Sensex, Nifty hold notable gains in late morning session

Indian equity benchmarks were trading with notable gains in late morning session. Positive cues from other Asian markets helped key indices to remain in green. Domestic sentiments remained positive, amid a private report stating that Indian startups received a record funding of USD 10.9 billion across 347 deals in the third quarter of 2021. This is twice the amount of funding received in Q3 of the calendar year 2020 and an approximate increase of 41 percent compared to the second quarter of 2021.

Besides, observing that a continued coordinated policy response to fight COVID-19 including through vaccines is critical to overcome the ongoing health crisis, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that addressing the long-standing reform priorities and improving education outcomes will be key to help minimize adverse medium-term impacts from the pandemic and further boost long-term growth in India.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, after the total value of Singapore's non-oil domestic exports was up a seasonally adjusted 1.2 percent on month in September. The Singapore Department of Statistics said that was shy of expectations for an increase of 2.4 percent following the upwardly revised 3.5 percent decline in August (originally -3.6 percent).

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 62074.42, up by 308.83 points or 0.50% after trading in a range of 61594.29 and 62201.72. There were 16 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.09%, while Small cap index was down by 0.01%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 2.01%, TECK up by 1.63%, Capital Goods up by 1.36%, Power up by 0.72% and Energy up by 0.72%, while Realty down by 2.28%, Consumer Durables down by 1.52%, Basic Materials down by 0.70%, Healthcare down by 0.62% and FMCG down by 0.60% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tech Mahindra up by 4.09%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.84%, Infosys up by 1.96%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.65% and NTPC up by 1.51%. On the flip side, ITC down by 4.84%, Ultratech Cement down by 2.40%, Titan Co down by 2.23%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 1.32% and Power Grid down by 0.93% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in its latest data has stated that around 70.66 lakh domestic passengers travelled by air in the month of September, 5.44 per cent higher than 67.01 lakh who travelled in August. According to DGCA, 50.07 lakh people, 31.13 lakh people, 21.15 lakh people and 57.25 lakh people had travelled within the country by air in July, June, May and April, respectively. The sudden drop in domestic air traffic in May was due to the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic that had badly hit the country and its aviation sector.

It mentioned while IndiGo carried 39.69 lakh passengers in September with a 56.2 per cent share of the domestic market, SpiceJet flew 6.02 lakh passengers, accounting for a 8.5 per cent share of the market. Air India, Go First (previously known as GoAir), Vistara and AirAsia India carried 8.53 lakh, 5.8 lakh, 6.12 lakh and 4.13 lakh passengers, respectively, in September.

Further, it stated the occupancy rate for the six major airlines in September was between 63.7 per cent and 78.8 per cent. The occupancy rate for SpiceJet was 78.8 per cent in September. The occupancy rates for IndiGo, Vistara, Go First, Air India and AirAsia India were 73.6 per cent, 72.4 per cent, 74.1 per cent, 63.7 per cent and 68 per cent, respectively. India resumed domestic passenger flights on May 25 last year after a gap of two months due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18555.15, up by 78.10 points or 0.42% after trading in a range of 18400.25 and 18604.45. There were 27 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tech Mahindra up by 3.99%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.66%, Wipro up by 2.04%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.73% and Infosys up by 1.67%. On the flip side, ITC down by 4.80%, Eicher Motors down by 2.73%, Ultratech Cement down by 2.61%, Titan Co down by 2.20% and Divi's Lab down by 1.60% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; KOSPI rose 20.25 points or 0.67% to 3,026.93, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 186.75 points or 1.12% to 16,892.21, Shanghai Composite gained 25.09 points or 0.7% to 3,593.23, Straits Times advanced 15.44 points or 0.49% to 3,189.26, Nikkei 225 surged 174.80 points or 0.6% to 29,200.26 and Hang Seng increased 298.77 points or 1.18% to 25,708.52. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite lost 30.09 points or 0.45% to 6,628.68.