Bourses hover near day’s high levels in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets continued to hover near day’s high levels in late afternoon session as trends showed Donald Trump leading the race to become the next US President. Traders continued to take support as India’s services sector activity gained traction in the month of October, aided by healthy customer demand domestically and from abroad. In response to positive sales developments, and optimism regarding near-term prospects, firms recruited extra workers to the greatest degree in just over two years. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed as U.S. Republican candidate Donald Trump won two crucial swing states, North Carolina and Georgia, and tightened his hold on key battlegrounds in the race for the White House. European markets were trading higher as data showed that Germany's factory orders rebounded in September on strong growth in aircraft and other transport equipment orders.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 80528.52, up by 1051.89 points or 1.32% after trading in a range of 79459.12 and 80569.73. There were 25 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 2.15%, while Small cap index was up by 1.90%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 3.96%, TECK up by 3.47%, Oil & Gas up by 2.95%, Capital Goods up by 2.83% and Industrials was up by 2.74%, while there were no losing sectoral indices on the BSE. 

The top gainers on the Sensex were TCS up by 4.35%, Infosys up by 4.00%, HCL Tech up by 3.99%, Adani Ports up by 3.54% and Tech Mahindra up by 3.43%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 1.53%, Titan Company down by 1.24%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.31%, Axis Bank down by 0.25% and HDFC Bank down by 0.22% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, recovering from September's ten-month low, India’s services sector activity gained traction in the month of October, aided by healthy customer demand domestically and from abroad. In response to positive sales developments, and optimism regarding near-term prospects, firms recruited extra workers to the greatest degree in just over two years.

According to the survey report, the seasonally adjusted HSBC India Services PMI Business Activity Index rose to 58.5 in October from 57.7 in September. Further, the HSBC India Composite PMI Output Index -- which measures both manufacturing and services -- also surged to 59.1 in October as against 58.3 in September. 

On the price front, input price inflation accelerated to a three-month high in October, with services companies mainly reporting greater food and wage costs. However, the overall rate of inflation remained below its long-run average. The cost pressures were highest in Consumer Services.

Companies shared part of their additional cost burdens with clients by continuing to lift selling prices. The rate of charge inflation picked up to the strongest since July and outpaced the series trend. Business sentiment remained positive in October, despite receding a little from September.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24521.85, up by 308.55 points or 1.27% after trading in a range of 24204.05 and 24537.60. There were 40 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharat Electronics up by 5.64%, Adani Enterprises up by 5.25%, TCS up by 4.36%, Infosys up by 4.01% and HCL Tech up by 3.95%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 1.47%, SBI Life down by 1.37%, Titan Company down by 1.12%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 1.09% and Cipla down by 0.56% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Hang Seng declined 468.59 points or 2.28% to 20,538.38, Jakarta Composite plunged 102.52 points or 1.37% to 7,389.41, KOSPI dropped 13.37 points or 0.52% to 2,563.51 and Shanghai Composite was down by 3.18 points or 0.09% to 3,383.81. On the flip side, Straits Times rose 19.61 points or 0.55% to 3,601.22, Taiwan Weighted added 110.59 points or 0.48% to 23,217.38 and Nikkei 225 was up by 1005.77 points or 2.55% to 39,480.67.

European markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 119.66 points or 1.46% to 8,292.05, France’s CAC rose 155.97 points or 2.11% to 7,563.12 and Germany’s DAX was up by 282.91 points or 1.47% to 19,539.18.