F&O expiry: Sensex gains 432 pts, settles at 44,260; Nifty ends at 12,987

All that happened in the markets today

Staging a smart recovery, the domestic equity market ended around 1 per cent higher on Thursday, the last day of the futures and options (F&O) contracts for the November series, amid broad-based buying.

The S&P BSE Sensex surged 432 points, or 0.98 per cent to settle at 44,260 levels and the Nifty50 index gained 129 points, or 1 per cent to 12,987 levels. India VIX, meanwhile, dropped nearly 13.5 per cent to 20 levels. 

Sectorally, all the indices ended in the green with Nifty Metal index rising the most - up 3.85 per cent to 2,925 levels. 

Broader market, too, participated in the rally. The S&P BSE MidCap index jumped 0.94 per cent to 16,598 levels while the S&P BSE SmallCap index rose 0.71 per cent to 16,480 levels.

Global markets

European shares were mixed on Thursday and world shares held near all-time highs after a strong Asian session in which market euphoria around Covid-19 vaccines, Joe Biden’s US presidential election win and hopes for further stimulus outweighed worsening US data. 

In Asia, China’s main stock indexes ended higher, rebounding from two days of losses as gains in financial and consumer shares offset drops in health care, tech and new energy vehicle firms.

Oil prices rose for a fifth day on Thursday after a surprise fall in US crude inventories gave further legs to a rally driven by optimism that vaccines will end the coronavirus pandemic and revive demand for fuels. 

(With inputs from Reuters)

4:05 PM

MARKET COMMENT | Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services

"Today, the market regained its momentum during the second half of the session, on the monthly derivative expiry day, led by a bounce in the banking sector. Investors are awaiting the release of Q2 GDP data due tomorrow. The market expects contraction on a YoY basis but an improvement on a QoQ basis, reflecting a recovery in economic activity. The recovery is expected to further rise in Q3, and the market optimism is also high with the news that vaccine will be available in early 2021."

3:43 PM

Nifty Metal surges nearly 4%

3:42 PM

MARKET AT CLOSE | Gainers and losers on the S&P BSE Sensex

3:36 PM

CLOSING BELL

The S&P BSE Sensex gained 432 points, or 0.98 per cent to settle at 44,260 while NSE's Nifty ended at 12,987, up 129 points, or 1 per cent.

3:26 PM

MARKET CHECK

3:15 PM

Top losers on the BSE at this hour

3:06 PM

BROKERAGE VIEW | ICICI Securities on Astral Poly Technik

RATING: BUY | TARGET PRICE: Rs 1,530 

Astral Poly Technik’s (ASTRA) has made a big-bang entry into plastic storage tanks segment through acquisition of certain assets of Shree Prabhu Petrochemicals Pvt Ltd (SPPL) for Rs510mn. Considering the potential revenue and profitability generation from the said acquisition, we increase our FY22E revenue and PAT estimates by 2% and 1.5% respectively. While rolling over our valuations to FY23E, we expect ASTRA to report overall revenue and PAT CAGRs of 18.5% and 31.7%, respectively, over FY20-FY23E. With the recent spurt in stock price, we downgrade ASTRA to ADD from Buy with a revised SoTP-based target price of Rs1,530 (earlier: Rs1,345), implying a P/E multiple of 45x Sep’22E earnings.

3:05 PM

Steel stocks extend rally; JSW Steel, Tata Steel hit fresh 52-week highs

JSW Steel gained 5 per cent to quote at Rs 354 and Tata Steel rallied 4 per cent to Rs 565 in their intra-day trade today while Steel Authority of India (SAIL) and Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL) were up 7 per cent and 6 per cent, respectively. At 02:37 pm, the S&P BSE Metal index, the top gainer among sectoral indices, was up 3 per cent as compared to a 0.51-per cent gain in the S&P BSE Sensex. READ MORE

2:54 PM

Recovery from intra-day lows in today's session

COMPANY	DAY'S LOW(RS)	DAY'S HIGH(RS)	LATEST(RS)	RISE(%)
VAKRANGEE	31.05	35.70	35.20	13.37
WOCKHARDT	383.05	434.10	434.10	13.33
ABB POWER PRODUC	961.50	1074.00	1060.00	10.24
TATA INV.CORPN.	851.00	959.00	931.85	9.50

2:53 PM

Vedanta Resources under pressure, sounds out bondholders on debt extension

The mining giant started approaching the investors to discuss possible debt extensions after the company’s failed attempt to delist its India unit, Vedanta Ltd., people familiar with the matter said.

 

The company’s $670 million of bonds due June next year, which are among notes under discussion with holders, slumped as much as 7.7 cents after the news. That left them set for the sharpest daily drop in more than six weeks, according to prices compiled by Bloomberg. READ MORE

2:43 PM

Dixon Technologies hits new high; stock zooms 290% from March low

Shares of Dixon Technologies (India) rose 4 per cent and hit a new high of Rs 11,325 on the BSE on Thursday. The stock was trading higher for the fifth straight day. In the past one week, the consumer electronics company's stock has rallied 12 per cent, against 1 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex. It zoomed 291 per cent from its 52-week low of Rs 2,900, touched on March 24, 2020. READ MORE

2:33 PM

Sector check at this hour

2:24 PM

India's GDP likely to fall most among 24 major economies, shows data

The National Statistical Office will release the official estimate of India’s Q2 GDP numbers, on Friday. Forecasts for the much-awaited figure range from a contraction of 7.8 per cent by the Bank of America, to a decline of 12.7 per cent by the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), with the mean being a 10.3 per cent fall in real GDP. READ MORE

2:15 PM

BROKERAGE VIEW | Anand Rathi Shares on Healthcare stocks

We continue to be positive on companies which have a strong domestic business like Torrent Pharma (strong chronic portfolio, focus on productivity improvement to boost margins), Ajanta Pharma (rebound in India sales to improve earnings quality) and CRAMS companies like Suven Pharma (strong relation with innovators to drive 49% PAT growth in H2).

2:05 PM

Investment tips by Shyam Sekhar