Indian share markets pared losses as the session progressed but still ended lower.
Indian equities faced yet another volatile session on Wednesday as investors turned cautious amid the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
At the closing bell on Wednesday, the BSE Sensex closed lower by 45 points.
Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty closed lower by 2 points.
BPCL, Tata Motors, and Hindalco were among the top gainers.
Asian Paints, Grasim and HDFC Bank on the other hand, were among the top losers.
For impact of the Bank Nifty companies and comprehensive overview of the index, check out Equitymaster's Bank Nifty Companies list.
The BSE MidCap index ended 0.9% higher and BSE SmallCap index ended 0.6% higher.
Sectoral indices are trading mixed with socks in capital goods sector, power sector and auto sector witnessing most buying. Meanwhile stocks in banking sector and IT sector witnessed selling pressure.
Gold prices for the latest contract on MCX were marginally lower at Rs 71,090 per 10 grams at the time of Indian market closing hours on Wednesday.
At 7:40 AM today, the Gift Nifty was trading up by 7 points at 22,395 levels.
Indian share markets are headed for a muted start today following the trend on Gift Nifty.
Speaking of stock markets, Kotak Bank has lost more than 10% of its market value following the ban by the RBI. It has pushed an already underperforming stock deeper into the underperforming zone.
HDFC has also disappointed investors in the last few years. ICICI Bank on the other hand has been a stellar outperformer.
Rahul Shah, Co-head of Research at Equitymaster discusses can HDFC and Kotak manage a turnaround in his latest video
Tune in to find out the result.
Bharat Forge share price will be in focus today.
Bharat Forge shares gained over 8% on NSE after the company reported a 59.3% year-on-year rise in net profit for Q4FY24 at Rs 3.9 bn.
In a statement, Bharat Forge Chairman and Managing Director Baba Kalyani expressed expectations for FY25 to be a period of growth, driven by the defence business, industrial casting business, and sustained improvement in capacity utilization of the overseas operations.
Paytm will also be a top buzzing stock.
Shares of Paytm, owned by One 97 Communications, saw a decline of over 4% to Rs 320 per share on 8 May.
This fall comes amid reports indicating that Aditya Birla Finance, one of the fintech firm's key lending partners, invoked loan guarantees due to repayment defaults from customers.
Nifty PSU Bank index rose 2.5% on 8 May over-optimism surrounding the sector as reports suggested that the public lenders are likely to oppose the Reserve Bank of India's proposed guidelines on the imposition of higher provisions for under-construction projects.
On 3 May, RBI proposed that lenders should set aside higher provisions for all infrastructure projects that are under construction and also asked the lenders to ensure strict monitoring of any emerging stress.
Public-sector lenders are disproportionally impacted since public banks have a higher exposure to infrastructure loans.
The top gainer on the index was Indian Bank, zooming 3%, followed by Canara Bank, Punjab National Bank and Indian Overseas Bank.
When a project is in the construction phase, the RBI proposes that lenders should set aside a provision of 5% of the loan amount. This will be reduced to 2.5% once a project is operational.
The required provisions will further be cut to 1% once the project has adequate cash flow to repay current obligations.
The lenders are required to make the 5% provision in a phased manner: 2% in FY25, 3.5% in FY26 and 5% by FY27.
Canara Bank on Wednesday posted 18% growth in its standalone net profit at Rs 37.6 bn for the quarter ended March 2024. The same stood at Rs 31.7 bn in the last year period.
Net interest income (NII) for the reporting quarter increased 11% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 95.8 bn.
The company's Board has also recommended a dividend of Rs 16.1 per share, 161% of face value each, for the financial year 2023-24.
Operating profit (before provisions and contingencies) rose marginally by 2% YoY to Rs 73.9 bn in the fourth quarter. It was Rs 72.5 bn in the last year quarter.
The bank made provisions to the tune of Rs 24.8 bn in the January-March 2024 period, which fell 20% YoY. This compares with Rs 30.9 bn provisions in the corresponding period of last year.
On the asset quality front, the gross non-performing assets (GNPA) ratio reduced to 4.2% in the March quarter, down from 4.4% in the December quarter. The net NPA ratio too reduced to 1.2% as of March 2024, down from 1.3% as of December 2023.
Oil prices fell on Wednesday as industry data showed a rise in crude and fuel inventories in the US and as the US dollar strengthened, signalling that oil demand is coming under pressure.
Brent crude oil futures fell US$ 1.11, or 1.3%, to US$ 82.1 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell US$ 1.15, or 1.5%, to US$ 77.2 a barrel.
Both benchmarks fell marginally in the previous session on signs of easing supply tightness and weaker global oil demand from an EIA forecast report on Wednesday.
US crude stocks rose by 509,000 barrels in the week ended 3 May, market sources said, citing American Petroleum Institute figures. Gasoline and distillate fuel inventories also rose.
A stronger US dollar, which makes it more expensive for holders of other currencies to buy oil, also weighed.
The US believes negotiations on a Gaza ceasefire should be able to close the gaps between Israel and Hamas.
US Central Intelligence Agency Director Bill Burns will travel to Israel on Wednesday for talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and another top official.
To know what's moving the Indian stock markets today, check out the most recent share market updates here.
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