An evening walk down Dalal Street | Indices see good follow-through to previous close; Nifty ends above 10,500

HDFC Bank provided major support to the Bank Nifty, while ICICI Bank was a drag on the index.

However, the highlight of the day was the performance of midcaps segment. The Nifty Midcap ended a percent higher, outperforming the benchmarks.

As such, it was a volatile day of trade, which began on a subdued note. Rangebound moves dominated in the first hour of trade, followed by some surge on the benchmarks. Heavyweights such as Reliance, Infosys and HDFC twins provided support to Sensex and the Nifty.

But traders looked to build on gains in the last hour, thereby helping key indices close with additions of over one-third of a percent.

At the close of market hours, the Sensex ended up 131.52 points or 0.38% at 34865.10, while the Nifty rose 40 points or 0.38% at 10512.50. The market breadth is positive as 1,637 shares advanced, against a decline of 965 shares, while 895 shares were unchanged.

Infosys, ITC, Dr Reddy’s and Cipla were the top gainers, while Mahindra & Mahindra, HUL, and Bajaj Finserv lost the most.

“The market traded in a rangebound manner and ended on a positive note. However negative sentiments over a slowing world economy due to trade war and rising cost of funds is continuing to impact the market. The rupee continued to be under pressure as oil prices started to move-up due to sudden spurt in tension between US & Saudi Arabia,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services said in a statement.

Stocks in News

IndusInd Bank’s shares fell over a percent after the lender reported 5 percent rise in its net profit for September quarter at Rs 920.25 crore, dented by sharp rise in provisions. Net interest income grew by 21 percent year-on-year to Rs 2,203.28 crore in Q2.

Shares of IT major, Infosys, rose around 3 percent ahead of its September quarter results’ announcements on October 16, 2018.

Dr Reddy’s Laboratories rose nearly 5 percent as the firm announced the sale of its API manufacturing business unit.

Avenue Supermarts, the operator of DMart chain of stores in India, declined 6 percent despite better numbers posted by the company for the quarter ended September 2018 (Q2FY19).

Info Edge India stock rose 2% after Zomato signed an agreement for USD 210 million fund from Alibaba.

Sugar stocks continued to witness buying interest on Monday after a media report indicated that the government is planning to provide funding to set up an ethanol plant. Uttam Sugar, Dalmia Sugar, Dwarikesh Sugar, Ponni Sugars (E), KCP Sugar, Bannariamman, Bajaj Hindusthan, Andhra Sugar, EID Parry and Balrampur Chini rallied 5-20 percent.

GSS Infotech share price rallied 12 percent after its subsidiary acquired a company in the US which works in automation business.

Textile-to-paper manufacturer Trident has reported healthy growth in earnings for the quarter ended September 2018 as profit more than doubled to Rs 109.1 crore from Rs 50.9 crore in same period last fiscal despite big forex loss. The growth was driven by strong operational growth. The stock ended 20 percent higher.

Global Markets

Shares in Europe were lower as investors continued to be wary of Brexit talks, and slowdown in Chinese economy, among others, weighed on indices. Stoxx 600 was down around 0.3 percent.

Meanwhile, Asian markets fell as caution continued amid losses in global markets. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong fell by around 1.32 percent. Meanwhile, the Shanghai composite also slipped by 1.49 percent to close at around 2,568.10.

Going forward, experts ask investors to watch out for earnings-related moves on D-Street.

“Earnings will dictate the market trend in near future. Besides, currency movement and indications from global markets will also remain on participants' radar. Traders should prefer stock specific trading approach and focus more on trade management aspects,” Jayant Manglik, President of Religare Broking said in a statement.