Markets continue to trade with solid gains in late morning deals

Domestic equity indices continued to trade with solid gains in late morning deals as market participants indulged in enlarging their positions. Hectic buying in IT and banking Industry related stocks helped the markets to maintain their early gains. There was broad based buying witnessed in the markets and apart from the blue chips, the broader markets too participated in the rally. Positive cues from global markets also supported the domestic sentiment. Sentiments remained upbeat as the US Federal Reserve left the interest rates unchanged and signalled the possibility of three rate cuts in 2024. Further, sentiments also got boost as Asia Development Bank (ADB) said India’s economy would grow 6.7 per cent in Financial Year 2023-24 (FY24), raising the estimate from 6.3 per cent it made in September.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green following positive cues from US markets overnight. Sentiments got boost as the US Federal Reserve, in its monetary policy, kept the interest rates steady at 5.25-5.5 per cent. It also projected that the historic tightening of US monetary policy engineered over the last two years is at the end and lower borrowing costs are coming in 2024. Back home, in the stock specific development, Fusion Micro Finance surged after 10 per cent equity of the microfinance institution (MFI) changed hands on the bourses. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 70435.72, up by 851.12 points or 1.22% after trading in a range of 70110.75 and 70540.00. There were 24 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.76%, while Small cap index up by 0.94%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 2.81%, Realty up by 2.31%, TECK up by 2.19%, Bankex up by 1.49% and Metal up by 1.25%, while there were no losers. 

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finance up by 3.12%, HCL up by 2.93%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.80%, Infosys up by 2.72% and Indusind Bank up by 2.66%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 1.37%, Nestle down by 0.59%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.34%, Titan down by 0.12% and Sun Pharma down by 0.09% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) survey on International Trade in Banking Services 2022-23 has showed that Indian banks increased their overseas presence through the subsidiaries route to 417 during 2022-23, from 399 at the end of the previous fiscal. Their employee strength, too, rose 0.5 per cent and 6.2 per cent for foreign branches and subsidiaries, respectively, during FY23. The survey covers 14 Indian banks having overseas branches or subsidiaries and 44 foreign banks having branches or subsidiaries in India.

On the other hand, RBI said the number of branches and employees of foreign banks in India contracted during FY23 to 774 from 858 in FY22. Overseas business of Indian banks expanded as both mobilisation of deposits as well as lending activities increased during the year. Shifting of retail business of a major foreign bank in India to a domestic private sector bank led to decline in aggregate deposits and credit of foreign banks, whereas their capital and investments increased during 2022-23. The consolidated balance sheet of foreign banks in India increased 5.7 per cent in US dollar terms. The RBI further said the tightening global monetary policy cycle during the year led to a substantial rise in interest income and expenses across bank groups. 

It further stated that total income to assets ratio of overseas branches of Indian banks increased to 3.9 per cent in 2022-23 (1.6 per cent in 2021-22), but it remained lower vis-a-vis that of 6.9 per cent for foreign banks in India. Branches of Indian banks in the UAE generated highest fee income, followed by those in the UK, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 21157.55, up by 231.20 points or 1.10% after trading in a range of 21074.45 and 21189.55. There were 37 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were LTIMindtree up by 3.47%, Bajaj Finance up by 3.17%, Tech Mahindra up by 3.01%, HCL up by 2.93% and Indusind Bank up by 2.65%. On the flip side, HDFC Life Insurance down by 1.84%, Power Grid down by 1.46%, BPCL down by 0.78%, Nestle down by 0.66% and Cipla down by 0.53% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng advanced 151.11 points or 0.93% to 16,379.86, Taiwan Weighted added 184.18 points or 1.05% to 17,653.11, Straits Times rose 24.28 points or 0.78% to 3,128.54, KOSPI increased 26.63 points or 1.06% to 2,537.29 and Jakarta Composite gained 90.36 points or 1.26% to 7,165.70. However, Nikkei 225 slipped 245.58 points or 0.75% to 32,680.77 and Shanghai Composite weakened 3.26 points or 0.11% to 2,965.50.