Indian equity benchmarks were trading close to their neutral
lines in the late morning session, with both the Sensex and Nifty trading
slightly higher, on the back of negative cues from other Asian markets. Market
sentiment remained positive, as Governor Shaktikanta Das said that the Reserve
Bank of India (RBI) aims to reduce inflation to its medium-term target of 4% in
the next two years and its rate actions will be data-dependent.

The Sensex is trading at 59,089.02, up by 57.72 points or
0.10% after trading in a range of 58,760.09 and 59,170.87. On the index, 16 stocks
advanced and 14 stocks declined.

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The broader indices were trading in green with the BSE Mid
cap index up by 0.41% and the Small cap index up by 0.86%. The top gaining
sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.06%, Power up by 0.73%,
Utilities up by 0.68%, Telecom up by 0.59% and Industrials up by 0.49%, while
Consumer Durables down by 0.39%, TECK down by 0.17%, IT down by 0.08% and Auto
down by 0.01% were the top losing indices on BSE.

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The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 2.81%,
Indusind Bank up by 2.01%, Power Grid up by 1.01%, Larsen & Toubro up by
0.61% and ICICI Bank up by 0.47%. On the flip side, Titan Co down by 0.78%, TCS
down by 0.63%, Nestle down by 0.50%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.49% and Bajaj
Finance down by 0.46% were the top losers.

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The Nifty is trading at 17,596.10, up by 18.60 points or
0.11% after trading in a range of 17,499.25 and 17,623.65. On the index, 27
stocks advanced and 23 stocks declined.

The top gainers on Nifty were NTPC up by 2.43%, ONGC up by
2.13%, Apollo Hospital Ent. up by 2.12%, Indusind Bank up by 1.99% and Coal
India up by 1.12%. On the flip side, Divi’s Lab down by 1.96%, Titan Company down by
0.81%, BPCL down by 0.79%, TCS down by 0.67% and Nestle down by 0.67% were the
top losers.

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Asian markets were trading mostly in red with the Hang Seng
decreasing 221.17 points or 1.13% to 19,282.08, Nikkei 225 slipping 139.28
points or 0.49% to 28,313.47, Shanghai Composite declined 45.11 points or 1.38%
to 3,231.11 and Taiwan Weighted dropped 26.70 points or 0.18% to 15,069.19 and
Straits Times trembled 1.45 points or 0.04% to 3,244.76. On the flip side,
Jakarta Composite soared 2.55 points or 0.04% to 7,165.82 and KOSPI rose 14.61
points or 0.60% to 2,449.95.