Markets maintain gains in late morning deals

Domestic equity indices maintained their gains in late morning deals, as traders picked up stocks at reduced levels following previous session’s weakness. Sensex and Nifty gained over 274 and 90 points respectively. Positive cues from global markets supported domestic sentiments. Sentiments improved as global bond yields dipped and oil prices softened, helping ease concerns about inflation and further interest rate hikes. Traders were getting some encouragement as the figures released by the Reserve Bank of India showed that India’s foreign exchange reserves in nominal terms (which includes valuation effects) rose by $16.6 billion during April-June 2023, mainly driven by strong Foreign Institutional Investment (FII) flows. The sentiments were also supported by Indian rupee appreciating 12 paise to 83.07 against the dollar in early trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange on increased selling of the US currency by exporters and banks.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green following positive cues from the US markets. Traders were indulging in bargain hunting as they picked up stocks at reduced levels following recent weakness even as concerns remain about the outlook for global economic growth. Back home, in the stock specific development, MCX plunged after capital market regulator SEBI asked the company to put on hold the proposed launch of its new commodity derivative platform planned for next week.

 The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 65756.19, up by 247.87 points or 0.38% after trading in a range of 65570.38 and 65763.81. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.13%, while Small cap index up by 0.38%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 2.20%, Metal up by 1.48%, PSU up by 1.29%, Power up by 1.04% and Oil & Gas up by 0.98%, while IT down by 0.62% and TECK down by 0.46% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 3.36%, Sun Pharma up by 2.77%, Tata Motors up by 2.30%, ICICI Bank up by 1.07% and Tata Steel up by 0.91%. On the flip side, HCL down by 1.08%, Infosys down by 0.99%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.48%, Power Grid down by 0.45% and Axis Bank down by 0.35% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest data has showed that credit growth in agriculture and allied activities improved to 16.6 per cent annually in August 2023, and the loan outstanding neared Rs 18 lakh crore. The credit growth in agriculture and allied activities was 13.4 per cent in August 2022.

The data also showed that credit to industry registered a growth of 6.1 per cent (year-on-year) in August 2023 compared to 11.4 per cent a year ago. Among major industries, credit growth (y-o-y) to basic metal and metal products and textiles accelerated in August 2023. However, the credit growth in chemicals and chemical products, food processing and infrastructure decelerated.

It further stated that the expansion in credit to services sector accelerated to 20.7 per cent (y-o-y) in August 2023 from 17.4 per cent a year ago, primarily due to non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and commercial real estate. Personal loan growth decelerated to 18.3 per cent on an annual basis in August 2023 against 19.4 per cent a year ago due to moderation in credit to housing.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19614.00, up by 90.45 points or 0.46% after trading in a range of 19551.05 and 19616.55. There were 38 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were NTPC up by 3.71%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 3.46%, Hindalco up by 2.78%, Sun Pharma up by 2.71% and Divi's Lab up by 2.67%. On the flip side, LTIMindtree down by 1.68%, Adani Enterprises down by 1.59%, Infosys down by 1.01%, HCL down by 0.90% and Tech Mahindra down by 0.45% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng advanced 445.2 points or 2.5% to 17,818.23, Straits Times rose 13.09 points or 0.41% to 3,220.08 and Jakarta Composite gained 23.66 points or 0.34% to 6,961.49. However, Nikkei 225 slipped 24.66 points or 0.08% to 31,847.86.