Sensex Opens Higher; Telecom and Consumer Durable Stocks Lead

Fri, 23 Oct 09:30 am | Yash Vora, TM Team

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Asian stock markets are trading on a mixed note today after positive US economic data and signs of progress in stimulus talks in Washington lifted Wall Street benchmarks.

The Hang Seng is trading up by 0.6% and the Shanghai Composite is trading up by 0.1%.

In US, Wall Street indices closed higher as traders weighed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's latest remarks on the US fiscal stimulus negotiations. Pelosi said a deal on new coronavirus aid was "just about there."

Investors also took cues from better-than-expected weekly jobless claims. New US weekly jobless claims totaled 787,000 last week, coming in below the median economist estimate of 870,000.

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up by 0.5%, while the Nasdaq gained 0.2%.

Back home, Indian share markets have opened the day on a positive note.

Housing finance companies (HFCs) are in focus today as the RBI has asked HFCs to deploy at least 60% of their net assets in the business of providing finance for housing, and those who still don't have that ratio, must do so in a phased manner by March 31, 2024.

The BSE Sensex is trading up by 171 points. The NSE Nifty is trading higher by 57 points.

Tata Steel and Maruti Suzuki are among the top gainers today. Infosys, on the other hand, is among the top losers today.

The BSE Mid Cap index has opened up by 0.6%. The BSE Small Cap index opened up by 0.7%.

Sectoral indices are trading mixed with stocks in the IT sector witnessing selling pressure. Telecom stocks, on the other hand, are trading in green.

The rupee is trading at 73.66 against the US$.

Gold prices are trading up by 0.1% at Rs 50,823 per 10 grams.

Speaking of the current stock market scenario, note that Indian share markets have climbed back to their highest levels since the pandemic began.

The Sensex breached the 40,000-mark earlier this month. Meanwhile, the Nifty went past the 12,000-mark last week.

The smallcap index is up more than 60% since 23 March.

As per Richa Agarwal, lead smallcap analyst at Equitymaster, there could still be a lot of steam left to this smallcap rebound rally.

Have a look at the history of previous smallcap crashes and rebounds over the last two decades...

As you can see, every big fall in the smallcap index was followed by a sharp up move, a minimum gain 200%. Twice the rebounds were just shy of touching 300%.

Richa believes if you focus on the quality of business, margin of safety in valuations, and an optimum asset allocation, you are likely to create huge wealth for yourself.

In news from the automobile sector, Bajaj Auto is among the top buzzing stocks today.

Bajaj Auto on Thursday posted an 18.8% year-on-year (YoY) drop in net profit at Rs 11.4 billion for the quarter ended September 30.

The auto major had reported a profit of Rs 14 billion in the corresponding quarter last year.

Total revenue from operations declined 7.2% YoY to Rs 71.6 billion. Operating profit stood flat at Rs 12.3 billion.

The auto major sold 1,053,337 units in Q2FY21, down 10% YoY, against 1,173,591 units in Q2FY20.

On the other hand, the company witnessed 6% growth in two-wheeler sales at 5,50,195 units in the domestic market.

However, total two-wheelers sales and commercial vehicles sales including exports witnessed a fall of 2% and 53%, respectively.

Bajaj Auto share price has opened the day up by 0.2%.

To know more, you can read Bajaj Auto's Q2FY21 result analysis on our website.

Moving on to news from the pharma sector, Alembic Pharma's joint venture firm Aleor Dermaceuticals has received approval from the US Food & Drug Administration (USFDA) and other US health regulators under Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for Tavaborole Topical Solution.

The drug is used as an oxaborole antifungal indicated for the treatment of onychomycosis of the toenails due to Trichophyton rubrum or Trichophyton mentagrophytes.

In an official press release, the company informed that its approved ANDA is therapeutically equivalent to the reference listed drug product (RLD), Topical Solution, 5%.

Alembic Pharma share price has opened the day up by 0.7%.

In other news, the DCGI has granted permission to pharma giant Dr Reddy's Laboratories for conducting Russian Sputnik V vaccine against Covid-19 in India on 100 volunteers.

News agency Sputnik quoted the organization as saying that the vaccine will be tested in the second phase of its clinical trials before moving on to phase 3.

Last week, the expert committee of DCGI had recommended granting permission to Dr Reddy's Laboratories for conducting phase 2 clinical trials of Russian COVID-19 vaccine candidate, Sputnik V, in India.

How the above developments pan out remains to be seen, Meanwhile, we will keep you updated on the latest developments from this space.

To know what's moving the Indian stock markets today, check out the most recent share market updates here.

For information on how to pick stocks that have the potential to deliver big returns, download our special report now!

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