Sensex, Nifty hit intraday high points in early noon deals

Extending their gaining rally, Indian equity benchmarks hit the intraday high points in early afternoon session, aided by heavy buying at all sectors along with positive cues from other Asian markets. Some relief came after a private report stated that there has been a cumulative 74.2 per cent decline in income disparity coverage for those earning up to Rs 5 lakh annually between fiscal years 2013-14 and 2022-23. Sentiments were positive, as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest survey on ‘International Trade in Banking Services, 2023-24’ has showed that Indian banks increased their overseas presence during 2023-24 both in terms of balance sheet size as well as in terms of number of branches and employees.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, after Malaysia's producer prices decreased for the first time in eight months in September. The figures from the Department of Statistics showed that producer prices fell 2.1 percent year-on-year in September, reversing a 0.3 percent increase in August. Further, this was the steepest fall since July 2023. Among sectors, mining prices declined the most by 16.1 percent from last year, and the price index for manufacturing dropped by 1.5 percent.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 80529.42, up by 1127.13 points or 1.42% after trading in a range of 79418.82 and 80539.81. There were 26 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose by 0.80%, while Small cap index was up by 1.23%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Basic Materials up by 1.80%, Auto up by 1.71%, Telecom up by 1.60%, Bankex up by 1.42% and PSU up by 1.38%, while there were no losing sectoral indices on the BSE. 

The top gainers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank up by 4.07%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 4.04%, Indusind Bank up by 3.24%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 2.93% and JSW Steel up by 2.85%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 0.77%, Axis Bank down by 0.62%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.54% and HDFC Bank down by 0.15% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest survey on ‘International Trade in Banking Services, 2023-24’ has showed that Indian banks increased their overseas presence during 2023-24 both in terms of balance sheet size as well as in terms of number of branches and employees. The survey noted that their employee strength increased by 8.2 per cent in overseas branches and 1.7 per cent in subsidiaries. During the year, the number of branches and employees of foreign banks in India also expanded by 0.6 per cent and 1.4 per cent, respectively. 

According to the survey report, consolidated balance sheets of overseas branches and subsidiaries of Indian banks grew by 4.3 per cent and 0.4 per cent, respectively, during the year whereas that of foreign banks in India recorded higher increase of 7.2 per cent, in US dollar terms. In US dollar terms, overseas branches of Indian banks recorded 8.8 per cent growth in deposits while their lending declined marginally by 0.8 per cent during the year; these changes, inter alia, also reflected cross-currency movements. 

The report also stated that total income to assets ratio of overseas branches of Indian banks increased to 6.2 per cent in 2023-24 (3.9 per cent in 2022-23) but it remained lower than that of Indian banks’ subsidiaries (7.3 per cent) and foreign banks’ operating in India (7.6 per cent). Besides, it said that high rise in interest rates resulted in acceleration in total income during 2023-24; fee income of overseas branches of Indian banks and the foreign banks operating in India also increased during the year but it declined for the relatively minor segment of overseas subsidiaries of Indian banks.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24488.70, up by 307.90 points or 1.27% after trading in a range of 24134.90 and 24492.60. There were 40 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Shriram Finance up by 6.54%, Adani Enterprises up by 4.22%, ICICI Bank up by 4.10%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.93% and Indusind Bank up by 3.23%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 3.62%, Bharat Electronics down by 1.29%, SBI Life Insurance down by 0.92%, Axis Bank down by 0.79% and Tech Mahindra down by 0.70% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng advanced 57.04 points or 0.28% to 20,647.19, Shanghai Composite strengthened 16.47 points or 0.5% to 3,316.17, Straits Times rose 0.56 points or 0.02% to 3,593.97, KOSPI increased 29.16 points or 1.12% to 2,612.43 and Nikkei 225 surged 691.61 points or 1.79% to 38,605.53, while Jakarta Composite plunged 81.81 points or 1.06% to 7,612.85 and Taiwan Weighted lost 150.38 points or 0.65% to 23,198.07.