Local stocks are trading firm in early trade on buying demand in index pivotals. At 9:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 186.95 points or 0.46% at 40,745.44. The Nifty 50 index was up 59.10 points or 0.5% at 11,955.55.
The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.64%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.63%.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, is strong. On the BSE, 1165 shares rose and 411 shares fell. A total of 58 shares were unchanged.
Stocks in news:
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) rose 0.65%. TCS has introduced a composite quality engineering (QE) service for blockchain applications called TCS Blockchain QE Services that combines smart contract auditing with cloud deployment design, API audits, and usability testing to help enterprises safeguard against security, privacy, and reliability threats.
Tech Mahindra rose 0.05%. The company's wholly owned subsidiary Tech Mahindra (Americas), Inc. has agreed to acquire 6.03% equity shares in VitalTech Holdings, Inc. The target entity is VitalTech Holdings, Inc. headquartered in Plano, Texas. It is engaged in the business of cloud-based Telehealth and remote patient monitoring platform development and services.
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Bharti Infratel gained 3.26%. The company posted 23.96% fall in consolidated net profit to Rs 732.60 crore on 4.51% fall in total income to Rs 2,076.80 crore in Q2 September 2020 over Q2 September 2019.
Ambuja Cements fell 0.51%. Ambuja Cements posted 61.47% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 621.81 crore on 1.2% rise in total income to Rs 6,269.35 crore in Q3 September 2020 over Q3 September 2019.
HDFC Asset Management Company fell 1.54%. The company posted 8.2% fall in net profit to Rs 338.06 crore on 3.8% rise in total income to Rs 569.95 crore in Q2 September 2020 over Q2 September 2019.
Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals jumped 12.38% after the company posted 27.78% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 141.68 crore on 13.04% rise in total income to Rs 1,229.87 crore in Q2 September 2020 over Q2 September 2019.
Alembic Pharmaceuticals fell 0.99%. The company posted 35.37% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 333.37 crore on 17.65% rise in total income to Rs 1,460.32 crore in Q2 September 2020 over Q2 September 2019.
Global Markets:
Overseas, Asian stocks are trading on a mixed note Friday after positive U.S. economic data and signs of progress in stimulus talks in Washington lifted Wall Street benchmarks.
In US, shares on Wall Street ended higher on Thursday in choppy trading, as investors cheered the prospect of more fiscal stimulus to support a pandemic-damaged U.S. economy, with more data pointing to a slowing labor market recovery.
U.S. lawmakers were still trying to hammer out a roughly $2 trillion stimulus deal late on Thursday, with U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi saying that she and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had not spoken during the day. However, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow cautioned significant policy differences remained, which were unlikely to be resolved before the November 3 election.
Meanwhile, the final presidential debate involving United States President and Republican Party candidate Donald Trump and his rival from the Democratic Party Joe Biden, is underway. The debate will span 90 minutes and involve topics such as fighting COVID-19, climate change, national security and the two candidates' leadership record. This debate serves as the last opportunity for millions of voters to directly compare the two leading candidates' policies and personalities.
On the data front, the Labor Department said weekly jobless claims fell to 787,000 for the week ending October 17. It was the second time since March that claims came in below 800,000.
On the coronavirus front, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved Gilead Sciences' antiviral drug remdesivir for the virus. The intravenous drug has helped shorten the recovery time of some hospitalized Covid-19 patients.
Back home, key equity indices ended with modest losses after a volatile session on Thursday. The Nifty ended below the 11,900 mark. Markets witnessed volatility due to expiry of weekly index options on the NSE. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, fell 148.82 points or 0.37% at 40,558.49. The Nifty 50 index lost 41.20 points or 0.35% to 11,896.45.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 1,118.46 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net sellers to the tune of Rs 2,019.87 crore in the Indian equity market on 22 October, provisional data showed.
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