Benchmarks trade firm in late morning session

Extending their early gains, Indian equity markets continued to trade with vigor on fresh round of buying by investors amid positive cues from other Asian markets. Besides, recovery in the rupee and data showing foreign funds continued their buying on domestic bourses triggered buying by investors.  At present, Sensex and Nifty were trading above the crucial 26,900 and 8,100 levels respectively, with gains of over 0.70%.  Apart from blue chips, broader indices too equally participated in the rally with both mid cap and small cap indices trading up by over half a percent. Sentiments remained up-beat with government measures to control inflation, as the Finance Minister at an inter-ministerial group meeting, in view of spiking pulses prices said that the government has decided to invoke the Rs 500-crore Price Stabilisation Fund that will be used to pay for transportation, handling, milling and processing -- aimed at reducing the cost of imported pulses. Furthermore, in a relief to stressed highway builders, the government has approved one-time financial assistance for incomplete and languishing national highway (NH) projects.

On the global front, Asian shares rose on Thursday as weak U.S. economic data added to hopes a Fed rate hike will be delayed, with the Indonesian benchmark rebounding ahead of the central bank's policy meeting and Thai banks gaining ahead of results. Shares in Hong Kong led the region higher amid fresh signs of reform for Chinese state-owned firms. Overnight Wall Street was dragged lower by Walmart as the retail giant announced weak results raising concerns over US earnings this season.

Back on street, Barring IT, all the BSE sectoral indices notched up gains led by Auto, Oil & Gas, PSU, Banking and Realty. In scrip specific development, Shares of Tata Motors have rallied after the company-owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) sold 47,634 units globally in September, up 3% compared to the same month last year. Further, Steel Strips Wheels (SSWL) has surged after the company bagged exports aftermarket order for supply of Caravan Steel wheels for EU After market.

The market breadth on BSE was positive, out of 2184 stocks traded, 1403 stocks advanced, while 683 stocks declined on the BSE. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26969.03, up by 189.37 points or 0.71% after trading in a range of 26836.77 and 27018.14. There were 25 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.70%, while Small cap index up by 0.60%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 1.56%, Oil & Gas up by 1.00%, PSU up by 0.99%, Bankex up by 0.94% and Realty up by 0.93%, while IT down by 0.05% was the sole losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 4.14%, GAIL India up by 2.26%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.97%, ITC up by 1.73% and Maruti Suzuki up by 1.72%. On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down by 2.33%, Hindalco down by 1.01%, Wipro down by 0.78%, Infosys down by 0.46% and Cipla down by 0.25% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order to meet the set bilateral target to $500 billion in the next few years from the present $100 billion, United States wants more investment from India. US Consulate General Tom Vajda at the 'Select USA' roadshow in Mumbai said that he see lot of potential in bilateral trade and investment between the two countries and wants more Indian firms to invest and help US to grow the economy.

Few years back US President Barack Obama launched the 'SelectUSA' to promote business investment into the US. The executive director of the Select USA, Vinai Thummalapally in the roadshow has said that the US provides large investment opportunities for Indian companies in various sectors such as software, IT services, gas exploration, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, industrial machinery and business services. At present there are 200 Indian firms operating in US from an estimated 85 in 2005. He further added that 'India is the fourth fastest growing source of investment in the US, with investment of $11 billion last year. Indian firms employ around 44,000 American workers, and they export more than $2 billion worth of goods from the US.

The US' first-ever October 13-16 India roadshow that began in Delhi will travel to Chennai on October 15 and reach Kolkata on October 16.The roadshow offer the US State and Regional Economic Development Organisations the opportunity to market their locations directly to potential investors. With a view to promote business investment into the US and to showcase the US as the world's premier business location and to provide easy access to programmes and services related to business investment. Investors will be offered insights about unique incentives of each area and key contacts to guide their investment decisions.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8168.70, up by 60.80 points or 0.75% after trading in a range of 8129.80 and 8181.10. There were 44 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 4.19%, Zee Entertainment up by 4.06%, GAIL India up by 2.18%, Hero MotoCorp up by 2.16% and Yes Bank up by 1.94%. On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down by 2.44%, Wipro down by 0.84%, Hindalco down by 0.79%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.59% and Infosys down by 0.54% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in green, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was up by 0.38%, KOSPI Index up by 1.09%, Jakarta Composite up by 0.87%, Shanghai Composite up by 1.4%, Taiwan Weighted up by 1.07%, Nikkei 225 up by 1.3% and Hang Seng up by 2.16%.