Key equity benchmarks further extended gains and hit fresh intraday high in afternoon trade. At 13:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex jumped 283.03 points or 0.71% at 40,114.87. The Nifty 50 index also advanced 70.30 points or 0.60% at 11,857.15.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.57%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.52%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.
The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, shares 1,265 rose and 928 shares fell. A total of 174 shares were unchanged.
The Sensex is 197.20 points, or 0.49%, away from its all time high of 40,312.07 hit on 4 June 2019. The Nifty is 245.90 points, or 2.03%, away from its all time high of 12,103.05 hit on 3 June 2019.
Sentiment was upbeat amid speculations that the government is mulling over changes in income tax implications on equity investment. The media reported Tuesday that existing structures of long-term capital gains (LTCG) tax, the securities transaction tax (STT) and dividend distribution tax (DTT) are being reviewed by the Prime Minister's Office in consultation with the Finance Ministry's Revenue Department and NITI Aayog. The steps are likely to be announced before or in the February Union Budget.
A recent strong set of quarterly earnings from some frontline companies like ICICI Bank, Tata Motors and State Bank of India also underpinned sentiment.
Tata Chemicals (down 0.31%), Container Corporation of India (down 0.59%), Tata Global Beverages (up 1.65%), United Bank of India (up 11.46%) and Graphite India (down 0.31%) are set to announce their Q2 earnings today, 30 October 2019.
ITC (up 3.47%), State Bank of India (up 3.10%), GAIL (up 2.66%), Hindalco Industries (up 2.60%) and Infosys (up 2.42%) advanced.
Britannia Industries (down 2.15%), UPL (down 1.68%), Cipla (down 1.63%), Dr Reddy's Laboratories (down 1.62%) and Maruti Suzuki India (down 1.46%) declined.
Wipro rose 0.08% at Rs 255.60 after the company announced the opening of the next generation engineering and innovation center in Richmond, Virginia, to accelerate innovation for local startups and clients. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 29 October 2019.
Shares of Bharti Airtel rose 1.93% to Rs 366.90. Bharti Airtel reported a fall in its average revenue per user (ARPU) in the September quarter. The company recorded an ARPU of Rs 128 in the September quarter, down from Rs 129 in the June quarter.
Monthly subscriber churn - the percentage of users leaving the network - dropped to 2.1% from 2.6% in the previous quarter, while average data usage per customer jumped almost 10% on quarter and over 42% on year to 13.11 GB, while voice usage per customer fell 4.5% on quarter but rose 23.7% on year.
Airtel's revenue from mobile services in India was Rs 10,811 crore in the three months ended 30 September, up from Rs 10,724 crore in the June quarter. Its subscriber base grew from 276.81 million in the preceding quarter to 279.43 million in the September quarter.
The company, meanwhile, delayed its Q2 results from 29 October 2019 to 14 November 2019 as it requires more clarity on the annual gross revenue (AGR) matter arising out of recent judgement of the Supreme Court. The firm is approaching Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to seek clarity on the total amounts involved and request for them for their support to deal with the current situation.
Tata Motors was 0.38% lower to Rs 171.75 after surging 35.91% in the last two trading sessions after the company narrowed Q2 net loss.
On consolidated basis, Tata Motors reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 227.62 crore in Q2 September 2019, lower than the consolidated net loss of Rs 873.27 crore in Q2 September 2018. Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) improved its performance this quarter and delivered a well-rounded performance. In particular, the improvement in China on the back of better operational metrics is reassuring, the firm said.
Overseas, European stocks opened mixed while most stocks in Asia declined in Wednesday ahead of the US Federal Reserve's interest rate decision, set to be announced later stateside.
The US Fed began its two-day policy meeting yesterday, 29 October 2019 and interest rate decision will be announced today, 30 October 2019. The Fed is largely expected to slash interest rates by 25 basis points later this week. That would mark its third rate cut for this year.
Back in Europe, the UK has confirmed it will hold a general election on 12 December after Prime Minister Boris Johnson gained approval from Parliament Tuesday night.
U.S. stocks ended with small losses on Tuesday as trade headlines and a spate of corporate earnings weighed on shares.
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