Domestic equity indices magnified their gains and were trading higher by over 0.65 percent in late morning deals as market participants indulged in enlarging their positions. Hectic buying in TCS, Titan, Infosys and SBI companies’ stocks helped the markets to magnify gains. Positive cues from global markets also supported demotic sentiments.  Sentiments also got boost as oil prices came off from recent highs, helping ease concerns around inflation and further interest rate rises. Further, support also came in as India's services sector strengthened further in September, witnessing strongest output in 13 years. India's S&P Global's services PMI stood at 61 in September, up from 60.1 in August. The reading was above the 50-mark separating growth from contraction for a 26th consecutive month.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green following positive cues from US markets overnight. Back home, on the BSE sectoral front, traders were seen pilling up position in Consumer Durables, IT, TECK, Bankex and Realty, while selling was witnessed in Utilities, Power, Telecom and Healthcare.  

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 65735.08, up by 509.04 points or 0.78% after trading in a range of 65443.34 and 65753.20. There were 26 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.21%, while Small cap index up by 0.58%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 1.30%, IT up by 1.30%, TECK up by 1.15%, Bankex up by 0.98%, Realty up by 0.91%, while Utilities down by 0.48%, Power down by 0.42%, Telecom down by 0.07% and Healthcare down by 0.06% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were TCS up by 1.88%, Titan up by 1.86%, Infosys up by 1.67%, SBI up by 1.32% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.29%. On the flip side, Power Grid Corp down by 1.46%, NTPC down by 0.87%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.28% and Sun Pharma down by 0.05% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, credit rating agency ICRA in its latest report has said that the domestic demand growth rate for non-ferrous metals is expected to remain healthy at 9 per cent in the next two financial years and would sharply outpace the expected rate of global demand growth. Thus, ICRA has maintained stable outlook on the sector.

According to the report, the non-ferrous metal industry's profit margins to remain under pressure amid weak global environment. It also said the global consumption of non-ferrous metals decelerated during the current calendar year due to sluggish demand conditions, primarily in the developed nations. It further said that while there has been a partial recovery in demand from China compared to the lacklustre performance in the previous calendar year, uncertainty persists over the strength of China's recovery. On the supply side, there are signs of increase, particularly in China, which is likely to result in a surplus metal balance for the ongoing calendar year.

The report said consequently, the metal prices are unlikely to improve much in the near term and industry's profit margins to remain under pressure amid weak global environment. It maintains the estimates of operating profitability of domestic players at 17 per cent in FY2024 and FY2025, a contraction of almost 150 bps compared to FY2023 level.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19567.55, up by 131.45 points or 0.68% after trading in a range of 19487.30 and 19576.95. There were 38 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Titan up by 1.78%, TCS up by 1.70%, Infosys up by 1.61%, HDFC Bank up by 1.34% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.24%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 1.41%, Coal India down by 0.78%, Divi's Lab down by 0.75%, NTPC down by 0.72% and Sun Pharma down by 0.69% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Hang Seng advanced 105.11 points or 0.61% to 17,300.95, Taiwan Weighted added 180.14 points or 1.11% to 16,453.52, Jakarta Composite gained 24.93 points or 0.36% to 6,911.51, Straits Times rose 16.92 points or 0.54% to 3,164.31 and Nikkei 225 surged 504.87 points or 1.65% to 31,031.75. However, KOSPI dropped 0.20 points or 0.01% to 2,405.49.