Indices trim early gains; breadth positive

The key equity benchmarks trimmed gains in early trade after an initial upmove. At 09:34 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 49.92 points or 0.08% to 61,210.04. The Nifty 50 index added 3.30 points or 0.02% to 18,263.30.

Among the Nifty 50 stocks, ONGC (up 2.68%), IOC (up 1.88%), Tata Motors (up 1.74%), Hindalco Industries (up 1.39%) and Mahindra & Mahindra (up 0.75%) were the top gainers.

Meanwhile, Tech Mahindra (down 0.38%), TCS (down 0.30%), Bharti Airtel (down 0.20%), SBI Life Insurance Company (down 0.24%) and Reliance Industries (down 0.12%) were the top index losers.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index lost 0.30% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 0.20%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On the BSE, 1373 shares rose and 1185 shares fell. A total of 103 shares were unchanged.

Results Today:

Asian Paints (down 0.36%), JSW Steel (up 0.50%), Biocon (up 1.08%), IDBI Bank (down 0.62%), LIC Housing Finance (up 0.59%), Mphasis (down 1.32%), Indian Energy Exchange (down 0.69%), Borosil Renewables (down 5%), TVS Motor Company (down 0.21%), ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company (up 0.60%) and Indiamart Intermesh (down 0.61%), will announce their quarterly results today.

Further, CG Power and Industrial Solutions (down 0.62%), Container Corporation of India (down 0.10%), Heritage Foods (down 0.10%), ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company (up 0.60%), Indian Hotels Co. (up 0.77%), Tanla Platforms (up 3.66%), Trident (up 1.62%) and VST Industries (down 0.27%) will release their earnings for the quarter ended 30 September 2021 today.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Tata Communications added 3.44% to Rs 1495.75. The company reported 10.6% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 425 crore on 5.2% fall in revenue to Rs 4174 crore in Q2FY22 over in Q2FY21.

L&T Finance Holdings slumped 4.26% to Rs 87.55. The company reported consolidated profit of Rs 222.99 crore in Q2FY22 against Rs 247.72 crore in Q2FY21. Total income stood at Rs 3134.46 crore in Q2FY22, declining from Rs 3508.91 crore in Q2FY21.

Angel Broking gained 2.50% to Rs 1431.45. The company reported 80% rise in consolidated adjusted profit to Rs 134.30 crore in Q2FY22 against Rs 74.6 crore in Q2FY21. Total income jumped 69.3% to Rs 538.20 crore from Rs 317.90 crore YoY.

PNB Housing Finance hit a lower circuit of 5% at Rs 520.60. The company said that its board will on 2 November 2021 consider plans to raise funds via issuance of non-convertible debentures on private placement basis aggregating up to Rs 2,000 crore in tranches.

Global markets:

Asian stocks are trading mixed on Thursday as investors weighed corporate earnings, elevated inflation and risks from China's property sector. Evergrande shares dropped sharply on Thursday, returning to trade on Thursday after a halt that lasted more than two weeks.

Evergrande said on Wednesday it had scrapped a deal to sell a 50.1% stake in Evergrande Property Services Group Ltd to Hopson Development Holdings Ltd as the smaller rival had not met the prerequisite to make a general offer.

In US, the S&P 500 and the Dow climbed on Wednesday with the Dow hitting an intraday record high as investors eyed better than expected third-quarter earnings from U.S. companies.

On the macro front, the Beige Book, a compilation of anecdotal evidence on economic conditions in each of the twelve Fed districts, attributed the slowdown to supply chain disruptions, labor shortages, and uncertainty around the Delta variant of COVID-19. The Fed also said employment increased at a modest to moderate rate in recent weeks, as demand for workers was high, but labor growth was dampened by a low supply of workers.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)