The market ended with decent gains, backed by firmness in banks shares, as investors shifted their focus to September quarter earnings season. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 297.38 points or 0.85% to 35,162.48, as per the provisional closing data. The Nifty 50 index rose 72.25 points or 0.69% to 10,584.75, as per the provisional closing data. The Sensex provisionally ended above the psychologically important 35,000 mark.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On BSE, 1,777 shares rose and 870 shares fell. A total of 157 shares were unchanged.
Mahindra & Mahindra (up 3.93%), Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone (up 3.93%), ONGC (up 3.41%), State Bank of India (up 2.77%), Reliance Industries (up 2.18%) and Axis Bank (up 2.10%), were the major Sensex gainers.
HDFC Bank (down 0.71%), Maruti Suzuki India (down 0.67%), Bajaj Auto (down 0.6%), Power Grid Corporation of India (down 0.42%), NTPC (down 0.4%) and Wipro (down 0.27%), were the major Sensex losers.
ICICI Bank was up 3.03%. The bank announced today that the Reserve bank of India (RBI) has approved the appointment of Sandeep Bakhshi as managing director & CEO of the bank for a period of three years with effect from 15 October 2018.
IT major Infosys was down 0.87%. The company will announce Q2 results today, 16 October 2018.
Two-wheeler major Hero MotoCorp was up 0.45%. The company will announce Q2 results today, 16 October 2018.
South Indian Bank was up 16.35%. Net profit of South Indian Bank rose 1523.38% to Rs 70.13 crore on 2.08% rise in total income to Rs 1854.40 crore in Q2 September 2018 over Q2 September 2017. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 15 October 2018.
On the macro front, India's merchandise trade deficit during April-September 2018 was reported at $94.32 billion and $13.98 billion in September 2018, which is the lowest in last 5 months, despite high oil prices.
Merchandise exports in September 2018 exhibited a positive growth of 9.65% in Rupee terms. In dollar terms there was a marginal negative growth in merchandise exports of 2.15% in September 2018. In the first six months (April-September 2018), merchandise exports exhibited a positive growth of 19.93% in Rupee terms and 12.54% in US$ terms over same period last year.
Imports during April-September 2018 exhibited a positive growth of 16.16% in US$ terms. In September 2018, imports exhibited a positive growth of 10.45% in US$ terms (which is the lowest in last 5 months) and 23.78 in Rupee terms.
Overseas, shares in Europe and Asia were mixed Tuesday, as escalating tensions between Saudi Arabia and the West exacerbate geopolitical concerns and limit gains.
Market focus is still focused on the disappearance of a prominent journalist critical of Saudi Arabia's policies earlier this month. The disappearance has triggered international outcry against the OPEC kingpin, rattling financial markets. Jamal Khashoggi a US resident and prominent critic of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman disappeared after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey on 2 October 2018. Turkish authorities claim Khashoggi was murdered and his body removed. Saudi Arabia has fiercely denied that.
China's consumer inflation in September rose 2.5% compared to a year ago and 0.7% higher than August, government data on Tuesday showed.
In US, major benchmarks closed lower Monday as tech weakness prevented stocks from holding on to earlier gains. Investors also remained cautious following last week's equity-market rout, sparked in part by rising US interest rates.
On the data front, US retail sales rose 0.1% in September, less than expected. Excluding car sales, the figure remained flat last month. The Empire State Index meanwhile rose 2.1 points to 21.1 in October, compared with 19 previously. Business inventories for August rose 0.5%.
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