Share markets in India are presently trading marginally higher.
The BSE Sensex is trading up by 177 points, up 0.4%, at 40,323 levels.
Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading up by 52 points.
Kotak Mahindra Bank and Nestle India are among the top gainers today. Adani Ports & SEZ and Infosys are among the top losers today.
The BSE Mid Cap index is trading up by 1%
The BSE Small Cap index is trading up by 0.2%
On the sectoral front, stocks from the banking sector and power sector are witnessing most of the buying interest.
On the other hand, stocks from the IT sector are witnessing most of the selling pressure.
US stock futures are trading higher today, indicating a positive opening for Wall Street indices.
Nasdaq Futures are trading up by 39 points (up 0.3%), while Dow Futures are trading up by 124 points (up 0.5%).
Gold prices are trading up by 0.2% at Rs 51,019 per 10 grams.
In line with the trends in international markets, gold prices rose in early trade this morning in the domestic futures market as the dollar softened.
Note that gold prices are up about 30% so far this year in Indian markets. Most of these gains are seen as gold is seen as an inflation hedge amid unprecedented pandemic-driven stimulus across the world.
The rupee is trading at 73.77 against the US$.
Moving on to stock-specific news...
Among the buzzing stocks, today is Kotak Mahindra Bank
Private sector lender, Kotak Mahindra Bank reported a 27% year-on-year (YoY) increase in net profit and a 16.8% YoY increase in net interest income for the quarter ended September, on the back of lower provisions and higher core income.
The bank's gross non-performing asset (NPA) ratio fell 0.6% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ), down 23 basis points. This improvement on asset quality was large because of a Supreme Court interim order, which stopped banks from marking down loans to the NPA category after August 31.
Including those assets, the bank's Pro-forma gross NPA ratio was at 2.7% and net NPA ratio at 0.7%. Provisions for the quarter stood at Rs 3.7 billion, as compared to Rs 4.1 billion a year ago.
The bank also saw its loan and deposit books remain flat as it continued to take a cautious approach towards new lending amid a weak economy.
According to the bank's disclosures, its credit substitutes rose up 39% YoY. The bank continues to focus on high-quality instruments issued by well-rated companies to grow its credit substitutes book. In its analyst presentation, the bank said that it is opening up select segments for lending, such as home loans and advances to well-rated companies. However, it would continue to remain more cautious in the retail unsecured lending segment.
At the time of writing, Kotak Mahindra Bank's share price was trading up by 9.2% on the BSE.
Moving on to news from the finance sector...
Mahindra Finance Q2FY21 Results: Net Profit Jumps 34% YoY to Rs 3.5 Billion
Mahindra Finance reported a 33.7% YoY increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 3.5 billion for the quarter ended September.
The company's total income increased by 4.6% QoQ and its standalone assets under management stood at Rs 817 billion for the quarter, registering a 12% growth from Rs 727 billion a year ago.
The company also said that it has considered an additional charge of Rs 4.3 billion during the second quarter this fiscal and Rs 9.1 billion in the first half of the fiscal due to a management overlay, to reflect deterioration in the macroeconomic outlook.
The company's customer base crossed 6.9 million during the quarter as the company reported strong rural demand.
Mahindra Finance expects demand to further pick-up in the upcoming festival season. The company also expects to see an increase in digitally enabled lending and collections in rural and semi-urban markets.
We will keep you updated on all the news from this space. Stay tuned.
Speaking of the finance sector, note that the market crash impacted all stocks, but finance stocks took the worst hit.
Even as the Sensex made a comeback to pre-COVID levels, the slowdown and asset quality concerns amid the moratorium extension is an overhang on the financial sector.
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