Bourses trade in green in late afternoon session

Tracking positive European markets, Indian equity markets extended their gains in late afternoon session. Traders got support as private report stated that India's merchandise trade deficit narrowed to $17.49 billion in January as exports edged up by 3.1 percent year-on-year despite the ongoing crisis in the Red Sea disrupting trade as commercial vessels traversing through the Suez Canal face attacks from Yemen-backed Houthi rebels. The merchandise trade deficit stood at $19.80 billion in December 2023. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green as calmer bond markets and robust U.S. corporate earnings lifted chip stocks. European markets were trading higher as investors digested a slew of better-than-expected corporate earnings and UK's GDP data, while comments by European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde on disinflation process in the euro zone lifted sentiment.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 71936.92, up by 114.09 points or 0.16% after trading in a range of 71644.44 and 72164.97. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.69%, while Small cap index was up by 1.12%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were PSU up by 2.47%, Oil & Gas up by 2.38%, Utilities up by 2.27%, Energy up by 2.08% and Power was up by 1.64%, while FMCG down by 0.74% and Healthcare was down by 0.25% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 7.05%, NTPC up by 2.76%, Power Grid up by 2.54%, SBI up by 1.98% and HDFC Bank up by 1.89%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 1.86%, Nestle down by 1.43%, ITC down by 1.40%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.38% and ICICI Bank down by 1.04% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Credit rating agency Crisil in its latest report has said that tailwinds from government grants in the form of viability gap funding (VGF) for battery storage systems and other favourable policy announcements should lead to around 4 gigawatt (GW) of battery storage capacity by fiscal 2028. It said another driver will be the improvement in return on capital (returns) profile of standalone storage projects by 300-400 basis points (bps) to 12-13%, bumped up by grants and an on-year fall of around 20% in battery prices.

According to the report, driven by government thrust and strong investor interest, renewable capacity (solar and wind) has grown to around 120 GW as of December 2023 from around 70 GW as of December 2019. By fiscal 2028, the capacity is expected to touch 220 GW, leading to an increase in the proportion of renewable energy in overall power mix to over 20% compared with 11% now. As renewable generation is intermittent, this may increase the risk of imbalance in the power grid if not absorbed suitably through storage.

The report further said battery storage is a key technology envisaged for storing renewable power and matching it with demand, thereby supporting stability of the power grid. Till now, battery storage capex in the country was low primarily because of high cost of batteries, which results in unattractive returns for the developers. To address this issue, the government has announced steps such as the VGF scheme under which it will provide financial support of up to Rs 3,760 crore to 4 GW-hour of battery projects.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 21881.90, up by 41.85 points or 0.19% after trading in a range of 21794.80 and 21953.85. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 7.06%, BPCL up by 4.17%, ONGC up by 2.94%, NTPC up by 2.76% and Power Grid up by 2.70%. On the flip side, Apollo Hospital Ent. down by 2.27%, Axis Bank down by 1.95%, Nestle down by 1.47%, ITC down by 1.42% and Britannia down by 1.37% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Taiwan Weighted added 548.5 points or 2.94% to 18,644.57, Nikkei 225 surged 454.62 points or 1.19% to 38,157.94, Jakarta Composite gained 115.12 points or 1.6% to 7,324.86, Hang Seng advanced 65.25 points or 0.41% to 15,944.63 and Straits Times was down by 33.85 points or 1.08% to 3,172.92. On the flip side, KOSPI was down by 6.62 points or 0.25% to 2,613.80.

European markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 22.45 points or 0.3% to 7,590.85, France’s CAC rose 71.2 points or 0.93% to 7,748.55 and Germany’s DAX was down by 115.35 points or 0.68% to 17,060.83.