An evening walk down Dalal Street | November sees a subdued start, Nifty fails to hold 10,400; midcaps outperform

First session of November 2018 began on a subdued note, with the Nifty ending below 10,400-mark.

Banks were the gainers during the session, while infrastructure and metals rose during trade as well. Pharmaceuticals, IT, and consumption names were the big losers in trade today.

However, there was some outperformance in the broader markets, with the Nifty Midcap index rising a percent.

“Nifty witnessed a breather after the yesterday's surge and settled almost unchanged in the end. Initially, it opened with an uptick, in reaction to the news that India jumped 23 spots in the World Bank's ease of doing business ranking and reached to 77th place. However, profit taking in select index majors capped upside. Mixed trend was witnessed on sectoral front wherein metal topped the gainers list and IT index settled at the bottom,” Jayant Manglik, President, Religare Broking said in a statement.

At the close of market hours, the Sensex closed down 10.08 points or 0.03% at 34431.97, while the Nifty ended lower by 6.10 points or 0.06% at 10380.50. The market breadth is positive as 1,590 shares advanced, against a decline of 990 shares, while 124 shares were unchanged.

Yes Bank, Axis Bank, and Hindalco were the top gainers, while Infosys, NTPC, HCL Tech and Dr Reddy’s Labs lost the most.

Lupin slipped more than 4 percent as the company reported weak set of numbers for the quarter ended September 2018.

HEG gained 1 percent after company's Q2 net profit jumped multi-fold to Rs 888.9 crore versus Rs 113.66 crore in the same quarter last fiscal.

Maruti Suzuki India reported tepid sales growth for October 2018 amid festive season, dented by marginal rise in domestic business and sharp fall in exports. The stock closed 1.5 percent higher.

Liquor maker United Spirits shares rallied nearly 8 percent as global brokerage house Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to overweight after strong earnings in September quarter.

Power cables manufacturer KEI Industries shares rallied 14 percent after the company reported healthy earnings growth for quarter ended September 2018.

Housing finance company HDFC has reported a healthy 24.71 percent on year growth in second quarter profit to Rs 2,467 crore, driven by income from stake sale in AMC business. The scrip ended half a percent lower.

Markets in Europe stocks were slightly positive as earnings trends drove the market. Stoxx 600 was up by 0.11 percent with most sectors trading in positive territory.

Meanwhile, markets in Asia were higher on Thursday. The Greater China markets saw gains, with the Shanghai composite advancing 0.13 percent to close at about 2,606.24 and the Shenzhen composite up by 0.934 percent to finish at around 1,306.31.

Investors continue to be cautious on the market, going ahead. "The recent steps to ease liquidity situation by the RBI has certainly improved the sentiment but sustainability of this rebound is still questionable. We reiterate our caution view on markets and suggest using further bounce to reduce leveraged positions," Manglik said.