Local gauges end with minor gains

Indian equity benchmarks gave up most of their initials gains to end marginally higher on Monday, led by buying in IT, TECK, Healthcare and FMCG stocks. The benchmarks staged a gap up opening, as traders took encouragement with the report that concerted efforts by the Reserve Bank to move to a non/less-cash economy by pushing digital payments have begun to pay rich dividends as the volume of such payments has jumped manifold in the past five years. Sentiments remained positive with NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant’s statement that India's massive digital footprint is one of its biggest strengths for Artificial Intelligence (AI) development, and established platforms like Aadhaar, UPI along with massive digital infrastructure create a unique opportunity for this futuristic technology to be leveraged to enhance transparency and improve governance. Some support also came in with report that foreign portfolio investors (FPI) have invested Rs 1,086 crore on a net basis so far in October in Indian markets, tracking encouraging factors including improved GST collection, acceleration in economic activity and positive global cues.

However, markets witnessed volatility in late afternoon session, as investors remained on sidelines ahead of industrial production data for August and CPI inflation for September which are due later in the day. But, indices managed to end session in green terrain, as the government has unveiled a one-time Rs 10,000 interest-free festival advance to all its officers and employees, as part of plans to increase consumer spending to spur demand in the economy. Besides, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the 'Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas' (SVAMITVA) scheme will bring ‘historical changes’ in the villages across the country.

On the global front, Asian markets ended mostly in green, following the positive cues from Wall Street amid continued optimism about a new U.S. stimulus bill after U.S. President Donald Trump suggested he was once again in favor of a broad relief package. Meanwhile, the Cabinet Office said that the value of core machine orders in Japan was up a seasonally adjusted 0.2 percent on month in August, coming in at 752.5 billion yen. That beat forecasts for a decline of 1.0 percent following the 6.3 percent increase in July. The Bank of Japan said that the value of overall bank lending in Japan was up 6.4 percent on year in September, coming in at 573.737 trillion yen. That was in line with expectations and down from the 6.7 percent gain in August. European markets were trading mostly in green, as hopes of further stimulus on both sides of the Atlantic helped investors shrug off concerns over an accelerated spread of Covid-19 across the continent. Back home, on the sectoral front, power stocks remained in focus as power producers' total dues owed by distribution firms rose over 37 percent year-on-year to Rs 1.33 lakh crore in August 2020, reflecting stress in the sector. Financials were in focus ahead of the Supreme Court hearing on loan moratorium issue. The Reserve Bank of India has filed an affidavit before the apex court saying that a loan moratorium exceeding six months could impact credit behavior of borrowers and increase the risks of delinquencies post resumption of scheduled payments.

Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 84.31 points or 0.21% to 40,593.80, while the CNX Nifty was up by 16.75 points or 0.14% to 11,930.95.

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 40,905.49 and 40,387.40, respectively and there 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.48%, while Small cap index was down by 0.40%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.48%, TECK up by 0.99%, Healthcare up by 0.46% and FMCG up by 0.27%, while Metal down by 3.68%, Telecom down by 1.75%, Basic Materials down by 1.21%, Oil & Gas down by 1.12% and Realty down by 1.01% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ITC up by 2.59%, Infosys up by 2.23%, Asian Paints up by 1.29%, HCL Technologies up by 1.21% and Power Grid up by 1.14%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 2.33%, ONGC down by 1.78%, HDFC Bank down by 1.65%, Indusind Bank down by 1.44% and Bajaj Auto down by 1.42% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant has said that India's massive digital footprint is one of its biggest strengths for Artificial Intelligence (AI) development, and established platforms like Aadhaar, UPI along with massive digital infrastructure create a unique opportunity for this futuristic technology to be leveraged to enhance transparency and improve governance. He noted that India optimally leveraging AI to solve its developmental challenges will not only lead to a societal transformation within, but will also benefit other nations in the world, who face similar issues.

Noting India's digital prowess - humongous amounts of data generated at cheapest possible cost, rising smartphone penetration and rapid adoption of digital modes of payment -- Kant said India's digitisation efforts through platforms such as Aadhaar, UPI, GST, public finance management system and digital infrastructure has created a unique opportunity for AI to be leveraged to increase transparency and improve governance.

He further said India's resolve to successfully leverage AI to solve various developmental challenges will not just transform the lives of 1.4 billion population here, but, in fact, also holds out a promise for billions of people across the world, who are moving from poverty to middle class. He added that India's 'National program on AI' will be dedicated towards the rightful use of the technology in solving societal problems.

The CNX Nifty traded in a range of 12,022.05 and 11,867.20 and there were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Infosys up by 2.93%, ITC up by 2.74%, UPL up by 1.95%, Cipla up by 1.81 and Asian Paints up by 1.73%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 2.81%, JSW Steel down by 2.74%, GAIL India down by 2.63%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 1.92% and Tata Motors down by 1.84% were the top losers.

European markets were trading mostly in green; France’s CAC increased 24.97 points or 0.5% to 4,971.78 and Germany’s DAX increased 37.10 points or 0.28% to 13,088.33, while UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 3.17 points or 0.05% to 6,013.48.

Asian markets ended mostly higher on Monday as investors kept an eye on US fiscal stimulus negotiations, despite worries about surging corona virus infections across the globe. Chinese shares ended higher as the country returned from an eight day Mid-Autumn festival, while the offshore yuan fell after China’s central bank (PBoC) took steps to restrain a recent rally. Seoul shares ended higher in line with the government's decision to loosen quarantine measures against the new corona virus pandemic. Though, Japanese shares ended slightly lower as the yen strengthened and profit-booking by investors due to caution prevailed ahead of the earnings season.