Sensex, Nifty at day’s high

Tracking firm European markets, Indian equity benchmarks were trading near their intraday high points in late afternoon session. The gaining momentum witnessed on account of value buying seen in IT and TECK stocks. The traders took encouragement with DIPP Secretary Ramesh Abhishek’s statement the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) is working with the tax department and regulators to ease the rules and laws for startups to support budding entrepreneurs. Some relief also came after SBI study report showed that inflation is likely to remain below 4% in the coming months, notwithstanding possible increase in onion prices. Sentiments got boost with a private report stating that India's long-term growth story remains robust despite global headwinds as well as rupee depreciation and high oil prices. On the sectoral front, telecom stocks were trading higher, amid reports that the Department of Telecom (DoT) has constituted committees to work on objectives set by National Digital Communications Policy, especially around concerns raised by service providers.

On the global front, European markets were trading in green, despite euro area economy grew at a slower pace in the third quarter. The preliminary flash estimate from Eurostat showed that gross domestic product expanded only 0.2% sequentially after rising 0.4% in the second quarter. The rate was forecast to remain at 0.4%. Elsewhere, survey data revealed further deterioration in economic confidence in Eurozone. The economic sentiment index slid to 109.8 in October from 110.9 a month ago. Asian markets were trading in green, despite the latest PMI numbers from China confirming a broad-based decline in economic activity. China's official manufacturing PMI fell to 50.2 in October, the lowest since July 2016 and down from 50.8 in September, in a sign of further loss of momentum in the world's second-largest economy. The services PMI dropped from 54.9 to 53.9, marking the weakest pace of expansion since August 2017.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 34308.85, up by 417.72 points or 1.23% after trading in a range of 33587.24 and 34357.45. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining, while 1 index remained unchanged on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.31%, while Small cap index was up by 1.15%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 3.23%, TECK up by 2.78%, Consumer Durables up by 2.08%, Healthcare up by 1.65% and Capital Goods up by 1.64%, while Metal down by 1.57% was the lone losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HDFC up by 4.96%, Indusind Bank up by 4.44%, Infosys up by 4.12%, Sun Pharma up by 3.13% and ICICI Bank up by 2.73%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 3.23%, Tata Steel down by 2.50%, NTPC down by 1.69%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.39% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.88% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Indian companies borrowed $1.71 billion from overseas markets in the month of September 2018 through external commercial borrowing (ECB), 50.86% less than a year ago. The borrowings were $3.48 billion in September last year.

According to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data report, of the total borrowings, $1.21 billion was raised through automatic route, while $500 million came in via approval route. The report further found that no one has issued rupee-denominated bonds to raise money during September 2018. Besides, it showed that Reliance Jio Infocomm went through the approval route to raise $500 million.

As per data report, the companies among raising capital by automatic route were Power Finance Corporation ($250 million), PNB Housing Finance ($200 million), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals ($100 million), JSW Steel ($75 million), Sun Pharmaceuticals ($50 million) and IIFL Home Finance ($50 million).

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10348.10, up by 149.70 points or 1.47% after trading in a range of 10105.10 and 10353.00. There were 35 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indiabulls Housing Finance up by 8.73%, Tech Mahindra up by 7.20%, HDFC up by 5.03%, UPL up by 4.46% and Indusind Bank up by 4.42%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 3.06%, Tata Steel down by 2.15%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 1.93%, Hindalco down by 1.85% and NTPC down by 1.76% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading in green; Nikkei 225 jumped 463.17 points or 2.11% to 21,920.46, KOSPI added 15.00 points or 0.74% to 2,029.69, Shanghai Composite rose 34.73 points or 1.33% to 2,602.78, Jakarta Composite soared 35.21 points or 0.6% to 5,824.31, Taiwan Weighted zoomed 276.02 points or 2.82% to 9,802.13, Straits Times increased 51.31 points or 1.7% to 3,017.76 and Hang Seng was up by 394.16 points or 1.58% to 24,979.69.

All European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 gained 105.24 points or 1.47% to 7,141.09, France’s CAC increased 102.06 points or 2.01% to 5,080.59 and Germany’s DAX was up by 190.68 points or 1.66% to 11,478.07.