Equity indices traded sideways with modest gains in mid-morning trade. The Nifty hovered near the crucial 11,400 mark. The undertone, however, was upbeat amid positive global cues.
At 11:26 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, added 289.53 points or 0.76% at 38,510.92. The Nifty 50 index added 85.25 points or 0.75% at 11,397.40.
Shares in the broader market were in demand. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index climbed 1% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rallied 1.47%.
The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1752 shares rose and 722 shares fell. A total of 150 shares were unchanged.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 268.46 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net sellers to the tune of Rs 672.23 crore in the Indian equity market on 20 August, provisional data showed.
COVID-19 Update:
Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 22,678,483 with 7,92,708 deaths. India reported 6,92,028 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 54,849 deaths while 21,58,946 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Metal index gained 0.71% to 2,556.80. The index has gained nearly 9% in seven days.
Steel Authority of India (up 4.79%), Coal India (up 1.41%), Hindustan Zinc (up 1.25%), Tata Steel (up 1.13%), JSW Steel (up 0.99%), Vedanta (up 0.89%) and Hindalco Industries (up 0.5%) were top gainers in metal space.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Strides Pharma Science jumped 6.6%. The pharmaceutical company announced that its step-down wholly owned subsidiary, Strides Pharma Global Pte, Singapore, received an approval for Ursodiol Tablets USP from the United States Food & Drug Administration (USFDA). Ursodiol tablets are indicated for the treatment of patients with Primary Biliary Cirrhosis (PBC).
Indian Overseas Bank advanced 3.15% to Rs 11.79 after the bank posted net profit of Rs 120.69 crore in Q1 June 2020 as compared with net loss of Rs 342.08 crore in Q1 June 2019. Total income rose 4.5% to Rs 5,233.63 crore in Q1 June 2020 over Q1 June 2019. The bank's provisions and contingencies dropped 16.26% to Rs 969.52 crore in Q1 FY21 over Rs 1,157.82 crore in Q1FY20. Provision Coverage Ratio (PCR) improved to 87.97% as on 30 June 2020 as against 72.24% as on 30 June 2019.
VA Tech Wabag surged 9.55% to Rs 200.80 after the company said its board will meet on 25 August 2020 to consider raising funds by issuing equity shares on a preferential basis.
Global Markets:
Overseas, Asian markets were trading higher on Friday after a tech-driven rally on Wall Street. In a media release announcing the quarterly results, Alibaba Group Chief Financial Officer Maggie Wu said the firm's "domestic core commerce business has fully recovered to pre-COVID-19 levels across the board."
In US, Nasdaq ended at a record high on Thursday, with the S&P 500 and Dow also rising, as gains in heavyweight tech stocks outweighed downbeat data that affirmed the Federal Reserve's view of a difficult road to economic recovery.
Gains in Apple Inc, Amazon.com Inc and Microsoft Corp underpinned a rally in Wall Street's three main indexes as investors bet the tech giants would ride out the economic crisis. Tesla Inc. shares gained more than 6% on Thursday to end at a record $2,001.83 and setting an intraday record of $2,021.99.
The Trump administration on Thursday reportedly declined to acknowledge any plans to meet with China over the Phase 1 trade deal after the commerce ministry in Beijing said bilateral talks would be held in the coming days to evaluate the agreement's progress.
Meanwhile, the latest figures, released Thursday by the Labor Department, showed the number of laid-off workers seeking U.S. unemployment benefits rose to 1.1 million last week after two weeks of declines. Jobless claims had fallen last week below 1 million for the first time since March, to 971,000.
Powered by Capital Market - Live News
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
