Key gauges trade in green in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks were trading in green in morning deals, led by gains in Metal, Realty and Consumer Durables stocks. Traders took support with government data showed retail inflation slipped to a multi-year low of 0.25 per cent in October, driven by the impact of the GST rate cut and subdued prices of vegetables and fruits. The consumer price index (CPI) based retail inflation was 1.44 per cent in September and 6.21 per cent in October 2024. Some support also came as the government approved two schemes worth Rs 45,000 crore, with an aim to help exporters tide over the impact of high tariffs imposed by the US on Indian shipments. The Rs 25,060-crore Export Promotion Mission (EPM) seeks to strengthen India's export competitiveness, particularly for MSMEs, first-time exporters, and labour-intensive sectors. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green amid rising prospects of an end to the U.S. government shutdown this week, and hopes about an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve next month. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 84629.57, up by 163.06 points or 0.19% after trading in a range of 84253.05 and 84642.88. There were 15 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.18%, while Small cap index was up by 0.47%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.43%, Realty up by 1.10%, Consumer Durables up by 0.96%, Basic Materials up by 0.71% and Telecom up by 0.71%, while IT down by 0.25%, Oil & Gas down by 0.18%, FMCG down by 0.17% and Energy down by 0.06% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Asian Paints up by 3.27%, ICICI Bank up by 1.98%, Tata Steel up by 1.96%, Bajaj Finserv up by 0.97% and Bharti Airtel up by 0.84%. On the flip side, Eternal down by 1.52%, TMCV down by 1.21%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.87%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.52%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.50% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Icra has revised upwards its FY26 bank credit growth estimate to 10.7 -11.5 per cent from the earlier 10.5 per cent driven by festive demand, GST reforms and liquidity boost by RBI. It maintained a stable outlook for the banking system with no significant capital requirements being anticipated. It said banks remain cautious in lending to non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and the corporate demand is yet to see any meaningful revival till now. However, it said gross non-performing assets of the banking system will increase by up to 2.3 per cent after multiple years of a steady decline in the number. 

It stated the credit growth is expected to be driven by the retail and micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) segments. Moreover, it said that the episodic shift of credit demand from large well rated-borrowers from capital markets to banks and vice versa remains opportunistic and sustainability of the same is yet to be clear. Its sector head Sachin Sachdeva said ‘H1FY26 has seen incremental credit offtake of Rs 10.1 lakh crore with a sizeable credit expansion taking place in September 2026, prompting us to revise upwards our full year credit offtake projection.’ 

Besides, after multiple quarters of challenges on the net interest margins front, Icra said the banking system is set to witness an improvement in the key metric influencing the core income. From a regulatory measures perspective, it said the transition to the expected credit loss (ECL) system of provisioning over a five-year period is unlikely to be detrimental for lenders. It said estimating the impact on core capital levels to be less than 1.50 per cent.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 25925.10, up by 49.30 points or 0.19% after trading in a range of 25808.40 and 25926.40. There were 29 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Asian Paints up by 3.45%, JIO Financial Services up by 2.00%, Tata Steel up by 1.99%, ICICI Bank up by 1.99% and Hindalco up by 1.49%. On the flip side, TMCV down by 1.81%, Eternal down by 1.39%, ONGC down by 1.28%, Shriram Finance down by 0.95% and Tech Mahindra down by 0.87% were the top losers. 

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 263.69 points or 0.52% to 51,327.00, Taiwan Weighted added 35.37 points or 0.13% to 27,982.46, Jakarta Composite gained 17.4 points or 0.21% to 8,405.97, Shanghai Composite strengthened 20.84 points or 0.52% to 4,020.98 and KOSPI increased 26.82 points or 0.65% to 4,177.21.

On the flip side, Hang Seng declined 85.73 points or 0.32% to 26,837.00 and Straits Times fell 2.72 points or 0.06% to 4,566.19.