Benchmarks manage to trade in green in late morning deals

In an extremely volatile trade, Indian equity benchmarks erased some gains but managed to trade in green in late morning deals ahead of the monthly F&O expiry and amid firm cues from the global markets. Sentiments remained positive as External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s statement that India will begin trade negotiations with the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) bloc of countries for a free trade deal in January. Traders took a note of the Department of Financial Services Secretary Vivek Joshi’s statement that India Inc needs to think 'big and bold', and kickstart a new private sector investment cycle. Joshi also asked banks to include stress testing of cyber risks as part of the risk assessment framework. However, gains remain capped amid some concern with a private report that private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) investments in India fell by around 41 per cent to $27.89 billion across 697 deals in 2023 so far, compared to $47.62 billion across 1,364 deals in the previous year. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green as expectations mounted that key central banks such as the Federal Reserve will start to cut interest rates early next year.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 72185.09, up by 146.66 points or 0.20% after trading in a range of 72137.45 and 72406.75. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 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 0.09%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were PSU up by 1.10%, Oil & Gas up by 1.03%, Metal up by 0.95%, Energy up by 0.94% and Power up by 0.62%, while Telecom down by 0.41%, IT down by 0.25% and TECK down by 0.16% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 1.81%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.15%, Titan Company up by 0.97%, Power Grid Corporation up by 0.81% and HDFC Bank up by 0.76%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.63%, Axis Bank down by 0.59%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.53%, Infosys down by 0.48% and Asian Paints down by 0.44% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in a report titled ‘Report on Trend and Progress of Banking in India 2022-23’ has said the gross non-performing assets (GNPA) ratio of scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) fell to a decadal low of 3.9 per cent at end-March 2023 and further to 3.2 per cent at end-September 2023. 

It stated the improvement in asset quality of banks, measured by their GNPA ratios, that began in 2018-19 continued during 2022-23. During 2022-23, around 45 per cent of reduction in GNPAs of SCBs was contributed by recoveries and upgradations. The slippage ratio - which measures new accretions to NPAs as a share of standard advances at the beginning of the year - moderated during 2022-23 and further in the first half of 2023-24.

Further, it said the Indian banking system and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) remain sound and resilient, backed by high capital ratios, improved asset quality and robust earnings growth. This is supporting a double-digit credit growth and domestic economic activity.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 21700.50, up by 45.75 points or 0.21% after trading in a range of 21678.00 and 21759.05. There were 33 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hero MotoCorp up by 2.31%, Coal India up by 2.11%, NTPC up by 1.75%, BPCL up by 1.21% and Hindalco up by 1.11%. On the flip side, Grasim Industries down by 0.83%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.66%, Axis Bank down by 0.56%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.54% and Infosys down by 0.52% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Hang Seng advanced 303.82 points or 1.79% to 16,928.66, Straits Times rose 49.7 points or 1.54% to 3,220.46, KOSPI increased 26.41 points or 1% to 2,639.91, Jakarta Composite gained 40.92 points or 0.56% to 7,286.84 and Shanghai Composite strengthened 33.74 points or 1.14% to 2,948.35.

On the flip side, Nikkei 225 slipped 111.69 points or 0.33% to 33,569.55 and Taiwan Weighted lost 1.46 points or 0.01% to 17,890.04.