Key gauges end volatile session on positive note

Indian equity benchmarks ended Tuesday's volatile session on a positive note amid buying in counters such as Ultratech Cement, TCS, Reliance Industries and Infosys.  Markets made slightly positive start and soon extended gains, as sentiments got a boost with Niti Aayog vice chairman Rajiv Kumar’s statement that the government is committed to improving the ease of doing business and innovation ecosystem where every school student has access to the innovative tools and trends. Traders also took note of report that companies raised Rs 73,215 crore from the capital markets in October, with private placement of debt instruments continuing to be the most-preferred route for funding.

However, key indices erased gains and traded flat in afternoon session, even as Fitch Ratings revised up India’s GDP projection to a contraction of 9.4 per cent due to a strong economic recovery in the second quarter of the current fiscal year. It earlier suggested that India’s GDP may shrink by 10.5 per cent in the FY21. Fitch Ratings further projected an 11 per cent growth and 6.3 per cent growth in the following years. But, markets regained their positive momentum to end higher, as some optimism remained among traders with Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan’s statement that more than 100 startups have provided innovative products and solutions to overcome challenges posed by the pandemic.

On the global front, Asian markets ended mixed on Monday, while European markets were trading lower, with worries about surging coronavirus cases in the U.S. and rising tension between Washington and Beijing keeping investors nervous. Brexit talks and U.S. stimulus negotiations also remained on investors' radar. Meanwhile, the Cabinet Office said Japan's gross domestic product surged an annualized 22.9 percent in the third quarter of 2020. That beat expectations for an increase of 21.5 percent following the 28.8 percent plunge in the previous three months. On a quarterly basis, GDP was up 5.0 percent - matching forecasts following the 8.2 percent decline in the three months prior. Back home, on the sectoral front, pharma sector stocks were in focus with a private report that Pfizer and Serum Institute of India have sought emergency use approval for their respective COVID-19 vaccines from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) and an internal review has begun under the accelerated review process.

Finally, the BSE Sensex jumped 181.54 points or 0.40% to 45,608.51, while the CNX Nifty was up by 37.20 points or 0.28% to 13,392.95.

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 45,742.23 and 45,335.17, respectively and there were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.16%, while Small cap index was down by 0.29%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Energy up by 1.14%, IT up by 1.09%, TECK up by 0.77%, Realty up by 0.70% and Finance up by 0.18%, while Telecom down by 1.09%, Power down by 0.87%, Utilities down by 0.68%, Healthcare down by 0.66% and Metal down by 0.65% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Ultratech Cement up by 3.15%, TCS up by 2.21%, Reliance Industries up by 1.82%, HCL Technologies up by 1.06% and Infosys up by 0.86%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 2.36%, Indusind Bank down by 2.00%, NTPC down by 1.55%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.38% and ONGC down by 1.31% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in its monthly bulletin has showed that companies raised Rs 73,215 crore from the capital markets in October, with private placement of debt instruments continuing to be the most-preferred route for funding. The funds have been mopped up mainly for business expansion plans, loan repayments and working capital requirements.

It showed that firms raised a total of Rs 73,215 crore in October compared to Rs 75,232 crore in September through issuance of equity and debt securities. Prior to this, companies had mopped up Rs 1.1 lakh crore in August. Out of the cumulative Rs 73,215 crore garnered in October, Rs 62,331 crore was mopped up from private placement of debt securities and Rs 4,144 crore through private placement of equity, which include qualified institutional placement (QIP) and preferential allotment routes. Individually, a total of Rs 2,200 crore were raised through the QIP route and Rs 1,944 crore were raised through issuance of shares on a preferential allotment basis.

In comparison, corporates had mobilised Rs 64,389 crore and Rs 9,022 crore through private placement of debt securities and equities, respectively, in September. When it comes to raising funds through public issuance in October, Rs 5,825 crore was raised through six main-board initial public offering (IPO), Rs 62 crore from eight SME's initial share-sale and Rs 554 crore through rights issue.

The CNX Nifty traded in a range of 13,435.45 and 13,311.05 and there were 19 stocks advancing against 30 stocks declining, while 1 stock remains unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Ultratech Cement up by 3.06%, TCS up by 2.09%, Reliance Industries up by 1.75%, Wipro up by 1.41% and HCL Technologies up by 0.92%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 2.29%, Sun Pharma down by 2.23%, Coal India down by 1.83%, Indusind Bank down by 1.78% and NTPC down by 1.70%.

European markets were trading lower; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 25.29 points or 0.39% to 6,530.10, France’s CAC fell 22.49 points or 0.4% to 5,550.89 and Germany’s DAX was down by 21.03 points or 0.16% to 13,249.97.

Asian markets ended mixed on Tuesday on concerns over resurgence of corona virus cases around the globe. Chinese shares ended lower on persistent worries over Sino-US tensions following reports that the United States imposed financial sanctions and travel bans on 14 high-level Chinese officials over the continuing crackdown on the opposition in Hong Kong. Meanwhile, investors are remained cautious over Brexit talks as well as US stimulus negotiations. Further, Japanese shares declined despite the announcement of a stimulus package of more than $700 billion aiming to shore up its economy threatened by surge in corona virus cases. While, Japan's economy in the July-September period grew an annualised 22.9% from the previous quarter, better than the initial estimate of a 21.4% expansion, revised data from the Cabinet Office showed.