Benchmark indices pared gains in afternoon trade as investors continued to book profits. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 246.22 points or 0.61% at 40,428.89. The Nifty 50 index gained 61.30 points or 0.52% at 11,895.90.
Banks and financial stocks were trading firm. HDFC Bank (up 2.66%), ICICI Bank (up 2.61%) and HDFC (up 2.01%) were the major contributors to the index.
The broader markets traded with losses. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.19%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index lost 0.34%.
Sellers outnumbered buyers. On the BSE, 1,120 shares rose and 1,381 shares fell. A total of 140 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 22 stocks advanced while 28 stocks declined.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 978.37 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net buyers to the tune of Rs 19.85 crore in the Indian equity market on 8 October 2020, provisional data showed.
COVID-19 Update:
Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 3,65,16,788 with 10,61,888 deaths. India reported 8,93,592 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,06,490 deaths while 59,06,069 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
Economy:
RBI's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to hold key policy rates at existing levels. Three new external members in the panel voted in today's decision. The repo rate, the interest rate at which it lends short-term funds to commercial lenders, was retained at 4%. Consequently, the reverse repo rate, at which the RBI borrows from lenders, remained unchanged at 3.35%. The central bank retained its "accommodative" stance on monetary policy to support the coronavirus-hit economy.
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das said that India's GDP growth will contract by 9.5% in fiscal 2021 due to disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic that has hit economic activities. However, the GDP growth rate may break out of contraction and turn positive during January-March due to recovery seen across sectors, he added.
Gainers & Losers:
Larsen & Toubro (L&T) (up 3.51%), BPCL (up 2.57%) and Axis Bank (up 2.43%) were major gainers in Nifty 50 index.
Grasim Industries (down 3.32%), UPL (down 1.80%), SBI Life Insurance Company (down 1.76%), Nestle India (down 1.69%) and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (down 1.55%) were major losers in Nifty 50 index.
Results Today:
Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers (down 1.80%) will announce its quarterly earnings today.
Earnings Impact:
Steel Strips Wheels jumped 7.45% after the company's net profit jumped 82.55% to Rs 14.02 crore on a 11.78% rise in revenue from operations to Rs 404.73 crore in Q2 FY21 over Q2 FY20.
"The company has resumed domestic and export sales, the demand in business will turnaround post COVID with robust growth expected going forward," SSWL said in its notes to accounts.
Stocks in Spotlight:
5paisa Capital advanced 2.13% after the company reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 2.84 crore in Q2 September 2020 as against a net loss of Rs 3.51 crore in Q2 September 2019. Total income during the quarter surged 126.13% to Rs 52.62 crore in from Rs 23.27 crore reported in the same period last year. Interest income increased by 242.14% to Rs 15.02 crore while the income from fees and commissions jumped 97.87% to Rs 37.32 crore in Q2 FY21 over Q2 FY20.
CreditAccess Grameen rose 1.26% after the company said it raised about Rs 799.99 crore through qualified institutional placement (QIP) of 1.13 crore equity shares at Rs 707 each. The issue price is at 0.1% discount to the QIP floor price of Rs 707.69 per equity share. The QIP issue opened on 5 October 2020 and closed on 8 October 2020.
JSW Steel fell 0.02%. The steel major's crude steel production rose 30% to 3.85 million tonnes (MnT) in Q2 FY21 as against 2.96 MnT in Q1 FY21. The company said it achieved average capacity utilisation of 86% in Q2 FY21 in line with pre COVID-19 level of 85% in Q2 FY20. This is higher from capacity utilisation of 66% for Q1 FY21, which was impacted by the pandemic.
Sequentially, rolled products (flat) production jumped 38% to 2.84 MnT in Q2 FY21 as against 2.05 MnT in Q1 FY21. Rolled products (long) production jumped 69% to 0.77 MnT during the quarter compared with 0.45 MnT achieved in the previous quarter. On a year-on-year (Y-o-Y) basis, crude steel production was almost flat compared with 3.84 MnT in Q2 FY20. Rolled products (flat) production jumped 5% to 2.84 MnT in Q2 FY21 as against 2.71 MnT in Q2 FY20. Rolled products (long) production slipped 7% to 0.77 MnT during the quarter compared with 0.82 MnT in the corresponding quarter last year.
Tata Steel gained 0.37%. The company said it achieved the highest ever quarterly deliveries of 5.05 million tons in India. The company's production volume rose 2% to 4.59 million tonnes while the delivery volumes jumped 22.28% to 5.05 million tonnes in Q2 FY21 over Q2 FY20. In India, in Q2 FY21, overall apparent steel consumption was down by 7.5% year-on-year (YoY) while crude steel production was down by 1.9% YoY. In this environment, Tata Steel India ramped up its steelmaking and downstream operations back to pre-COVID level, with all major sites operating at around full capacity utilization.
Global Markets:
Most shares in Europe and Asia traded higher. Stocks in mainland China climbed as they returned to trade on Friday from holidays. Markets in South Korea and Taiwan are closed on Friday for holidays.
A private survey showed services sector activity in China expanding in September. The Caixin/Markit services Purchasing Managers' Index for September came in at 54.8.
In US, stocks ended higher on Thursday as comments by U.S. President Donald Trump fueled hopes of fresh fiscal support, while data underscored the view that the labor market recovery was struggling to gain momentum.
Investor focused on ongoing developments regarding potential new fiscal stimulus stateside. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spoke on Thursday about a broad coronavirus stimulus plan, after U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of talks earlier in the week and called for stand-alone bills.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits totaled a seasonally adjusted 840,000 for the week ended 3 October 2020, compared with an upwardly revised 849,000 in the prior week, the Labor Department said on Thursday.
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