Equity markets reversed their 3-day losing streak on the back of a strong buying in IT and select financial shares in the last hour of trade. That apart, green shoots of economic recovery further bolstered sentiment on the Street.
Goods and services tax (GST) collected in October, for instance, rose to Rs 1.3 trillion, which is 24 per cent higher than a year ago, and 36 per cent more than the collection in the pre-Covid year of 2019-20.
This is the second highest collection since the introduction of a new indirect regime in 2017. All time high collection figure was over Rs 1.40 trillion in April this year.
Separately, India's manufacturing activity continued to improve in October with the IHS Markit India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index climbing to 55.9, up from 53.7 in September and 52.3 in August. The upturn was sharp and the fastest in seven months. Similarly, factory output increased at a sharp pace that was the strongest since March.
Against this backdrop, the BSE Sensex reclaimed the 60,000-mark, and surged to a high of 60,220 during the day, before settling with a gain of 831 points at 60,138. The NSE Nifty, on the other hand, touched a high of 17,954, and ended 258 points higher at 17,930.
Among the Sensex 30 pack, IndusInd Bank zoomed 7.5 per cent to Rs 1,225 while Bharti Airtel finished with a solid gain of 4 per cent a day ahead of its Q2 results tomorrow. HCL Technologies, Tata Steel, Tech Mahindra , Dr.Reddy's, SBI, Kotak Bank and TCS were some of the other major gainers.
On the downside, Bajaj Finserv and Mahindra & Mahindra were the prominent losers, down around 1.5 per cent each.
Meanwhile, in the broader markets, the BSE Midcap index surged 1.8 per cent, while the Smallcap index moved up 1.1 per cent.
Among sectors, the BSE Realty index soared 3.7 per cent, while the Telecom and Metal indices surged around 3.5 per cent each. The IT index was up 2.3 per cent, and the Bankex jumped 1.8 per cent.
Even the Auto index gained over 1 per cent despite auto companies reporting mixed monthly sales figures for October. While Tata Motors said its total wholesales increased by 30 per cent YoY, Maruti Suzuki India reported a 24 per cent decline.
On the earnings front, shares of HDFC ended nearly 2 per cent higher after the country's largest mortgage lender reported a 32 per cent rise in standalone net profit to Rs 3,780 crore for the second quarter ended September 30. Its total income during the period rose to Rs 12,226.39 crore.
IRCTC, on the other hand, closed with gains of 1.6 per cent after the govt-owned entity reported a near five-fold increase in net profit to Rs 154.83 crores in the second quarter of financial year 2021-22. This was on the back of higher profit under ticketing revenue that touched Rs 220.34 crore in the period under review from Rs 61.34 crore in the same period a year ago.
Now, coming to result reactions for companies, whose numbers were released post market hours on Friday and over the weekend. First among them is Steel Authority of India. Shares of the company surged 13 per cent to Rs 130.35 on the BSE in Monday's intra-day trade after the company reported best-ever quarterly standalone profit after tax of Rs 4,304 crore for Q2FY22. It had posted Rs 393 crore net profit in the year-ago quarter. The shares ended 9 per cent higher on the BSE.
On the flipside, shares of Bandhan Bank dipped 7 per cent to Rs 272.55 on the BSE in today's intra-day trade after the bank reported net loss of Rs 3,009 crore in Q2FY22 on huge provisions of over Rs 4,600 crore for the bad loans and restructured advances. It had posted a net profit of Rs 920 crore in Q2FY21. The shares, however, trimmed losses and closed with a loss of around 1 per cent.
Now, let's take a look at the primary market action of the day. The three-day issue of Nykaa closed with an impressive oversubscription of over 80 times today. Fino Payments Bank, on the other hand, ended Day 2 of share sale with near 100 per cent subscription.
Meanwhile, among the three IPOs that opened today, Policybazaar's issue crossed the half-way mark by close while that of Sigachi Industries and SJS Engineering were subscribed over 9x and 30 per cent, respectively.
As regards Tuesday, market participants will track whether or not the momentum built during the later half of today's session will be sustained at the bourses. That apart, Bharti Airtel, Dabur, Godrej Properties, and HPCL are some of the prominent companies set to report their Q2 results tomorrow.
Globally, the US Federal Reserve will begin its two-day monetary policy meeting late on Tuesday with an outcome due on Wednesday.
 "Market Wrap Podcast, Nov 1: Here's all that happened in the markets today")
