Barometers trade with major gains; metal shares shine

The headline equity benchmarks traded with significant gains in mid-afternoon trade. The Nifty traded above the 25,100 level after hitting the days low of 24,896.80 in morning trade. Metal shares advanced after declining in the past two consecutive trading sessions.

At 14:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, jumped 575.49 points or 0.71% to 82,135.03. The Nifty 50 index gained 170.65 points or 0.68% to 25,107.05.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.82% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 1.41%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,625 shares rose and 1,265 shares fell. A total of 118 shares were unchanged.

 

Economy:

The GST Council has slashed the GST rate on cancer drugs from 12% to 5% to ease the financial burden on patients. It also reduced GST on selected snacks and exempted research funds for universities. A GoM has been formed to explore reducing tax rates on life and health insurance, and another to address compensation cess. The council received status reports on rate rationalization, real estate, and online gaming. Car seat GST increased to 28%, while RMPU air conditioners for railways and approved flying training courses were exempted from GST.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index rose 1.13% to 9,201.75. The index fell 1.23% in past two consecutive trading sessions.

National Aluminium Company (up 3.10%), Jindal Stainless (up 2.73%), Jindal Steel & Power (up 2.37%), NMDC (up 1.88%), Steel Authority of India (up 1.88%), APL Apollo Tubes (up 1.82%), Hindustan Copper (up 1.76%), Welspun Corp (up 1.13%), Adani Enterprises (up 1.04%) and Tata Steel (up 0.94%) advanced.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper rose 0.01% to 6.969 as compared with previous close 6.968.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 83.9750, compared with its close of 83.9550 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 4 October 2024 settlement added 0.02% to Rs 71,627.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.11% to 101.66.

The United States 10-year bond yield added 0.60% to 3.720.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for November 2024 settlement fell 48 cents or 0.67% to $71.36 a barrel.

Stocks in Spotlight :

SJVN jumped 4.67% after the company announced the signing of an MoU with GMR Upper Karnali Hydro Power and IREDA for development of Upper Karnali Hydro Electric Project (900 MW) in Nepal.

IRB Infrastructure Developers rose 0.79%. The company's toll collection jumped 20.46% to Rs 502.6 crore in August 2024 as against Rs 417.2 crore posted in August 2023.

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