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The Indian equity markets continued to trade firm in afternoon session amid sustained buying across the board. The BSE Sensex stayed strongly higher, supported by 21 out of 30 stocks while the NSE Nifty continued to hold 18500 level. The sentiment was buoyant with Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan’s statement that the Indian economy is bouncing back strongly, domestic consumption is increasing and industrial production is at pre-COVID level, he also emphasized that the reforms implemented by the government has provided fillip to the business ecosystem in the country. Additional support also came in as foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital market, as they purchased shares worth Rs 1,681.60 crore, as per exchange data. On the sectoral front, shares of metal companies were in focus on rising base metal prices amid higher demand expectations. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly lower as investors fret about the health of the world's second-largest economy even as U.S companies report strong quarterly earnings.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 61852.84, up by 546.89 points or 0.89% after trading in a range of 61624.65 and 61894.33. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 1.38%, while Small cap index was up by 1.13%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 3.98%, Utilities up by 3.13%, Power up by 3.06%, Basic Materials up by 2.47% and PSU was up by 2.02%, while Healthcare was down by 0.36% was the only losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 3.10%, ICICI Bank up by 2.66%, Titan Co up by 2.53%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.45% and Tata Steel was up by 2.28%. On the flip side, HCL Tech down by 1.48%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.32%, Asian Paints down by 1.30%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.24% and Dr. Reddy's Lab was down by 1.16% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Sponge Iron Manufacturers Association (SIMA) Executive Director Deependra Kashiva has said the domestic sponge iron industry might report a negative growth in Q3 (October-December) of FY22 if the shortage of coal is allowed to continue.

As per the data by the Joint Plant Committee (JPC), under the Ministry of Steel, the sponge iron production growth in April-June 2021 was 70 percent, compared with January-March 2021. Kashiva said this is expected to come down by 60 percent to a level of 10 percent in the second quarter ended September 30, 2021, amid the ongoing coal crisis.

He further said ‘except for the power sector, we are stopping supply to all industry users, and sponge iron and cement are the two big consumers after the power sector.’ He said the production is coming down and the players are using the coal in their inventory but if the situation continues, the sponge iron industry will be in trouble. He noted that the industry consumes about 40 million tonnes of coal annually and has provided three lakh direct and indirect jobs.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18513.40, up by 174.85 points or 0.95% after trading in a range of 18445.30 and 18524.40. There were 35 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining, while 1 stock remains unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 5.79%, Tata Motors up by 3.95%, JSW Steel up by 3.43%, Infosys up by 2.97% and ICICI Bank was up by 2.68%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.65%, HCL Tech down by 1.64%, Asian Paints down by 1.32%w, Bajaj Auto down by 1.29% and Dr. Reddy's Lab was down by 1.12% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly lower; KOSPI fell 8.38 points or 0.28% to 3,006.68, Taiwan Weighted dropped 75.73 points or 0.45% to 16,705.46, Shanghai Composite declined 11.38 points or 0.32% to 3,560.99, Straits Times trembled 0.91 points or 0.03% to 3,173.00, Nikkei 225 slipped 43.17 points or 0.15% to 29,025.46 and Hang Seng was down by 148.74 points or 0.59% to 25,182.22.

On the other hand; Jakarta Composite was up by 37.92 points or 0.57% to 6,671.26.

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