Closing Bell: Nifty ends near 11,900, Sensex up 112 pts led by IT stocks

Taking Stock: Indices rise for 3rd straight session; Nifty fails to hold 11,900

The top gainers on the Nifty include HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra, Asian Paints and HDFC Bank. The losers pack includes names like Britannia, ONGC, GAIL and IOC.... Read More

Markets traded range bound and ended marginally higher amid weak global cues. The benchmark opened in the red but buying in the select index majors especially from IT and banking majors pared the losses in no time. It hovered range-bound thereafter and movement on the stock-specific front kept the participants busy.

Finally, The Nifty index settled at 11,897 levels. The broader markets too performed largely in line with the benchmark wherein both Midcap and Smallcap ended higher by 0.5% and 0.3% respectively. On the sector front, Realty, Telecom and IT were the top gainers whereas Oil & Gas, Power and FMCG ended in the red.

Markets are closely following global cues and indications are still mixed from that front. Despite the positive bias, we might continue to see volatile swings so traders should prefer hedged positions and maintain their focus on the selection of stocks.

The strength of Indian market is supported by the good Q2 results announced till date, in expectation of a further fiscal stimulus and drop in the rate of daily covid cases. Till date the optimism of the market is limited to blue-chips and sectors like IT & Banks. To improve the breadth of the market in the future, a lot will depend on the trend of Q2 result, which has a very positive view.

This buoyancy was also supported by global trend which faded due to lack of consensus in the US to sign a fiscal package before the election and no hope of talks between EU-UK. Volatility is expected going forward but market will maintain its optimism in-line with stock-wise Q2 result, size of the domestic stimulus and global developments.

Cipla has launched generic Nintedanib for the treatment of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF). Available as 100 mg and 150 mg capsules, it will be marketed under the brand name Nintib.

The markets have entered into a rangebound zone - between 11650 and 12050. For an impulsive move to trigger, we would need to get past one of these levels on the back of good volumes. Until then traders are advised to maintain caution.

: Indian indices rose for the third straight session on October 20 amid mixed global markets.

At close, the Sensex was up 112.77 points or 0.28% at 40544.37, and the Nifty was up 23.80 points or 0.20% at 11896.80. About 1344 shares have advanced, 1299 shares declined, and 157 shares are unchanged.

HCL Tech,Tech Mahindra, Asian Paints, HDFC Bank and Bharti Airtel were among major gainers on the Nifty, while losers included Britannia Industries, ONGC, GAIL, IOC and UPL.

On the sectoral front, IT index gained 1 percent followed by the pharma and auto, while energy, FMCG, metal and PSU bank indices closed in the red.

Nickel prices rallied to 11-month highs on Monday, and are now trading at $15,700. Robust demand from stainless steel mills is supporting this rally, in the backdrop of a lower dollar, and healthy industrial growth in China.

Nickel prices found additional support from delays in Indonesian production capacity expansion, which will result in short-term shortage of raw materials for the EV industry.

Nickel prices are likely to continue their positive move, while above the key support level of the 20-days EMA of $14,902. Meanwhile, a critical resistance could be seen around $15,755-$15,987 levels.

The company's consolidated net profit at Rs 72.8 crore versus Rs 14.5 crore and revenue was up 9 percent at Rs 989.3 crore versus Rs 908.4 crore, reported CNBC-TV18.

Oil prices fell on Tuesday on worries that a resurgence of coronavirus cases globally is stifling a recovery in fuel demand while growing Libyan output adds to already plentiful supply.

As per the BSE shareholding pattern the LIC has reduced its stake in the company to 8.87% in September quarter from 10.15% in June quarter. It has sold 3,74,36,314 share in the July-September quarter.

Happiest Minds is now a global systems integrator partner with Veridify Security. Veridify Security and Happiest Minds will collaborate globally to provide innovative public-key security solutions that will help customers accelerate time-to-market and lower IoT project deployment costs. The initial security and DOME deployments will focus on IoT, industrial, automotive, and building automation applications.

The company has posted Q2 net profit at Rs 2,009 crore, while revenue was at Rs 11,442 crore. It has declared interim dividend of Rs 14 per share.