Benchmarks extend gains in late afternoon session

Indian equity benchmarks extended their gains in late afternoon session, with Sensex and Nifty garnering gains of over half a percent. Tata Steel, SBI and Larsen & Toubro were the prime gainers among heavy-weights. Traders remain energized after Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have invested a massive Rs 35,109 crore in Indian markets in November so far as corporate earnings and reforms measures undertaken by the government to revive investment activities. Some support also came after global forecasting firm Oxford Economics stated that Indian economy is seen recovering faster than expected and the Reserve Bank is likely to have come to an end of the rate easing cycle. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green after the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a record high on optimism that a vaccine may soon control the coronavirus and the economic destruction it’s caused. European markets were trading lower, as tighter coronavirus restrictions across the continent halted a market rally that was powered by encouraging COVID-19 vaccine updates. Back home, sector wise, oil and gas sector remained in focus after India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) in its latest credit digest on country's oil and gas sector has shown a recovery in refinery throughput during September. The ratings agency's October 2020 credit digest edition highlighted an increase in LNG imports.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 43898.06, up by 260.08 points or 0.60% after trading in a range of 43699.22 and 44161.16. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 1.06%, while Small cap index was up by 0.81%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.70%, Metal up by 2.62%, Industrials up by 2.37%, Capital Goods up by 2.27% and Basic Materials was up by 1.52%, while Oil & Gas down by 0.99%, IT down by 0.72%, Healthcare down by 0.64%, TECK down by 0.55% and Utilities was down by 0.39% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 7.06%, SBI up by 4.05%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.59%, HDFC Bank up by 2.54% and Bajaj Finance up by 2.02%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 2.41%, ONGC down by 1.93%, Infosys down by 1.67%, HCL Tech down by 1.66% and Power Grid down by 1.09% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India’s inflation based on wholesale price index (WPI) surged to 1.48% in the month of October, 2020 as compared to 0.00% during the corresponding month of the previous year. Component wise, primary articles index having weight of 22.62%, increased by 1.40% to 152.4 (provisional) in October, 2020 from 150.3 (provisional) for the month of September, 2020. Prices of Non-food Articles, Food Articles and Minerals increased in October, 2020 compared to September, 2020. But, prices of crude petroleum & natural gas remain unchanged.

Fuel & Power index, having weight of 13.15%, increased by 0.11% to 91.1 (provisional) in October, 2020 from 91.0 (provisional) for the month of September, 2020. Prices of Electricity increased in October, 2020 compared to September, 2020. Prices of Mineral Oils declined in October, 2020 compared to September, 2020. Prices of coal remain unchanged.

Manufactured Products constituting the major portion of the index with weight of 64.23%, increased by 0.42% to 120.3 (provisional) in October, 2020 from 119.8 (provisional) for the month of September, 2020. Meanwhile, for the month of August, 2020 the final Wholesale Price Index and inflation rate for 'All Commodities' (Base: 2011-12=100) stood at 122.0 and 0.41% respectively.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 12862.00, up by 81.75 points or 0.64% after trading in a range of 12797.10 and 12934.05. There were 34 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Steel up by 7.04%, Tata Motors up by 5.61%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 5.25%, Adani Ports up by 4.75% and SBI up by 4.09%. On the flip side, BPCL down by 3.88%, NTPC down by 2.26%, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.22%, Indian Oil down by 2.08% and ONGC down by 1.65% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green, Nikkei 225 surged 107.69 points or 0.42% to 26,014.62, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 41.18 points or 0.3% to 13,593.01, Jakarta Composite soared 35.07 points or 0.64% to 5,529.94, Hang Seng increased 33.42 points or 0.13% to 26,415.09 and Straits Times was up by 29.82 points or 1.09% to 2,777.82. On the flip side, KOSPI fell 3.88 points or 0.15% to 2,539.15 and Shanghai Composite was down by 7.07 points or 0.21% to 3,339.90.

European markets were trading lower; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 19.84 points or 0.31% to 6,401.45, France’s CAC decreased 9.40 points or 0.17% to 5,462.08 and Germany’s DAX was down by 17.71 points or 0.13% to 13,120.90.