Bourses maintain gains in early afternoon session

Indian markets maintained their gaining momentum in early afternoon session as Foreign Institutional Investor (FII) were net buyers for the third consecutive session on October 9. Sentiments were positive as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump reviewed the ongoing trade negotiations between India and the United States. Besides, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said that India is on track to become the third largest economy by 2028 and the UK is perfectly placed to be a partner in this journey. He said the India-UK trade deal is a launchpad to boost British leadership in areas ranging from technology to life sciences to renewable energy and more, and added that the two countries are also deepening the UK-India Technology Security Initiative. Sector wise, agriculture sector remained in limelight as Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that government has set a target to increase pulses production by 40 percent to 350 lakh tonne by 2030-31 crop year.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red amid concerns about the ongoing U.S. government shutdown, which entered its ninth day with no end in sight.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 82497.51, up by 325.41 points or 0.40% after trading in a range of 82072.93 and 82616.19. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.52%, while Small cap index was up by 0.59%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.90%, Telecom up by 1.57%, Consumer Durables up by 1.24%, Healthcare up by 1.18% and Bankex was up by 1.01%, while Metal down by 1.16%, Basic Materials down by 0.39% and IT was down by 0.03% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were SBI up by 2.22%, Axis Bank up by 1.85%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.27%, Bharat Electronics up by 1.22% and NTPC up by 1.07%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 1.73%, TCS down by 1.42%, Tata Motors down by 0.47%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.36% and Bajaj Finserv down by 0.17% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in its latest survey has said that India's manufacturing sector is poised for strong growth and expansion, with 87 per cent of respondents reporting higher or same production levels for the September quarter (Q2FY26). In comparison, during the first quarter ended June (Q1FY26), 77 per cent of respondents reported higher or same production levels. Ficci's latest quarterly survey assessed the performance and sentiments for July-September 2025-26 of manufacturers in eight major sectors namely, automotive & auto components; capital goods; chemicals, fertilizers & pharmaceutical; electronics; white goods & telecom; machine tools; metal & metal products; textiles, apparels & technical textiles.

FICCI said the optimism is also evident in domestic demand, as 83 per cent of respondents anticipate an increase in orders in Q2 FY 2026 compared to the previous quarter and more so after the latest GST rate cuts were announced. However, it said production costs for manufacturers in Q1 and Q2 FY 2025-26 seem to remain on higher side. It added that over 50 per cent of respondents reported an increase in the cost of production as a percentage of sales, which is consistent with the previous quarter's findings. 

The industry lobby observed the increase in cost of production compared to last year is mainly due to higher raw material costs including key components, bulk chemicals, metallurgical coke, and iron ore along with rising labour expenses and increased logistics, power and utility costs. The responses have been drawn from manufacturing units from both large and small & medium enterprise (SME) segments with a combined annual turnover of over Rs 3 lakh crore. 

According to the survey, the existing average capacity utilization in manufacturing is close to 75 per cent, which reflects sustained economic activity in the sector. The future investment outlook is also positive, with over half of the respondents indicating plans for investments and expansions in the next six months. However, challenges faced by respondents in expanding capacities include global and geopolitical factors (tariffs, trade restrictions, economic uncertainty), operational issues (labour availability, raw material shortages, regulatory challenges), and others.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 25289.85, up by 108.05 points or 0.43% after trading in a range of 25156.85 and 25315.55. There were 39 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Cipla up by 2.77%, SBI up by 2.23%, Axis Bank up by 1.83%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 1.71% and SBI Life up by 1.66%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 1.75%, TCS down by 1.39%, JSW Steel down by 1.01%, Hindalco down by 0.92% and Tata Motors down by 0.56% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 422.44 points or 0.88% to 48,158.00, Hang Seng declined 406.59 points or 1.52% to 26,346.00, Shanghai Composite weakened 36.94 points or 0.94% to 3,897.03 Jakarta Composite plunged 21.21 points or 0.26% to 8,229.73 and Straits Times was down by 8.27 points or 0.19% to 4,432.23. On the flip side, KOSPI was up by 61.39 points or 1.7% to 3,610.60.