Benchmarks near day's low; auto stocks decline

Key equity benchmarks were trading near the day's low in mid-afternoon trade. At 14:27 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 207 points or 0.51% at 40,500.31. The Nifty 50 index lost 57.10 points or 0.48% to 11,880.55.

Domestic shares mirrored weakness in other global stock markets. Investor sentiment was hit after US President Donald Trump on Wednesday accused Democrats of being unwilling to craft an acceptable compromise on stimulus, following reports of progress earlier in the day.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 0.28% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.33%. Both these indices outperformed the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1313 shares rose and 1234 shares fell. A total of 147 shares were unchanged.

Numbers to Track:

In the foreign exchange market, the partially convertible rupee rose to 73.54 compared with its previous closing 73.58.

The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper remained flat at 5.912%.

MCX Gold futures for 04 December 2020 settlement lost 0.45% to Rs 51,100.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for December 2020 settlement gained 21 cents to $41.94 a barrel. The contract tumbled 3.31% or $1.43 to settle at $43.16 in the previous trading session.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Auto index declined 0.61% to 7,830.35. The index has lost 0.84% in two sessions.

Bharat Forge (up 1.40%) and Tata Motors (up 1.15%) advanced while Hero MotoCorp (down 3.24%), Eicher Motors (down 1.44%) and TVS Motor Company (down 1.40%) declined.

Bajaj Auto was almost flat at Rs 3017.10. The company's consolidated net profit fell 21.62% to Rs 1,193.97 crore on 7.15% decrease in total revenue from operations to Rs 7,155.86 crore in Q2 September 2020 over Q2 September 2019. Profit before tax (PBT) skid 10.92% to Rs 1,540.83 crore in Q2 September 2020 as against Rs 1,729.81 crore in Q2 September 2019. Total tax expense for the quarter jumped 68% to Rs 346.86 crore as against Rs 206.46 crore in Q2 September 2019. The Q2 result was declared during market hours today, 22 October 2020.

Ashok Leyland rose 4.44% after the company launched the BOSS LE and LX Trucks, with i-Gen6 BS-VI technology in BS6. These two vehicles will address the 11.1 tonne to 14.05 tonne Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW) market. Prices of BOSS LE and LX start from Rs 18 lakhs, ex-showroom Mumbai/Delhi/Chennai.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Hemisphere Properties India (HPIL) hit a lower circuit of 5% at Rs 100.70, following its debut on the stock exchanges today (22 October 2020). HPIL was formed as part of the disinvestment exercise carried out by the Government of India in respect of its holdings in the erstwhile VSNL (currently known as Tata Communications).

Dr Reddy's Laboratories fell 1.23% to Rs 4984.85 after the company said that it has isolated all data center services to take required preventive actions in the wake of a cyber attack.

Vedanta advanced 3.56% to Rs 104.85 after the company said its board will consider first interim dividend on 24 October 2020.

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