Bourses trade with healthy gains in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets erased all the losses to trade with traction in late afternoon session, Both Sensex and Nifty were trading above their crucial 59500 and 17,750 marks, respectively. The broader indices, BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index are also trading in green. Oil & Gas, Telecom and Power counters were on the priority list of the buyers. Sentiments remained upbeat, as services sector activity in India continued to remain strong in September despite a small fall from August. Strong domestic demand, along with international orders helped the sector as Covid-19 restrictions eased. Indian companies continued to benefit from a recovery in demand as the pandemic receded further and restrictions were lifted. The improved market environment meant that companies managed to secure new work and increase business activity during September. Further, international demand for Indian services also improved, with new export businesses rising at a quick pace. The increase was attributed to international travel restrictions slowly giving away and business closures reversing.

On the global front, Asian markets were mostly trading in red as investors fretted about rising treasury yields, the debt ceiling tussle in the United States and debt crises involving Chinese property developers, with Fantasia joining Evergrande in missing a coupon payment. European markets were trading higher, as surging bank stocks and a positive earnings update from German chipmaker Infineon calmed nerves following a tech-fuelled selloff on Wall Street.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 59635.82, up by 336.50 points or 0.57% after trading in a range of 59127.04 and 59638.63. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.30%, while Small cap index was up by 0.65%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 2.94%, Telecom up by 2.60%, Power up by 2.26%, Energy up by 1.95% and Utilities was up by 1.77%, while Realty down by 1.75%, Healthcare down by 0.50%, FMCG down by 0.08% and Consumer Durables down by 0.08% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 4.13%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.82%, Asian Paints up by 1.60%, TCS up by 1.42% and Reliance Industries up by 1.40%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 1.14%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 0.84%, Ultratech Cement down by 0.64%, ITC down by 0.61% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.58% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India’s service sector growth eased but remained in the expansion zone in the month of September, as the loosening of COVID-19 restrictions supported an improvement in market conditions and overall demand. As per the survey report, the seasonally adjusted Nikkei Services Business Activity Index stood at 55.2 in September from 56.7 in August. Further, the Nikkei India Composite PMI Output Index -- which measures both manufacturing and services -- stood at 55.3 in September, from 55.4 in August.

Buoyed by signs of improvements in underlying demand, Indian service providers took on additional staff during September. The increase in employment ended a nine-month sequence of job shedding, but was marginal overall as some panelists indicated having sufficient workforces to deal with their workloads. The report further said that travel restrictions continued to weigh on international demand for Indian services. New export business contracted for the nineteenth month in a row, and at a sharp rate that was the quickest since May.

On the price front, there was another increase in firms' expenses, but the rate of inflation subsided. Selling prices rose again, albeit only marginally. Amid reports of higher fuel, material, retail and transportation prices, average cost burdens faced by Indian service providers rose further during September.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17793.45, up by 102.20 points or 0.58% after trading in a range of 17640.90 and 17795.35. There were 32 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 9.52%, Indusind Bank up by 4.10%, Coal India up by 3.58%, Indian Oil up by 3.05% and SBI Life up by 2.83%. On the flip side, Cipla down by 2.46%, Shree Cement down by 1.84%, Hindalco down by 1.70%, Tata Consumer down by 1.65% and Sun Pharma down by 1.12% were the top losers.

Asian markets were mostly trading in red, Nikkei 225 slipped 622.77 points or 2.19% to 27,822.12, KOSPI fell 57.01 points or 1.89% to 2,962.17, Jakarta Composite lost 54.64 points or 0.86% to 6,288.05 and Straits Times was down by 23.01 points or 0.74% to 3,066.64. On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 52.40 points or 0.32% to 16,460.75 and Hang Seng was up by 67.78 points or 0.28% to 24,104.15.

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 41.08 points or 0.59% to 7,052.09, France’s CAC increased 32.23 points or 0.5% to 6,509.89 and Germany’s DAX was up by 33.33 points or 0.22% to 15,069.88.