Benchmarks trade in green in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks erased initial losses and were trading in green in morning deals, led by gains in Realty, Telecom and Consumer Durables stocks. Traders took support with Amitabh Kant, former chief executive officer of NITI Aayog and India’s G20 Sherpa stating that India must aim to accelerate its pace of growth to 9-10 per cent over a three-decade period. Kant emphasised India's potential to outpace Japan and Germany, projecting it to become the world's third-largest economy by 2027. On the sectoral front, Aviation industry stocks remained in limelight after data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) showed that Indian carriers are set to operate 24,275 domestic flights every week during this year’s summer schedule, marking a 5.97 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) increase. The summer schedule for this year commences from March 31 and continues until October 26, 2024 for the aviation sector. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in red as a wave of profit-taking hit financial markets, while investors took stock of monetary policy decisions from major central banks this week. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 72805.63, up by 164.44 points or 0.23% after trading in a range of 72172.09 and 72842.91. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.02%, while Small cap index was up by 0.83%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.58%, Telecom up by 1.14%, Consumer Durables up by 0.73%, Industrials up by 0.63% and Healthcare up by 0.61%, while IT down by 1.56% and TECK down by 1.18% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 2.01%, Titan Co up by 1.41%, Power Grid Corporation up by 1.19%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.00% and ITC up by 1.00%. On the flip side, HCL Technologies down by 3.01%, Wipro down by 2.64%, Infosys down by 1.94%, TCS down by 1.11% and Tech Mahindra down by 1.03% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, a survey conducted by industry body FICCI and banking association Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) has showed that the health of the Indian banking sector continues to improve with better asset quality and high credit growth. The eighteenth round of the survey was carried out for the period July to December 2023.

Those banks that were surveyed together represent about 77 per cent of the banking industry, as classified by asset size. India’s economy held relatively well (estimated 7.6 per cent) in 2023-24 compared to other major economies driven by strong investment growth and a rebound in industrial activity. Credit growth also continued to rise, supported by factors such as economic expansion and a continued push for retail credit which has been supported by improving digitalisation. The banking sector’s clean balance sheets support further loan growth going forward.

The survey findings showed that long term credit demand has seen continued growth for sectors such as Infrastructure, metals, iron and steel, food processing. Infrastructure is witnessing an increase in credit flow with 82 per cent of the respondents indicating an increase in long-term loans as against 67 per cent in the previous round. The joint survey suggested that the outlook for non-food industry credit over next 6 months is optimistic with 41 per cent of the participating banks expecting non-food industry credit growth to be above 12 per cent while 18 per cent feel that non-food industry credit growth would be in the range of 10-12 per cent. Further, 36 per cent of the respondents are of the view that non-food industry credit growth would be in the range of 8-10 per cent.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22058.90, up by 46.95 points or 0.21% after trading in a range of 21883.30 and 22071.50. There were 33 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Sun Pharma up by 2.00%, Apollo Hospital up by 1.88%, BPCL up by 1.79%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.50% and Titan Company up by 1.48%. On the flip side, LTIMindtree down by 2.91%, HCL Technologies down by 2.90%, Wipro down by 2.63%, Infosys down by 1.91% and TCS down by 1.07% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Taiwan Weighted lost 10.29 points or 0.05% to 20,188.80, Hang Seng declined 512.54 points or 3.13% to 16,350.56, Straits Times fell 8.85 points or 0.27% to 3,211.52, KOSPI dropped 7.23 points or 0.26% to 2,747.63, Jakarta Composite plunged 1.23 points or 0.02% to 7,337.12 and Shanghai Composite weakened 43.34 points or 1.43% to 3,033.77, while Nikkei 225 surged 108.54 points or 0.27% to 40,924.20.