18% after trading in a range of 19524.80 and 19585.95. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.05%, Divi's Lab up by 2.71%, Sun Pharma up by 1.84%, Hindalco up by 1.41% and Grasim Industries up by 1.24%. On the flip side, Britannia down by 3.15%, Nestle down by 0.97%, SBI down by 0.86%, Bajaj Finance down by 0.77% and Bajaj Auto down by 0.68% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mixed, Taiwan Weighted added 152.32 points or 0.9% to 16,996.00, Jakarta Composite gained 36.13 points or 0.52% to 6,888.97, Straits Times rose 16.25 points or 0.49% to 3,308.64 and Nikkei 225 surged 64.48 points or 0.2% to 32,257.23. However, Hang Seng declined 53.48 points or 0.27% to 19,485.98, Shanghai Composite weakened 26.14 points or 0.79% to 3,261.94 and KOSPI dropped 13.24 points or 0.51% to 2,589.56.