Bourses extend gains in late afternoon session

The Indian benchmarks widened their gains in late afternoon session. Both Sensex and Nifty were trading above their crucial 66,600 and 19,850 marks, respectively. Sustained buying in banking stocks lifted the markets higher. Traders took note of report that Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday (September 8) decided to discontinue the incremental cash reserve ratio (I-CRR) in a phased manner. The central bank had announced the measure in its August 10, 2023 monetary policy meeting wherein scheduled banks were required to maintain an incremental cash reserve ratio (I-CRR) of 10 per cent on the increase in their net demand and time liabilities (NDTL) between May 19, 2023, and July 28, 2023. 

On the global front, all Asian markets were trading lower following a sell off on Wall Street and as investors assess trade data from China and Australia. European markets were trading lower with concerns over increasing Sino-U.S. tensions, slowing global growth and uncertainty over the path of U.S. monetary policy keeping investors nervous. The release of better-than-expected French industrial production data helped limit overall losses to some extent.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 66698.86, up by 433.30 points or 0.65% after trading in a range of 66299.30 and 66743.44. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.92%, while Small cap index was up by 0.59%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were PSU up by 2.42%, Realty up by 2.15%, Power up by 1.82%, Utilities up by 1.76% and Oil & Gas was up by 1.49%, while Healthcare down by 0.18%, IT down by 0.11% and FMCG was down by 0.08% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 3.25%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.81%, Bajaj Finserv up by 1.74%, Tata Motors up by 1.70% and Bharti Airtel up by 1.64%. On the flip side, ITC down by 0.62%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.54%, Wipro down by 0.47%, TCS down by 0.45% and JSW Steel down by 0.20% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, underlining India's growth, a G20 document prepared by the World Bank has stated that India has achieved financial inclusion targets in just 6 years which would otherwise have taken at least 47 long years. The document highlights the groundbreaking measures taken by Central Government and the pivotal role of government policy and regulation in shaping the Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) landscape.

The document categorically noted that while DPIs’ role in this leapfrogging is undoubtable, other ecosystem variables and policies that build on the availability of DPIs were critical. These included interventions to create a more enabling legal and regulatory framework, national policies to expand account ownership, and leveraging Aadhaar for identity verification.

Besides, it said that the Jan Dhan Plus programme encourages low-income women to save, resulting in over 12 million women customers (as of April 2023) and a 50% increase in average balances in just five months, as against the entire portfolio in the same time period. It is estimated that by engaging 100 million low-income women in savings activities, public sector banks in India can attract approximately Rs 25,000 crore ($3.1 billion) in deposits.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19858.95, up by 131.90 points or 0.67% after trading in a range of 19727.05 and 19866.95. There were 34 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Coal India up by 3.25%, NTPC up by 3.23%, BPCL up by 2.33%, Hero MotoCorp up by 2.02% and Larsen & Toubro up by 1.92%. On the flip side, Eicher Motors down by 0.87%, Cipla down by 0.66%, ITC down by 0.64%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.50% and Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 0.49% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading lower; KOSPI dropped 0.58 points or 0.02% to 2,547.68, Shanghai Composite weakened 5.63 points or 0.18% to 3,116.72, Straits Times fell 17.83 points or 0.55% to 3,208.76, Jakarta Composite plunged 38.63 points or 0.56% to 6,916.18, Taiwan Weighted lost 43.12 points or 0.26% to 16,576.02 and Nikkei 225 was down by 384.24 points or 1.18% to 32,606.84.

European markets were trading lower; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 26.98 points or 0.36% to 7,414.74, France’s CAC fell 30.65 points or 0.43% to 7,165.45 and Germany’s DAX was down by 68.66 points or 0.44% to 15,650.00.