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EQUITY
Benchmarks end higher for third straight session
Mar-22-2024

Indian equity benchmarks ended higher for the third straight session on Friday, following gains in index majors Maruti Suzuki, Sun Pharma and Titan Company. While most sectors experienced gains, the IT remained in the red due to subdued guidance from Accenture, a major global IT player. Markets opened on weak note as traders were anxious with provisional data from the NSE showing that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold shares worth Rs 1,826.97 crore on March 21. Some concern also came with a private report that private equity and venture capital investments declined to $2.2 billion in February, 39 per cent down when compared with the year-ago period's $3.7 billion. 

However, shrugging off early weakness, equity markets rebounded soon and held their gains throughout the day, as traders found solace 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. Markets added some gains in late afternoon deals, taking support from a survey conducted by industry body FICCI and banking association Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) showing 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. Additionally, the retreat of crude oil prices from recent highs contributed to the positive sentiment. But, profit taking in the final hour trimmed some gains.  

On the global front, European markets were trading mostly in green despite an uptick in inflation in Japan as well as uncertainties about rate cuts by the Fed. Asian markets settled mixed on Friday as some markets retreated from recent highs with traders eager to book some profits. Some traders also remained worried about recent hotter-than-expected US inflation data could lead Fed officials to reconsider lowering rates. 

Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 190.75 points or 0.26% to 72,831.94 and the CNX Nifty was up by 84.80 points or 0.39% to 22,096.75.

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 73,115.62 and 72,172.09 respectively. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.38%, while Small cap index was up by 1.06%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 2.28%, Realty up by 1.82%, Auto up by 1.55%, Consumer Discretionary up by 1.20% and Healthcare up by 1.17%, while IT down by 2.00% and TECK down by 1.47% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 3.55%, Sun Pharma up by 2.77%, Titan Company up by 2.21%, ITC up by 1.71% and Indusind Bank up by 1.70%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 2.98%, Wipro down by 2.73%, HCL Technologies down by 2.46%, TCS down by 1.53% and Tech Mahindra down by 1.33% 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 traded in a range of 22,180.70 and 21,883.30. There were 38 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hero MotoCorp up by 3.94%, Maruti Suzuki up by 3.32%, Sun Pharma up by 3.25%, UPL up by 3.08% and Apollo Hospital up by 2.95%. On the flip side, LTIMindtree down by 2.94%, Infosys down by 2.78%, Wipro down by 2.46%, HCL Technologies down by 2.44% and TCS down by 1.61% were the top losers.

European markets were trading mostly in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 62.27 points or 0.79% to 7,944.82 and Germany’s DAX gained 20.83 points or 0.11% to 18,200.08, while France’s CAC fell 9.27 points or 0.11% to 8,170.45.

Asian markets settled mixed on Friday. Japanese shares rose amidst Wall Street’s gains overnight followed by big gains in chipmakers in the United States. Japan’s Nikkei 225 briefly crossed 41,000 to hit a fresh all-time high as Japan’s inflation accelerated in February. Data showing that Japan’s headline inflation rate for February came in at 2.8%, climbing from the 2.2% seen in February. Core inflation was at 2.8% compared with 2% in the previous month. Meanwhile, Chinese property and technology firms weighed on Shanghai and Hong Kong markets.

Asian Indices

Last Trade            

Change in Points

Change in %      

Shanghai Composite

3,048.03

-29.08

-0.95

Hang Seng

16,499.47

-363.63

-2.20

Jakarta Composite

7,350.15

11.80

0.16

KLSE Composite

1,542.39

0.98

0.06

Nikkei 225

40,888.43

72.77

0.18

Straits Times

3,217.97

-2.40

-0.07

KOSPI Composite

2,748.56

-6.30

-0.23

Taiwan Weighted

20,228.43

29.34

0.15
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