Domestic indices continue to trade in green in late morning deals

Domestic equity markets continued to trade in green in late morning deals on account of buying in Bharti Airtel, TCS, Maruti Suzuki and HCL companies’ stocks. Meanwhile, broader indices were trading in fine fettle with BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index gaining in the range of 0.65-1.05%. Some support also came in as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), in its latest interim economic outlook, has raised India's growth outlook for 2024 to 6.2 per cent. OECD, which represents the developed countries, in its earlier outlook in November last year had projected India’s growth at 6.1 per cent. Traders took note of report that S&P Global Ratings said India’s sovereign rating support may strengthen over time if the next government - post general elections - could fund large infra projects without widening the country’s current account deficit and can shrink the fiscal deficit significantly.  

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed following negative cues from the US markets over night. Back home, on the BSE sectoral front, traders were seen pilling up position in  TECK, IT, Telecom, Oil & Gas and Auto, while selling was witnessed in Bankex, Power, PSU, Metal and Utilities. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 71968.26, up by 236.84 points or 0.33% after trading in a range of 71625.18 and 72090.30. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.69%, while Small cap index up by 1.04%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were TECK up by 2.14%, IT up by 2.06%, Telecom up by 2.02%, Oil & Gas up by 1.25% and Auto up by 1.20%, while Bankex down by 0.47%, Power down by 0.45%, PSU down by 0.34%, Metal down by 0.33% and Utilities down by 0.27% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 2.95%, Wipro up by 2.93%, TCS up by 2.93%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.88% and HCL  up by 2.72%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 3.02%, ITC down by 1.27%, Indusind Bank down by 1.06%, NTPC down by 0.97% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.92% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, S&P Global Ratings has said strong credit growth of Indian banks could moderate to 12-14 per cent in the next fiscal (FY25) if deposit growth remains tepid. It said banks may be compelled to look for wholesale funding. It added that higher costs of such funding could further strain margins and hurt profitability. 

It stated rising cost of funds and potential rate cuts in fiscal 2025 will squeeze net interest margins. It expects the share of unsecured personal loans in the banks' total loan book to continue to rise. This will also help banks to partly mitigate the downside risks to margins from tighter liquidity.

Besides, it said the Reserve Bank of India's recent ruling on applying higher risk weights to unsecured personal loans has not yet hindered rapid growth in this segment. Stable asset quality and steady capitalisation support the banks' credit profiles.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 21844.80, up by 73.10 points or 0.34% after trading in a range of 21737.55 and 21877.10. There were 31 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BPCL up by 3.47%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 3.34%, Wipro up by 3.02%, TCS up by 2.90% and Bharti Airtel up by 2.84%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 3.57%, ITC down by 1.27%, NTPC down by 1.23%, Hindalco down by 1.22% and Britannia down by 1.12% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Hang Seng advanced 559.29 points or 3.61% to 16,069.30, Taiwan, Shanghai Composite strengthened 85.29 points or 3.16% to 2,787.48 and Jakarta Composite gained 29.18 points or 0.4% to 7,227.80. However, Nikkei 225 slipped 176.67 points or 0.49% to 36,177.49, Straits Times fell 8.06 points or 0.26% to 3,126.23 and KOSPI dropped 19.43 points or 0.75% to 2,571.88.