Bourses continue to trade higher in morning session

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade higher in morning session, tracking gains across global markets amid improving risk appetite. Buying interest across sectors -- led by Consumer Durables, Realty and Auto shares -- pushed the markets higher. Sentiment also got a boost after Moody's Investors Service said it will upgrade India rating if there is an increase in growth potential and sustained decline in government debt. The US-based rating agency had on Tuesday raised India's sovereign rating outlook to stable, from negative, while affirming the Baa3 rating - which is the lowest investment grade, just a notch above junk status. Traders also took a note of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that India is very close to arriving at the specifics of the two-pillar taxation proposition at the G20 and is in the last stage of finalising the details. A total of 130 countries had in July agreed to a overhaul of global tax norms to ensure that multinationals pay taxes wherever they operate and at a minimum 15% rate. Meanwhile, emphasizing the importance of multi-lateral organisations, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has called for strengthening of global institutions like the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and said everybody has to work towards a better future of these bodies.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, following the positive cues overnight from Wall Street, as US lawmakers are set to reach a deal to avoid a government debt default and shutdown. Back home, on the sectoral front, stocks related to telecom sector remained in limelight as the government allowed 100 per cent foreign direct investment in the telecom sector through automatic route to promote ease of doing business in the industry. Besides, airline industry’s stock were in watch as ratings agency Icra said India's domestic air passenger traffic grew marginally 2-3 per cent at around 69 lakh in September as compared to around 67 lakh in August.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 59731.39, up by 541.66 points or 0.92% after trading in a range of 59597.06 and 59810.66. There were 29 stocks advancing against 1 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 1.43%, while Small cap index was up by 1.37%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 4.68%, Realty up by 3.96%, Auto up by 3.77%, Consumer Discretionary up by 2.65% and Industrials up by 1.87%, while there was no loser.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Titan Company up by 9.16%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 4.26%, Maruti Suzuki up by 4.25%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.32% and HCL Technologies up by 1.72%. On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.11% was the lone loser.

Meanwhile, Ratings agency ICRA in its latest report has said that India's domestic air passenger traffic grew marginally 2-3 percent at around 69 lakh in September 2021 as compared to around 67 lakh in August 2021. The local carrier operated higher capacity at 54 percent in September 2021 over the same month last year.

The report further said compared y-o-y, air passenger traffic growth stood at around 74 percent in the month under review over September 2020. Airlines witnessed around 61,100 departures in September as compared to 39,628 departures in the same month of 2020. On a sequential basis, the number of departures in the month gone by were higher by around 6 per cent, as Covid-19 infections demonstrated a downward trajectory. For September 2021, average daily departures were at around 2,100, significantly higher than the average daily departures of around 1,321 in September 2020, and higher than around 1,900 in August 2021, though they remained lower than around 2,200 in January 2021.

As per to the report, the average number of passengers per flight during September was 113, against an average of 117 passengers per flight in August. Though the recovery continued in September, demand continues to be subdued from the corporate traveller segment as reflected by passenger traffic being lower by around 38 per cent in September compared to pre-Covid levels. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17806.10, up by 160.10 points or 0.91% after trading in a range of 17763.80 and 17828.40. There were 43 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Titan Company up by 9.13%, Tata Motors up by 9.09%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 4.30%, Maruti Suzuki up by 4.17% and Eicher Motors up by 2.41%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 1.87%, Divi's Lab down by 0.91%, Cipla down by 0.77%, Coal India down by 0.67% and HDFC Life Insurance down by 0.32% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 115.83 points or 0.42% to 27,644.70, Hang Seng increased 576.70 points or 2.41% to 24,543.19, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 317.36 points or 1.94% to 16,710.52, KOSPI rose 40.60 points or 1.4% to 2,948.91, Straits Times advanced 28.40 points or 0.92% to 3,112.28 and Jakarta Composite lost 2.39 points or 0.04% to 6,414.93.