Market Wrap, Nov 4: Bulls make a comeback, Sensex closes at record high

Headlines of the day:

>> Bulls make a comeback, Sensex ends at record closing peak; 

>> Titan slumps 10% on weak Q2 nos, cut in guidance; 

>> Infosys ends over 2% higher as Nilekani assures action if whistleblower allegations proved; &

>> Cairn gets 10-year PSC extension for Ravva block in Andhra Pradesh

News in detail:

Buying in private banks and IT major Infosys propelled the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex to end at a record closing peak of 40,469.78, up 222 points or 0.55 per cent on Wednesday. During the day, the index hit an all-time peak of 40,606.91 levels. Its NSE counterpart Nifty, too, rallied in the trade and reclaimed the crucial 12,000-mark during the session. The 50-share index, however, ended at 11,961, up 44 points or 0.37 per cent.

HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC, Infosys, Axis Bank, and L&T contributed the most to the Sensex's gain. ICICI Bank (up nearly 3 per cent) emerged as the top gainer on the index while Bharti Airtel (down over 3 per cent) was the biggest loser. During the day, ICICI Bank hit a new lifetime high of Rs 483.90 apiece. Among losers on the index, ONGC, Bajaj Finance, Reliance Industries (RIL), and Maruti - all slipped around a per cent each.  

Market breadth was marginally tilted in favour of sellers as out of 2,702 companies traded on the BSE, 1,283 declined and 1,221 advanced while 198 remained unchanged. 

In the broader market, both small and midcap indices underperformed the benchmarks. The S&P BSE MidCap index ended 0.15 per cent higher at 14,746 levels while the S&P BSE SmallCap index slipped 0.36 per cent to settle at 13,473.

Among the sectoral indices on the NSE, realty stocks advanced the most with Nifty Realty index surging over 2 per cent to 273.85 levels after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the Centre is working with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) towards tweaking the existing laws to make them conducive for the real estate sector. Nifty Private Bank (up around 1.50 per cent) came second on the list. Nifty Bank index rallied over 1 per cent to 30,591-mark. On the downside, PSU banks slipped the most, followed by media and auto counters. Nifty PSU Bank index lost around a per cent to end at 2,516.  

Stocks that made news today: 

Infosys ended over 2 per cent higher at Rs 712.30 apiece on the BSE after the non-executive chairman Nandan Nilekani, during the company's concall, told investors that the company would take action if the allegations against it are substantiated. 

Shares of Titan Company slipped 10 per cent to Rs 1,156 during the session after the company reported a disappointing set of numbers for September quarter (Q2FY2) due to higher gold prices and weakness in the overall consumption.

Shares of Sun Pharma surged as much as 5.37 per cent to Rs 453 during the day after the company announced it has entered into a licensing agreement with AstraZeneca UK Ltd. (AstraZeneca) to introduce certain novel ready-to-use (RTU) infusion oncology products in China. The stock, however, pared all its gains later in the day to end at Rs 427.55 apiece on the BSE, down over half a per cent.

Global markets:

Asian shares fell on Wednesday for the first time in four trading sessions as investors awaited new developments that might scale back a bruising trade war between the United States and China. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.12 per cent. Australian shares were down 0.55 per cent, Chinese stocks fell 0.25 per cent, Japan's Nikkei stock index rose 0.21 per cent.

In Europe, the pan-region Euro Stoxx 50 futures were down 0.03 per cent, German DAX futures were down 0.06 per cent, while FTSE futures were down 0.29 per cent.

In the US, stock futures edged up. 

In commodities, oil prices slipped after three-day rally on larger-than-expected US crude build.