Sensex, Nifty remain higher in late morning session

Indian equity benchmarks remained higher in late morning, despite mixed cues from other Asian markets. Domestic sentiments remained positive, after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that India is looking at near close to double-digit growth this year and the country will be one of the fastest-growing economies. The minister also emphasized that she expects the economic growth next year to be in the range of 7.5-8.5 percent, which will be sustained for the next decade.

Some support also came as retail inflation based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) fell to a five-month low of 4.35 per cent in September from 7.27 per cent in the year-ago period as prices of vegetables and other items declined. The CPI inflation was at 5.3 per cent in August and at 7.27 per cent in September 2020. Previously, the CPI was low at 4.23 per cent in April 2021. The CPI-based inflation falls within the RBI’s targeted range of 2 plus/minus 4 per cent.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed, after South Korea's unemployment rate rose in September. The data from Statistics Korea showed that the jobless rate rose to a seasonally adjusted 3.0 percent in September from 2.8 percent in August. In the same month last year, the unemployment rate was 4.0 percent.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 60650.51, up by 366.20 points or 0.61% after trading in a range of 60452.29 and 60681.73. 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 1.30%, while Small cap index was up by 0.76%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 3.88%, Utilities up by 3.24%, Power up by 3.07%, Industrials up by 2.42% and Metal up by 2.17%, while Realty down by 0.13% was the only losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Power Grid up by 5.07%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 4.98%, Titan Co up by 3.48%, Tata Steel up by 3.12% and NTPC up by 1.63%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.65%, Nestle down by 0.58%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.56%, SBI down by 0.38% and HDFC down by 0.01% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Retail inflation based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) fell to a five-month low of 4.35 per cent in September from 7.27 per cent in the year-ago period as prices of vegetables and other items declined. The CPI inflation was at 5.3 per cent in August and at 7.27 per cent in September 2020. Previously, the CPI was low at 4.23 per cent in April 2021. The CPI-based inflation falls within the RBI’s targeted range of 2 plus/minus 4 per cent.

The National Statistical Office (NSO) under Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation in its data has showed that the Rural CPI (General) in September 2021 stood at 4.13 per cent as against 5.28 per cent in August. The Urban CPI (General) stood at 4.57 per cent in September as against 5.32 per cent in August. The index value for Rural, Urban and Combined CPI (General) stood at 164.0, 162.3 and 163.2, respectively, in September 2021.

As per the data released by the NSO, the inflation in food segment eased to 0.68 per cent in September, significantly down from 3.11 per cent in the preceding month. The data showed that inflation in the vegetables basket contracted 22.47 per cent in September compared to a decline of 11.68 per cent in August. The rate of price rise was also lower in fruits, eggs, meat and fish, and pulses and products segments. However, the inflation was higher in the case of fuel and light at 13.63 per cent in September compared to 12.95 per cent in August.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18141.15, up by 149.20 points or 0.83% after trading in a range of 18050.75 and 18147.35. There were 41 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 18.45%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 5.11%, Power Grid up by 4.94%, Tata Consumer Products up by 3.96% and Titan Co up by 3.61%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 1.16%, Nestle down by 0.70%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.65%, Coal India down by 0.65% and Maruti Suzuki down by 0.62% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; KOSPI rose 26.62 points or 0.91% to 2,943.00, Jakarta Composite soared 30.67 points or 0.47% to 6,516.94 and Straits Times advanced 44.31 points or 1.42% to 3,156.36. On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted dropped 116.05 points or 0.7% to 16,346.79, Nikkei 225 slipped 44.85 points or 0.16% to 28,185.76 and Shanghai Composite declined 12.51 points or 0.35% to 3,534.43.