Domestic equity indices maintained their gains and were trading higher by over half a percent in late morning deals on account buying by funds and retail investors. Meanwhile, broader indices outperformed their large peers with BSE Mid cap and Small cap index trading higher in the range of 0.90-1.05%. Positive cues from global markets supported domestic sentiments. Sentiments also got boost as the dollar and bond yields continued to retreat on Fed rate pause hopes. Traders were also getting encouragement with private report stating that World Bank group's India-born chief economist Indermit Gill is upbeat on India's focus on infrastructure, digital public goods and overall economic management.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, following positive cues from US markets overnight, as the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield fell nearly 13 basis points to about 4.65%. Back home, all the sectoral indices on BSE were trading in green led by Realty, Basic Materials, Telecom, Utilities and Healthcare. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 66521.05, up by 441.69 points or 0.67% after trading in a range of 66299.79 and 66592.16. There were 30 stocks advancing against no stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.94%, while Small cap index up by 1.03%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.40%, Basic Materials up by 1.18%, Telecom up by 1.18%, Utilities up by 1.10% and Healthcare up by 0.93%, while there were no losers. 

The top gainers on the Sensex were Wipro up by 3.58%, Ultratech Cement up by 2.27%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.62%, NTPC up by 1.31% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.96%, while there were no losers. 

Meanwhile, credit rating agency ICRA in its latest report has said that states have been forced to pay through their nose at the weekly auction of their debt on October 10, 2023 with the weighted average interest rate payable soaring to the highest so far this fiscal at 7.68 per cent, 12 basis points (bps) more than the previous peak at the last auction. The prices shot up reflecting the overall higher risk averseness of investors with the rising interest rates along with higher demand, which rose by 14 per cent at the auction in spite of a jump in the average tenor to 15 years from 13 years last week.

According to the report, eight states raised Rs 9,600 crore through state government securities (SGS) on October 10, 2023, which is 13.6 per cent higher than the amount indicated for this week in the auction calendar. The sharp increase in the cut-offs of the 10-year and above issuances in the auction pushed the weighted average cut-off to 7.68 per cent, the highest in FY24 so far, up from 7.56 per cent last week. The weighted average tenor also increased to 15 years from 13 years last week.

It said as a result, the spread between the cut-off of the 10-year SGS and the 10-year G-sec (7.18 GS 2033) yield also rose to a 20-week high of 37 bps on October 10, 2023, from 33 bps last week. Cumulatively, the states have drawn down 28 per cent more funds than they had availed of in the same period last year at Rs 3,90,100 crore as of the latest auction on October 10, 2023, up from Rs 3,04,700 crore in the year-ago period.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19817.50, up by 127.65 points or 0.65% after trading in a range of 19756.95 and 19839.20. There were 47 stocks advancing against 3 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Wipro up by 3.49%, Ultratech Cement up by 2.21%, Grasim Industries up by 2.02%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.74% and Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 1.49%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 0.77%, SBI Life down by 0.61% and HDFC Life Insurance down by 0.23% were the only losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng advanced 305.64 points or 1.7% to 17,970.37, Nikkei 225 surged 215.4 points or 0.67% to 31,961.93, Taiwan Weighted added 151.46 points or 0.91% to 16,672.03, KOSPI increased 52.58 points or 2.14% to 2,455.16, Shanghai Composite strengthened 6.63 points or 0.22% to 3,081.87 and Jakarta Composite gained 21.99 points or 0.32% to 6,944.18. However, Straits Times fell 3.86 points or 0.12% to 3,195.21.