Key indices trade marginally higher in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks were trading marginally higher in morning deals, led by gains in Realty and Metal stocks. Traders took some support as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest data showed that the improvement in all major sectors has led to an 8% growth in the sales of listed private non-financial companies during the second quarter of the current fiscal (Q2FY26) against 5.5% growth in the preceding three months. However, gains remain capped as traders remained on sidelines ahead of the monthly expiry of Nifty F&O contracts for the November series. Sector-wise, Paper industry stocks remained in watch as industry body IPMA said imports of paper and paperboard from ASEAN countries surged by 14 per cent in the first half of FY202526, continuing an alarming trend that has seen import volumes from ASEAN grow at over 30 per cent CAGR over the past four years. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green amid AI optimism, hopes for a Federal Reserve cut in December and signs of progress in discussions to end the Russia-Ukraine war. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 85016.12, up by 115.41 points or 0.14% after trading in a range of 84775.76 and 85110.24. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.16%, while Small cap index was up by 0.14%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.46%, Metal up by 0.99%, Basic Materials up by 0.55%, PSU up by 0.44% and Capital Goods up by 0.41%, while IT down by 0.63%, TECK down by 0.50%, Telecom down by 0.22%, FMCG down by 0.09% and Oil & Gas down by 0.02% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharat Electronics up by 1.52%, Tata Steel up by 1.21%, SBI up by 1.17%, Reliance Industries up by 1.01% and Eternal up by 0.80%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 0.97%, HCL Technologies down by 0.96%, Trent down by 0.91%, Power Grid Corporation down by 0.60% and Tata Motors Passenger down by 0.52% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest data has showed that the improvement in all major sectors has led to an 8% growth in the sales of listed private non-financial companies during the second quarter of the current fiscal (Q2FY26) against 5.5% growth in the preceding three months. The sales growth during the July-September quarter of the last fiscal was 5.4%.  The RBI has released the data on the performance of the private corporate business sector during the second quarter of 2025-26, drawn from abridged quarterly financial results of 3,118 listed non-government non-financial companies. 

The data showed an aggregate sales growth of 8.5% YoY by 1,775 listed private manufacturing companies during the Q2FY26, mainly driven by higher sales growth in automobiles, food products, electrical machinery and chemicals industries. During the quarter, the Information Technology (IT) companies recorded a 7.8% YoY rise in their sales against 6% YoY in the previous quarter. Meanwhile, the non-IT services companies saw a double-digit sales growth of 10.6% YoY in Q2FY26 as compared to 7.5% YoY growth in the previous quarter, primarily due to higher sales growth recorded by the wholesale and retail trade companies.

Moreover, RBI said that the manufacturing companies’ expenses on raw material rose by 9% YoY in Q2FY26 in consonance with their sales growth. Further, the staff cost of manufacturing, IT and non-IT services companies increased by 9.2%, 6% and 8.9% YoY, respectively, during Q2FY26. The growth in staff cost was higher than the growth recorded during the previous quarter.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 26008.65, up by 49.15 points or 0.19% after trading in a range of 25924.15 and 26025.50. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 1.73%, Bharat Electronics up by 1.54%, JSW Steel up by 1.27%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 1.23% and SBI up by 1.15%. On the flip side, Adani Enterprises down by 1.49%, Trent down by 0.93%, Infosys down by 0.87%, Tata Consumer Product down by 0.82% and Wipro down by 0.81% were the top losers. 

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 95.12 points or 0.2% to 48,721.00, Taiwan Weighted added 387.09 points or 1.44% to 26,891.33, Shanghai Composite strengthened 43.45 points or 1.13% to 3,880.22, KOSPI increased 8.37 points or 0.22% to 3,854.43 and Hang Seng advanced 173.5 points or 0.67% to 25,890.00.

On the flip side, Straits Times fell 19.16 points or 0.43% to 4,477.47 and Jakarta Composite plunged 59.55 points or 0.69% to 8,510.70.