Domestic indices trade lower with cut of around quarter percent

Domestic equity indices traded in red with cut of around quarter a percent in late morning deals on account of selling in Mahindra & Mahindra, Power Grid and Sun Pharma stocks. Meanwhile, broader indices on the BSE were also trading in red in the range of 0.10 -0.45%. Mix cues from other Asian markets weighed on the domestic sentiments. Growth worries resurfaced after data showed China's exports fell for a third straight month in July amid a slump in global demand. Further, depreciation in Indian rupee against dollar also weighed down sentiments. The rupee depreciated 6 paise to 82.81 against the US dollar. The rupee was trading lower on strong dollar and foreign fund outflows over the past few days. Besides, traders remained on sidelines ahead of RBI monetary policy meeting outcome. The RBI monetary policy committee meeting begins on Tuesday. The policy decision will be announced on Thursday.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red as China’s July trade came in lower than expected. China saw a 14.5% year-on-year drop in exports, while imports came in 12.4% lower year-on-year. Street expected a 12.5% slide in exports and a 5% drop in imports. Back home, on the BSE sectoral front, traders were seen pilling up position in Consumer Durables, Bankex, Consumer Disc and Basic Materials, while selling was witnessed in Utilities, Power, Telecom, Metal and Auto.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 65809.21, down by 144.27 points or 0.22% after trading in a range of 65789.24 and 66057.53. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.43%, while Small cap index down by 0.10%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 0.58%, Bankex up by 0.33%, Consumer Disc up by 0.12%, Basic Materials up by 0.10%, while Utilities down by 1.25%, Power down by 1.15%, Telecom down by 0.90%, Metal down by 0.83% and Auto down by 0.50% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Wipro up by 0.97%, Axis Bank up by 0.97%, Tech Mahindra up by 0.61%, Titan up by 0.57% and Maruti Suzuki up by 0.56%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 2.68%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.33%, NTPC down by 1.51%, Sun Pharma down by 1.50% and JSW Steel down by 1.33% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad has said that banks have written off bad loans worth Rs 14.56 lakh crore in the last nine financial years starting 2014-15. Out of the total Rs 14,56,226 crore, written off loans of large industries and services stood at Rs 7,40,968 crore. Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) have recovered an aggregate amount of Rs 2,04,668 crore in written-off loans, including corporate loans, since April 2014 and up to March 2023.

Karad stated that net of recovery in written-off loans during the financial year (net write-off) in public sector banks (PSBs) was Rs 1.18 lakh crore in the financial year (FY) 2017-18, which has declined to 0.91 lakh crore in FY 2021-22 and to Rs 0.84 lakh crore (RBI provisional data) in FY 2022-23. Net write-off loans by private sector banks stood at Rs 73,803 crore (RBI provisional data) in FY 2022-23. Net write-off as percentage of opening gross loans and advances in private sector banks was 1.25 per cent and 1.57 per cent in FY 2017-18 and FY 2022-23 respectively, and it was 2 per cent and 1.12 per cent for PSBs during the same period. 

The minister said comprehensive steps have been taken by the government and RBI to recover and to bring down NPAs, enabled by which, gross NPAs of PSBs have declined to Rs 4.28 lakh crore as on March 31, 2023 from Rs 8.96 lakh crore as on March 31, 2018. Talking about various steps taken by the government, he said the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002, has been amended to make it more effective. He added that the pecuniary jurisdiction of debt recovery tribunals (DRTs) was increased from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh to enable the DRTs to focus on high-value cases, resulting in higher recovery for the banks and financial institutions.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19543.55, down by 53.75 points or 0.27% after trading in a range of 19542.70 and 19634.40. There were 16 stocks advancing against 34 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hero MotoCorp up by 3.79%, Cipla up by 2.48%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 0.84%, Wipro up by 0.75% and Axis Bank up by 0.75%. On the flip side, Adani Ports down by 2.77%, Power Grid down by 2.64%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.28%, Adani Enterprises down by 1.83% and Sun Pharma down by 1.69% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Taiwan Weighted lost 102.93 points or 0.61% to 16,893.07, Hang Seng declined 279.31 points or 1.45% to 19,258.61, KOSPI dropped 8.62 points or 0.34% to 2,572.09 and Jakarta Composite plunged 0.78 points or 0.01% to 6,885.59. However, Straits Times rose 3.82 points or 0.12% to 3,313.69, Nikkei 225 surged 153.06 points or 0.47% to 32,407.62 and Shanghai Composite strengthened 0.83 points or 0.03% to 3,269.66.