Rs 1.15 lakh crore added! Private lenders drive Sensex 500 pts higher

NEW DELHI: Reliance Industries remained depressed on Tuesday but bank and financials saw heavy buying, taking benchmark indices higher for the second consecutive session.

Firm global cues, improvement in PMI index and expectation of a favourable verdict from the Supreme Court in loan moratorium case supported the sentiments. Volatility came down but remained relatively elevated ahead of the US election outcome.

The 30-share pack Sensex 503.55 points or 1.27 per cent to 40,261.13. Its broader peer, 50-share NSE Nifty advanced 144.35 points or 1.24 per cent to 11,813.50.

Investors became richer by Rs 1.15 lakh crore at the end of the day as the total market cap of BSE-listed firms rose to Rs 158.33 lakh crore.

Market at a glance:

• ICICI Bank top largecap gainer for second day on Q2 show
• RIL continues to be a drag as investors dump stocks, down 1%
• NTPC plunges 4% after Sept quarter numbers disappoint
• India VIX, indicator of volatility, drops 4% to 24.24
• SC defers loan moratorium hearing to Nov 5
• 92 stocks hit 52-week highs: Adani Gas, Adani Enterprises, APL Apollo, Havells, Cadila among top names

"Market maintained its momentum supported by increased demand for banking stocks due to improvement in business outlook. Globally too, the market was on a strong footing as the US manufacturing data surpassed expectations and a similar rebound was seen across Europe and China,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Among the bluechip names, ICICI Bank climbed 6.72 per cent to Rs 445.50. It was followed by Hindalco, SBI, Power Grid, HDFC, Sun Pharma, Hero Moto, Eicher Motors and SBI Life Insurance that gained 3-5 per cent.

UPL was the biggest loser in the Nifty index, down 6.61 per cent to Rs 415.90. NTPC, Reliance Industries, Nestle India, HUL, Adani Ports, HCL Tech and Infosys were among the next biggest losers, falling 1-4 per cent.

Broader market indices also gained but underperformed their headline peers. Nifty Smallcap was up 0.07 per cent and Nifty Midcap rose 0.7 per cent. Nifty 500, the broadest index on NSE, advanced 1.05 per cent.

Emami, Navin Fluorine International, Jindal Steel, Trident, Kaveri Seeds Company and Suven Pharma were among the top gainers from mid and smallcap indices, up in the range of 5-10 per cent.

Strides Pharma, IRB Infrastructure Developers, Laurus Labs, Godrej Properties, Edelweiss Financial Services and Gujarat State Petronet were top losers from broader market space, falling 3-9 per cent.
Sectorally, Nifty Bank was the biggest gainer, up 3.17 per cent followed by Nifty Auto and Nifty Private Bank that advanced more than 3 per cent as well. Nifty Realty was the biggest loser, down 2.32 per cent while Nifty Media slid 0.33 per cent.

Market breadth was in favour of the gainers as 1,410 stocks ended in the green, while 1,229 names settled with cuts. As many as 92 securities hit 52-week highs, mostly from the smallcap space. Meanwhile, 60 names hit 52-week lows, mostly from the microcap space. About 195 stocks hit upper circuit limits and 217 lower circuit limits.

European markets also saw heavy buying. London’s FTSE was up 1.87 per cent, Paris’ CAC 2.28 per cent and Germany’s DAX climbed 1.99 per cent. All Asian markets closed with gains too. Singapore was the biggest gainer, up 2.21 per cent.

Let’s prepare for tomorrow:

• US elections: All eyes will be on the voting and outcome of US elections as a clarity on who will lead the country for next four years will bring down volatility in the market.

• Macro data: IHS Markit will release Services PMI data for the month of October that will be tracked by investors.

• US Fed meet: The US Federal Reserve will sit on Wednesday for two-day FOMC meeting to decide the monetary policy.