Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade in green in morning deals, led by gains in banking stocks. Traders took support with Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s statement that the government is trying to bring policy-level changes for simplifying agriculture. He indicated that providing subsidies on fertiliser, seed and farming equipment through direct benefit transfer could be considered in the future. Some support also came as India's central bank announced a host of measures to inject liquidity in the banking system, including bond purchases and dollar/rupee swaps. The Reserve Bank of India will buy government bonds worth Rs 60,000 crore ($6.96 billion) in three tranches and conduct a 56-day variable rate repo auction worth Rs 50,000 crore on February 7. However, concerns over the recent subdued earnings, fears of a potential US-China trade wars and a slowing China, remains persisting concerns. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green as traders awaited the monetary policy announcements from the Bank of Canada, the US Fed and the European Central Bank later in the week.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 75732.22, up by 366.05 points or 0.49% after trading in a range of 75622.88 and 75850.87. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.
The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 1.71%, while Small cap index was down by 3.58%.
The lone gaining sectoral index on the BSE was Bankex up by 1.28%, while Industrials down by 3.13%, Power down by 3.12%, Capital Goods down by 2.78%, Utilities down by 2.76% and Healthcare down by 2.67% were the top losing indices on BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were HDFC Bank up by 2.77%, Axis Bank up by 2.67%, ICICI Bank up by 2.18%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.64% and Zomato up by 1.38%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 4.35%, NTPC down by 3.82%, Power Grid Corporation down by 1.88%, Nestle down by 1.37% and Ultratech Cement down by 1.12% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, Crisil Ratings in its latest report has said that revenue of the domestic aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) industry will surpass Rs 4,500 crore in fiscal 2026, clocking an impressive 50 per cent growth over fiscal 2024. The increase in scale is expected to enhance profitability margins, besides strengthening credit profiles. According to the rating agency, this growth in MRO space will be fueled by fresh demand for maintenance services emanating from rising operating fleet size of Indian aircraft carriers - expected to grow by up to 20-25 per cent by next year.
It will be aided by new aircraft getting added and grounded aircraft (post-engine-related issues) resuming operations. Additionally, the reduction in Goods and Services Tax (GST) on aircraft components and services not only positions domestic MROs more competitively with their overseas competitors but also ease their working capital blockage. This along with players’ improving profitability will have MRO players savouring improved credit profiles over the medium term.
Indian MRO players typically provide three types of services, Line checks (undertaken before every take-off), Airframe checks (every 12-18 months which involves grounding the aircraft for 3-4 weeks) and Redelivery checks (at the time of expiry of the lease period of 6-7 years). Shounak Chakravarty, Director, Crisil Ratings, said ‘While line and airframe checks are strongly correlated with aircraft fleet size, redelivery checks are likely to grow multifold next fiscal (up to 10 times over fiscal 2024 levels). This will be driven by the reduction in GST input tax, to 5 per cent on all aircraft components, which may lower the component-related expenditure and place Indian MROs on par with their Asian competitors. Their intrinsic cost advantages will further help Indian MROs gain market share.’
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22890.10, up by 60.95 points or 0.27% after trading in a range of 22857.65 and 22973.45. There were 19 stocks advancing against 31 stocks declining on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were Axis Bank up by 2.66%, HDFC Bank up by 2.63%, ICICI Bank up by 1.89%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.48% and Tata Steel up by 1.19%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 4.34%, NTPC down by 4.03%, Bharat Electronics down by 3.42%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 2.25% and Hindalco down by 1.93% were the top losers.
Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Hang Seng advanced 27.34 points or 0.14% to 20,225.11 and Straits Times rose 4.36 points or 0.11% to 3,801.07, while Nikkei 225 slipped 621.12 points or 1.59% to 38,944.68.