Sensex ends 300 points higher, Nifty at 11,834; Wipro, Cipla, TCS top performers

Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty closed higher for the six straight session on Thursday, tracking positive cues from global equities. With the start of September quarter earnings season, the 30-share benchmark BSE Sensex ended 303 points higher at 40,182 and NSE Nifty50 index gained 95 points to 11,834. Yesterday, the 30-share benchmark BSE Sensex ended 304 points higher at 39,878 and NSE Nifty50 index gained 76 points to 11,738.

HCL Tech, TCS, Infosys and Tech Mahindra were among the top gainers on both BSE and NSE today. On the other hand, Bajaj Auto, GAIL, ONGC, Indian Oil and Asian Paints were among the top losers today.

On the sectoral front, barring FMCG and media index, all the other indices closed bullish today, with over 3% rise in IT, followed by over 2% gain in pharma and almost 1% rise in banking stocks.

The domestic market opened majorly bullish, although gave up gains later as investors turned cautious ahead of the RBI Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decision on Friday.

The RBI MPC meeting is scheduled from 7 to 9 October 2020. RBI is expected to keep key interest rates unchanged to maintain low inflation amid the pandemic induced recession. Investors will also be keenly awaiting the central bank's guidance on how the economy is performing amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Ajit Mishra, VP - Research, Religare Broking said,"The robust results from the IT major, TCS, boosted the sentiment and that reflected in other IT majors too. Participants will now be eyeing the outcome of the MPC's policy meet scheduled tomorrow i.e. 9th October. It is widely expected that RBI would maintain the status quo on rates, however, the commentary on growth, moratorium and inflation would be actively tracked."

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services said," A good start to Q2 result led by the IT & Banking sector, along with positive announcements like buyback has lifted the market. At the same time, the expectation of a stimulus in India and the US has improved. Initially, the thought was that the domestic stimulus will be small due to weak fiscal position, which changed positively post few comments from government officials, and now the expectation has become bigger. The market is moving positively in-line with the enhancement of easy money policy & the corporate result."

Most Asian equities closed higher today, tracking an overnight surge on Wall Street. US stocks rose sharply yesterday after US President Donald Trump tweeted support for aid to airlines and other stimulus measures.

Overseas, the trend was mixed following news that intermediary aid has been provided before the final stimulus in the US, which is expected post the US elections.

Meanwhile, U.S. central bankers said on Wednesday that U.S. economy's most pressing need is for a new round of government spending. FOMC minutes showed officials' concerns over economic recovery as lack of White House fiscal aid.

S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP Securities said, "The BSE SENSEX vaulted past the 40k mark today morning powered by TCS and the IT biggies with good support from large Cement majors. Although the sector rotation did exhibit a polarised market, afternoon trade witnessed buying interest in Pharma despite profit-taking".

On Nifty technical outlook, Aamar Deo Singh-Head Advisory, Angel Broking said," Positive global cues, sharp rally in IT stocks along with move in Nifty heavyweight HDFC Bank, all contributed to today's move. Going forward, Nifty has support around the 11550-11600 zone whereas resistance on the upside is seen around 11900-12000 zone."

On the currency front, Indian rupee, the domestic currency benchmark strengthened by 9 paise to settle at 73.24 against the US dollar on Thursday, aided by positive domestic equities, capital fund inflows and weak American currency. Traders said gains were checked as investors turned cautious ahead of the RBI Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decision on Friday.

Anuj Gupta - DVP- Commodities and Currencies Research, Angel Broking said, "Yesterday, NSE USDINR OCT contract appreciated by 0.15 per cent and closed at 73.46 levels while the Dollar Index decreased by 0.1 per cent. India's services sector hit severely due to the over two-month-long pandemic-induced lockdown, neared recovery in September, with the PMI for services rising to 49.8 from 41.8 in August. US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell called for continued aggressive fiscal and monetary stimulus for an economic recovery that he said still has a long way to go.

On currency's technical outlook, he added," We are expecting appreciation in USDINR in short term and it may test 72.50 levels soon.

Worldwide, there were 363 lakh confirmed cases and 10.6 lakh deaths from COVID-19 outbreak. India's COVID-19 caseload breached the 68-lakh mark and the death toll from COVID-19 infections rose to 10.5 lakh, as of today.

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