Markets continue to trade in high spirit

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade in high spirit in afternoon session, on account of broad based buying in blue chip counters amid positive Asian cues. Traders took note of report that Indian service sector output broadly stabilised in September. The seasonally adjusted India Services Business Activity Index rose for the fifth straight month in September to 49.8 from 41.8 in August. But, it remained in the contraction zone as incoming new business fell moderately due to the damaging impact of the pandemic on demand, leading to more job losses. Broader indices were trading in green, supporting their larger peers. Meanwhile, RBI in its latest report on 'Data on ECB/FCCB for the month of August 2020' has showed that foreign borrowings of India Inc fell by over 47 per cent in August 2020 to $1.75 billion as compared to $3.32 billion borrowed from overseas markets in August 2019, by way of external commercial borrowings (ECBs).

On the global front, Asian markets were trading firm as market sentiments boosted with the news that US President Donald Trump has returned to the White House after being discharged from hospital. Back on street, the overall market breadth on BSE was in the favour of advances which thumped declines in the ratio of 1431:1026; while 157 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 39309.46, up by 335.76 points or 0.86% after trading in a range of 39191.10 and 39379.10. There were 23 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.60%, while Small cap index was up by 0.53%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.08%, Auto up by 1.47%, Bankex up by 1.23%, Consumer Discretionary up by 0.88% and Industrials was up by 0.80%, while IT down by 0.94%, TECK down by 0.77%, Metal down by 0.69%, Power down by 0.21%, Oil & Gas down by 0.21% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HDFC up by 6.03%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.51%, Indusind Bank up by 2.76%, Asian Paints up by 2.43% and HDFC Bank was up by 2.06%. On the flip side, TCS down by 1.62%, Tata Steel down by 1.03%, Infosys down by 0.99%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.61% and Nestle was down by 0.40% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said that Artificial intelligence (AI) has massive potential to generate development and India is well-poised to tap into the opportunity with its large pool of skilled professionals. He also said the proposed data protection legislation will give a big fillip to the country's data economy.

Prasad has stated that AI would become meaningful only when it brings in a palpable improvement in the quality of life of ordinary Indians. He said ‘technology keeps on evolving... we welcome AI because it has enormous potential to generate development and also bring in further equity and delivery...We also want AI to further promote that inclusive character of development.’

Stating that Indian IT companies are globally competitive, the minister exuded confidence that the country's large pool of skilled professionals would help manage not only India's AI ecosystem but also that of the world. He cited the examples of Ayushman Bharat, GST and direct benefit transfer (DBT) to highlight how the government has used technology to deliver public services. He added that the bill -- expected to be passed by Parliament soon -- is an amalgamation of efforts to ensure data privacy, safety, security as well as data innovation.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11595.95, up by 92.60 points or 0.80% after trading in a range of 11564.30 and 11615.30. There were 34 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 7.73%, HDFC up by 6.32%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.46%, Indusind Bank up by 2.92% and Adani Ports & SEZ was up by 2.71%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 2.40%, TCS down by 1.51%, Hindalco down by 1.31%, Coal India down by 1.18% and Infosys was down by 1.08% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading higher; Straits Times advanced 15.62 points or 0.62% to 2,532.85, Jakarta Composite soared 47.75 points or 0.96% to 5,006.52, KOSPI rose 7.90 points or 0.34% to 2,365.90, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 155.95 points or 1.24% to 12,704.23, Hang Seng increased 197.54 points or 0.83% to 23,965.32, Nikkei 225 surged 121.59 points or 0.52% to 23,433.73.