Market Wrap, Oct 16: Here's all that happened in the markets today

Bulls took a sigh of relief on Friday as the market ended over 0.5 per cent higher a day after benchmark indices crashed over 2.5%. The S&P BSE Sensex ended 255 points, or 0.64 per cent higher at 39,983 levels amid buying in financial counters while the NSE's Nifty ended at 11,762 levels, up 82 points, or 0.7 per cent. India VIX declined nearly 2 per cent to 21.64 levels.

On a weekly basis, Sensex slipped 1.29% while Nifty shed 1.27%.

Tata Steel (up over 5%) ended as the biggest gainer on Sensex while HCL Tech (down 4%) was the biggest loser as investors booked profit. HDFC Bank, Infosys, ICICI Bank, and Axis Bank were the top constributors to the index's gains.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index gained 1 per cent to 14,621 points while the S&P BSE SmallCap index settled nearly 1 per cent higher at 14,787 levels.

Now, let's focus on the buzzing stocks of the day.

Shares of steel companies rallied in the trade on the expectation of demand recovery. JSW Steel hit a fresh 52-week high. The Nifty Metal index ended nearly 4% higher.

Shares of UPL slipped 8 per cent after KPMG resigned as the auditor with effect from October 8 for the company’s material arm in Mauritius - UPL Corporation, in order to re-organise the Audit Process to improve productivity, at the request of the company.

Mindtree settled nearly 7 per cent lower at Rs 1,331 on the BSE as the company missed analysts' estimates on the revenue front. Further, softening trends in top clients, too, weighed on the investor sentiment.

Now, let's take a look at the global markets.

Financial markets remained shaky on Friday as hopes for a new round of US fiscal stimulus met fears that social restrictions to tackle the coronavirus pandemic would undermine the economic recovery.

Oil prices and Asian stocks slid, but European stocks recovered in morning trading after sharp losses the day before.

Germany’s 10-year bond yield was set for its biggest weekly drop since August as doubts grew about the economic recovery in the euro zone.