Markets turn positive in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets erased all their losses and turned positive in late afternoon session following positive cues from European markets. Buying was witnessed in banking stocks. Investors took support as Crisil Ratings projected India's GDP growth at 6.8 per cent in the next fiscal and said the country will become an upper middle-income nation by 2031 with the economy doubling to $7 trillion. Crisil said the Indian economy will take support from domestic structural reforms and cyclical levers and can retain -- perhaps even improve -- its growth prospects to become the third largest economy by 2031. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed with Hong Kong markets leading regional gains on hopes of support measures from Beijing during its week-long annual session of parliament. European markets were trading higher ahead of a busy day on the economic calendar.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 73885.87, up by 208.74 points or 0.28% after trading in a range of 73321.48 and 73934.95. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 1.02%, while Small cap index was down by 2.02%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 1.26%, TECK up by 0.18%, FMCG up by 0.06% and Healthcare was up by 0.01%, while Realty down by 1.84%, Power down by 1.51%, Energy down by 1.23%, Basic Materials down by 1.23% and Industrials was down by 1.21% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.71%, Axis Bank up by 2.34%, Sun Pharma up by 1.65%, Indusind Bank up by 1.37% and ICICI Bank up by 1.27%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 2.46%, Ultratech Cement down by 2.35%, JSW Steel down by 1.64%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.17% and Power Grid down by 1.05% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare in its latest report showed that the enrolment under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) increased by 27% in current year so far. Also it said that 42% of total farmers insured under the scheme in FY 2023-24 are non-loanee farmers. The number of farmer applications has grown 33.4% and 41% year-on-year during 2021-22 and 2022-23, respectively.

The Ministry further noted that in past 8 years of implementation of PMFBY, 56.80 crore farmer applications have been enrolled and over 23.22 crore farmer applicants received claims. During this period, nearly Rs 31,139 crore were paid by farmers as their share of premium against which claims of over Rs 1,55,977 crore have been paid to them. Thus, for every 100 rupees of premium paid by farmers, they have received about Rs 500 as claims.

Meanwhile, the third largest insurance scheme globally in terms of premium, the PM Fasal Bima Yojana launched in 2016, shields farmers from crop loss or damage arising out of unforeseen events. The PMFBY is successfully fulfilling the objectives of the scheme including providing financial support to stabilize income of farmers especially in natural calamity hit seasons/years/areas. PMBFY is a Central Sector Scheme, therefore, no State/UT-wise allocation and release is made under the scheme.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22413.80, up by 57.50 points or 0.26% after trading in a range of 22224.35 and 22421.95. There were 24 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.66%, Axis Bank up by 2.30%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.17%, Divi's Lab up by 2.08% and Sun Pharma up by 1.61%. On the flip side, Adani Enterprises down by 2.79%, NTPC down by 2.46%, Ultratech Cement down by 2.40%, Adani Ports down by 1.58% and JSW Steel down by 1.49% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Hang Seng advanced 275.45 points or 1.68% to 16,438.09, Taiwan Weighted added 112.53 points or 0.58% to 19,499.45, Jakarta Composite gained 82.82 points or 1.14% to 7,330.28 and Straits Times was up by 25.87 points or 0.83% to 3,132.97. On the flip side, Nikkei 225 slipped 6.85 points or 0.02% to 40,090.78, Shanghai Composite weakened 7.86 points or 0.26% to 3,039.93 and KOSPI was down by 7.91 points or 0.3% to 2,641.49.

European markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 25.92 points or 0.34% to 7,672.08, France’s CAC rose 14.28 points or 0.18% to 7,947.10 and Germany’s DAX was up by 13.71 points or 0.08% to 17,712.11.