The domestic equity indices further pared gains in mid-afternoon trade. The Nifty traded below the 19,450 mark after hitting day's high of 19,515.10 in afternoon trade. Consumer durable stocks witnessed some bit of bargain buying after declining for the past two trading sessions.

At 14:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 295.88 points or 0.45% to 65,640.05. The Nifty 50 index advanced 90 points or 0.46% to 19,445.90.

The broader market outperformed the headline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 0.87% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.72%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,891 shares rose and 1,539 shares fell. A total of 134 shares were unchanged.

Investor sentiment was positive amid expectations that the Federal Reserve was nearing the end of its rate hike cycle for the year. The PBOC's announcement that it will extend financial support for the sector until end-2024 also aided sentiment.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Consumer Durables index gained 0.91% to 27,341.35. The index declined 0.99% in the past two trading sessions.

Dixon Technologies (India) (up 2.78%), Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals (up 2.06%), Bata India (up 1.44%), Havells India (up 1.38%) Rajesh Exports (up 1.27%), Amber Enterprises India (up 1.26%), Whirlpool of India (up 1.02%), Kajaria Ceramics (up 0.72%), TTK Prestige (up 0.31%) and Voltas (up 0.26%) advanced.

On the other hand, V-Guard Industries (down 0.62%), Relaxo Footwears (down 0.39%) and Blue Star (down 0.05%) declined.

Numbers to Watch:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper fell 0.71% to 7.098 from its previous close of 7.149.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 82.4125, compared with its close of 82.5975 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 4 August 2023 settlement advanced 0.31% to Rs 58,891

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was down 0.18% to 101.79

The United States 10-year bond yield fell 1.07% to 3.963.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for September 2023 settlement advanced 43 cents or 0.55% to $78.12 a barrel.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Elecon Engineering Company soared 14.02%. The company's consolidated net profit surged 72.44% to Rs 72.96 crore in Q1 FY24 from Rs 42.31 crore in Q1 FY23. Revenue from operations increased 26.43% year on year to Rs 414.34 crore in the quarter ended 30 June 2023.

Zen Technologies surged 11.70%. The company announced that it has bagged an export order valued at approximately Rs 340 crore (approximately $41.5 million).