Markets trade in green in morning deals

Indian equity markets were trading in green in morning deals on account of buying in Ultratech Cement, Mahindra & Mahindra, Nestle, Infosys and Sun Pharma. Meanwhile, broader indices were also trading in green with BSE Mid cap and Small cap index gaining in the range of 0.25-0.40%. Sentiments got boost as foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 1,285.96 crore on December 10. There was some encouragement in markets as Minister of State (MoS) in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry Jitin Prasada said the government is developing industrial corridor projects as part of the National Industrial Corridor Development Programme (NICDP) for the development of greenfield industrial areas, regions, and nodes in order to compete with the world's top manufacturing and investment destinations. Cement industry related stocks were in focus on the back of reports that cement dealers have initiated price hikes since the start of December. 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed as investors awaited key policy meeting in China. China is reportedly kicking off its annual economic work conference today to outline its economic policies and growth targets for next year. Back home, in the stock specific development, PNC Infratech zoomed after the company's subsidiary Hathras Highways completed an order worth Rs 738 crore two months prior to its date.   

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 81664.75, up by 154.70 points or 0.19% after trading in a range of 81383.42 and 81689.90. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.26%, while Small cap index up by 0.39%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.05%, Basic Materials up by 0.96%, Auto up by 0.72%, Healthcare up by 0.55% and FMCG up by 0.43%, while, Bankex down by 0.10%, Utilities down by 0.07% and Power down by 0.01% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Ultratech Cement up by 2.35%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.29%, Nestle up by 1.21%, Infosys up by 1.00% and Sun Pharma up by 0.92%. On the flip side, Adani Ports down by 0.53%, HCL Technologies down by 0.33%, ICICI Bank down by 0.31%, HDFC Bank down by 0.26% and NTPC down by 0.24% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary has said that the gross non-performing assets (NPAs) of public sector banks (PSBs) stood at Rs 3.16 lakh crore as of September 30. He said that as per provisional data of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), gross NPAs of PSBs and private sector banks as on September 30, 2024 were Rs 3,16,331 crore and Rs 1,34,339 crore, respectively. Gross NPAs as percentage of outstanding loan was 3.09 per cent in public sector banks and 1.86 per cent in private sector banks.

Further, he said as of March 31, 2024, 580 unique borrowers (excluding individuals and overseas borrowers), each having loan outstanding of more than Rs 50 crore, were classified as wilful defaulters by Scheduled Commercial Banks.

Talking about the number of cases resolved and amount of haircuts by banks through the operation of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, he said as per data, up to September 30, 2024, resolution plans have been approved in 1,068 corporate insolvency resolution processes. These resolutions led to a recovery of Rs 3.55 lakh crore to the creditors, including banks. Further, in these cases, aggregate claim of creditors, including banks was Rs 11.45 lakh crore, whereas the aggregate liquidation value was Rs 2.21 lakh crore.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24671.75, up by 61.70 points or 0.25% after trading in a range of 24583.85 and 24677.00. There were 36 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Ultratech Cement up by 2.40%, Britannia up by 1.81%, Grasim Industries up by 1.42%, Nestle up by 1.22% and Tata Consumer up by 1.15%. On the flip side, Adani Ports down by 0.62%, HCL Technologies down by 0.38%, ICICI Bank down by 0.35%, Bajaj Finserv down by 0.24% and NTPC down by 0.23% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Straits Times fell 19.18 points or 0.5% to 3,794.37, Nikkei 225 slipped 94.17 points or 0.24% to 39,273.41, Taiwan Weighted lost 188.87 points or 0.82% to 22,936.21 and Hang Seng declined 0.94 points to 20,310.34. However, Jakarta Composite gained 50.33 points or 0.68% to 7,503.62, Shanghai Composite strengthened 7.59 points or 0.22% to 3,430.25 and KOSPI increased 17.50 points or 0.72% to 2,435.34.