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Indian equity benchmarks remained higher in late morning session, with both Sensex and Nifty holding notable gains, aided by positive cues from other Asian markets. Sentiments were optimistic, as Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said India was aspiring to take international trade to $2 trillion by 2030, and it would be a $30-trillion economy by the time the country celebrated the 100th anniversary of its Independence. Besides, the finance ministry will kick-start the exercise to prepare the annual budget for 2023-24 from October 10 in the backdrop of revival of the Indian economy and fears of recession in developed countries.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, after Japan posted a current account surplus of 229.0 billion yen in July, the Ministry of Finance said on Thursday - down 86.6 percent from a year ago. That was week shy of expectations for a surplus of 713.5 billion yen following the 132.4 billion yen deficit in June. Imports jumped 47.6 percent on year to 9.795 trillion yen, while exports rose an annual 18.5 percent to 8.583 trillion yen - resulting in a trade deficit of 1.212 trillion yen.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 59474.83, up by 445.92 points or 0.76% after trading in a range of 59374.99 and 59638.63. There were 28 stocks advancing against 2 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.34%, while Small cap index was up by 0.66%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 1.30%, Telecom up by 0.99%, Auto up by 0.91%, TECK up by 0.81% and IT up by 0.78%, while Metal down by 0.77%, Realty down by 0.31% and Consumer Durables down by 0.03% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.77%, ICICI Bank up by 2.46%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.40%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.98% and Ultratech Cement up by 1.77%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 0.84% and Sun Pharma down by 0.18% were the only losers.

Meanwhile, the ratings agency Crisil in its latest report has said that despite increasing margin pressure, the consumer durables sector is likely to witness a double-digit volume growth, pushing its revenue up by 15-18 percent to Rs 1 lakh crore this fiscal (FY23).  It also said a 10-13 percent spike in demand/volume, which will be driven by both urban and rural segments -- led mostly by the AC and refrigerator segments, though rural demand will come into play in the second half of the fiscal.

According to the report, a 10-13 percent spike in volume will boost the top-line of the sector by 15 to 18 percent this fiscal, taking past the size of the durables industry to over Rs 1 lakh crore, which will be 3 percent above the pre-pandemic size. However, it said margins are under pressure given the run-away commodity prices of inputs like copper, aluminum, steel, and polypropylene, but not to the extent of last fiscal when it fell by 180-200 bps.

The report, however, didn't quantify how much the margins will be hit. Another reason for margin compression is the rupee depreciation, which also will shave off profitability as 45-50 percent of the raw materials are imported. But the report, based on the analysis of eight companies that account for half of the sectoral revenue, said that industry profitability will decline marginally due to higher raw material prices and adverse foreign exchange movements. However, the credit profiles of the key players remain comfortable due to their strong balance sheets, as reflected in low leverage and healthy liquidity.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17749.05, up by 124.65 points or 0.71% after trading in a range of 17722.75 and 17792.20. There were 33 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Shree Cement up by 5.88%, BPCL up by 3.66%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.66%, ICICI Bank up by 2.48% and Bharti Airtel up by 2.47%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 1.49%, Hindalco down by 1.32%, SBI Life Insurance down by 1.23%, Britannia down by 0.83% and Coal India down by 0.67% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 634.98 points or 2.31% to 28,065.28, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 173.37 points or 1.20% to 14,583.42, Jakarta Composite soared 74.45 points or 1.04% to 7,261.21, Straits Times advanced 27.50 points or 0.86% to 3,238.33 and KOSPI rose 8.67 points or 0.36% to 2,385.13. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite declined 4.91 points or 0.15% to 3,241.38 and Hang Seng decreased 129.60 points or 0.68% to 18,914.70.