The equity market barometers were trading near day's high in afternoon trade. The Nifty traded above the 11,950 level. At 13:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 210.09 points or 0.52% at 40,458.32. The Sensex hit an all-time high of 40,538.54 in early afternoon trade.
The Nifty 50 index was up 50.30 points or 0.42% at 11,967.50. The Nifty is still 135.55 points, or 1.13% away from its all time high of 12,103.05 hit on 3 June 2019.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.45%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was down 0.11%.
The market breadth was almost even. On the BSE, 1156 shares rose and 1134 shares fell. A total of 173 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 36 stocks advanced while 14 stocks declined.
Economy:
Fitch Solutions has raised India's fiscal deficit forecast to 3.6% of the GDP for this fiscal year, from 3.4% previously, due to weak revenue collections resulting from sluggish economic growth and government's sweeping corporate tax rate cut.
Fitch said it was revising the fiscal deficit forecast as revenue collection is likely to fall far short of the projections in the FY2019/20 Union Budget due to weak goods and services tax (GST) and corporate income tax collections.
Stocks in spotlight:
Eicher Motors (up 1.96%), ICICI Bank (up 1.81%), Larsen & Toubro (up 1.74%), IndusInd Bank (up 1.62%) and Dr Reddy's Laboratories (up 1.54%) advanced.
Bharti Airtel (down 2.50%), HCL Technologies (down 0.84%), Indian Oil Corporation (down 0.73%), Tata Consultancy Services (down 0.71%) and State Bank of India (down 0.61%) declined.
Among Nifty companies, Cipla (up 2.61%) and Tata Steel (down 0.35%) will announce its Q2 September 2019 results today.
Titan Company slumped 9.49% to Rs 1162. The company lowered guidance of its jewellery business for the rest of the year due to weak consumer sentiment and high gold prices.
The company on Tuesday said that its consolidated net profit fell 1% to Rs 302.79 crore on a 1.7% rise in net sales to Rs 4600.71 crore in Q2 September 2019 over Q2 September 2018.
Standalone net profit rose 1.83% to Rs 320.16 crore on 0.4% rise in net sales to Rs 4,370.82 crore in Q2 September 2019 over Q2 September 2018.
IT major Infosys rose 2.18% to Rs 711 after the company said it strongly condemns the mischievous insinuations made by anonymous sources against the co-founders and former colleagues, suggesting their involvement in the recent whistleblower allegations.
According to Nandan Nilekani, chairman, Infosys, These speculations are appalling and seem to be aimed at tarnishing the image of some of the most accomplished and respected individuals. I have deep regard for the life-long contribution of all our cofounders. They have built this institution and have served this company selflessly and even today, remain committed to the long-term success of Infosys.
As previously stated, the audit committee has appointed an external law firm to conduct an independent investigation into the allegations made in the complaints. The firm will share the outcome of the investigation at the relevant time with all stakeholders, the company added in its statement issued during trading hours today, 6 November 2019.
Tech Mahindra rose 0.36% to Rs 775.90 after the company reported 17.2% rise in consolidated profit after tax to Rs 1124 crore on a 4.8% rise in revenue to Rs 9070 crore in Q2 September 2019 over Q1 June 2019.
EBITDA rose 14.2% to Rs 1501 crore while the EBITDA margins rose by 130 bps to 16.5% in Q2 September 2019 over Q1 June 2019.
Hero MotoCorp rose 1.06% to Rs 2692. The board of directors of Hero MotoCorp has considered and approved an investment of upto Rs 450 crore in its associate company, Hero FinCorp (HFCL) by subscribing to the issue of shares by way of private placement in one or more tranches.
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries gained 1.43% to Rs 436.05. The drug major and its subsidiaries and/or associate companies announced that it has entered into a licensing agreement with AstraZeneca UK (AstraZeneca) to introduce certain novel readyto-use (RTU) infusion oncology products in China. The agreement will help to bring cost effective and quality drugs to patients in China.
Vedanta rose 1.43% to Rs 159.65. The Government of India, acting through the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, has granted its approval for a 10-year extension of the production sharing contract (PSC) to Cairn Oil & Gas, Vedanta, for the Ravva block in Andhra Pradesh. With this extension, the PSC is now valid effective 28 October 2019, for the next 10 years.
Foreign markets:
European shares were trading lower while Asian stocks were trading mixed on Wednesday as investors awaited new developments toward scaling back a bruising trade war between the United States and China.
China is reportedly pressing U.S. President Donald Trump to roll back tariffs the U.S. imposed in September before a phase one trade deal is signed between the world's two biggest economies.
UN economists warned in a report on Tuesday that the Sino-U.S. trade war was a lose-lose situation, costing China $35 billion in the first half of this year while U.S. consumers and companies bore the brunt of the most expensive tariffs.
Meanwhile, media report on Tuesday suggested that finalizing a location for a meeting between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping has become another hurdle for the deal. However, traders are largely optimistic that the preliminary agreement could be signed as early as this month.
US stocks were mixed on Tuesday as investors paused in the wake of a rally buoyed by hopes of a trade deal between the United States and China that sent the three main U.S. stock indexes to record highs in the previous session.
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