Key benchmarks firmed up in afternoon trade. At 13:19 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 186.22 points or 0.53% at 35,137.14. The Nifty 50 index was up 46.85 points or 0.45% at 10,570.85.

The Sensex was currently trading above the psychological 35,000 level after regaining that level in opening trade. Domestic stocks saw a positive opening led by buying demand in index pivotals. Stocks trimmed gains in morning trade. Key indices hovered in positive zone in mid-morning trade. Indices firmed up in afternoon trade.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was off 0.04%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.38%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On the BSE, 1357 shares rose and 993 shares fell. A total of 145 shares were unchanged.

Tata Motors (up 4.09%), Yes Bank (up 2.80%), TCS (up 2.05%), ICICI Bank (up 1.96%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 1.79%) and Reliance Industries (up 1.75%), were the major Sensex gainers.

Vedanta (down 6.7%), Axis Bank (down 2.9%), IndusInd Bank (down 2.13%), State Bank of India (down 2.03%), ITC (down 0.61%), Maruti Suzuki India (down 0.41%), Mahindra & Mahindra (down 0.4%) and NTPC (down 0.29%), were the major Sensex losers.

Wipro rose 0.22% after the company announced a new partnership with Check Point Software Technologies, a leading provider of cyber security solutions globally, to deliver Check Point's advanced and dynamic cloud security solution, CloudGuard IaaS. This strategic worldwide partnership will further accelerate demand for the CloudGuard comprehensive suite of cloud security products, which are focused on advanced threat prevention and safeguarding enterprise cloud applications, infrastructure, and data against the most sophisticated fifth-generation cyber-attacks threatening organizations today. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 5 November 2018.

Coal India rose 0.53%. The company said that the Government of India reduced its stake in the company by 3.19% to make its holding stand at 75.13% of the equity share capital of the company. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 5 November 2018.

Overseas, Asian stocks were mixed as investors looked to the US midterm elections set for later in the day. US stocks logged a mixed performance yesterday, 5 November 2018, ahead of an updated policy statement from the Federal Reserve and midterm elections that could alter the balance of power in Washington.

Midterm congressional elections, which are expected to see Democrats take control of the House and Republicans maintain a grip on the Senate, take place Tuesday. On Thursday, the Fed concludes a two-day policy meeting, which isn't expected to deliver a change in rates, but may offer fresh insights to investors about the pace of coming rate increases and the effects of trade clashes between the US and China on the domestic economy.

In US economic data, the ISM services index slipped to 60.3 in October, down from 61.6 in September.