Benchmarks continue to trade higher in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade higher in the morning deals, led by gains in Realty, Auto and Consumer discretionary stocks. Sentiments remained positive with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stating that India will work closely with Sri Lanka to deepen their civilisational ties, with connectivity as a new focus area. Traders overlooked a survey showed India’s services sector activity grew at the slowest pace in the last seven months in October. The S&P Global India Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell to 58.4 last month from September's 61.0. On the global front, Asian markets are trading higher in the wake of upbeat cues from global counterparts as weak U.S. labor market data added to bets that the U.S. central bank is done with the most aggressive tightening cycle in four decades. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 64496.95, up by 416.05 points or 0.65% after trading in a range of 64384.36 and 64521.22. There were 28 stocks advancing against 2 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.69%, while Small cap index was up by 0.96%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.69%, Auto up by 0.96%, Consumer discretionary up by 0.95%, Utilities up by 0.88% and Consumer Durables up by 0.86%, while there were losing sectoral indices on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 2.59%, Titan Company up by 1.66%, Power Grid Corporation up by 1.38%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.29% and ICICI Bank up by 1.24%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 0.32% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.01% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, United States (US) Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said Washington is increasing its trade with countries like India, Vietnam and Mexico reducing its dependence on China. Yellen said US is committed to an Indo-Pacific that is free and open, connected, prosperous, secure, and resilient.

She stated ‘Recognizing this big picture, the Biden Administration is pursuing an approach to the Indo-Pacific that furthers our country's long history of engagement and does justice to the region's importance for our and the world's future.’ She said that the Biden administration is working to tackle challenges and seize opportunities and is also deepening economic integration and harnessing technological transformation.

Further, she highlighted three priorities to showcase the US' economic strategy in the Indo-Pacific region; increasing trade and investment, bolstering our economic resilience, and cooperating on global challenges. Besides, It stated ‘Across sectors from auto parts to electronics, the US is importing more from key partners like India and Vietnam, as well as from Mexico, and is less dependent on one single country, in this case, China.’ Additionally, Yellen said that she along with President Biden will head Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders' Week later this month in California.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19259.10, up by 125.85 points or 0.66% after trading in a range of 19230.65 and 19271.70. There were 47 stocks advancing against 3 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Apollo Hospital up by 4.40%, Tata Motors up by 2.58%, Adani Ports &SEZ up by 2.05%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.82% and Adani Enterprises up by 1.79%. On the flip side, SBI Life Insurance down by 0.79%, NTPC down by 0.34% and Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 0.29% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading higher; Taiwan Weighted added 77.11 points or 0.47% to 16,474.06, Hang Seng advanced 356.19 points or 2.03% to 17,586.78, Straits Times rose 61.73 points or 2% to 3,144.22, KOSPI increased 24.64 points or 1.05% to 2,367.76, Jakarta Composite gained 59.04 points or 0.87% to 6,810.43 and Shanghai Composite strengthened 22.51 points or 0.74% to 3,031.92.