Indices trade higher; Europe opens in green

Key equity indices traded sideways with small gains in afternoon trade. At 13:24 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 56.55 points or 0.15% at 38,413.69. The Nifty 50 index rose 7.75 points or 0.07% at 11,341.60.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.73% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 0.18%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1121 shares rose and 1439 shares fell. A total of 178 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 1,888.78 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net sellers to the tune of Rs 456.88 crore in the Indian equity market on 4 September, provisional data showed.

COVID-19 Update :

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 27,105,151 with 883,342 deaths. India reported 8,82,542 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 71,642 deaths while 32,50,429 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Gainers & Losers:

Bharti Infratel (up 4.12%), HDFC Life (up 2.06%), Hindustan Unilever (up 2%), Tata Motors (up 1.83%) and TCS (up 1.56%) were top gainers in Nifty 50.

Mahindra & Mahindra (down 3.27%), UPL (down 3.12%), NTPC (down 2.53%), GAIL (down 2.35%) and ONGC (down 2.12%) were top losers in Nifty 50 index.

Earnings Today:

Future Lifestyle Fashions (down 5%), CG Power (up 3.82%), Info Edge (down 0.44%), General Insurance Corporation (down 0.52%) and Parag Milk Foods (up 0.89%) will announce quarterly earnings today.

Stocks in Spotlight:

TCS rose 1.43%. The IT major announced partnership with Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) in South Africa, part of Transnet SOC, a state-owned freight transport and handling company, to help the latter develop an integrated online marketplace platform by bringing together cargo owners, shipping lines, clearing and forwarding agents, and road/rail haulers.

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) fell 1.6%. The construction major said its power transmission & distribution business secured large contracts. As per the L&T's classification, the valuation of the 'large' order stands between Rs 2,500 crore and Rs 5,000 crore.

NMDC fell 0.05%. The coal miner announced hike in iron ore (lump ore and fines) prices with effect from Saturday, 5 September 2020. Lump ore prices have been raised by 10.16% to Rs 3250 per tonne and prices of fines have been increased by 11.27% to Rs 2960 per tonne in September 2020 over August 2020.

Repco Home Finance hit an upper circuit of 5% at Rs 181.90 after the company's consolidated net profit rose 2.6% to Rs 64 crore on 4.1% increase in total income to Rs 341.92 crore in Q1 June 2020 over Q1 June 2019. The overall loan book rose 6% to Rs 11,979.50 crore at the end of June 2020. Loans to the self - employed segment accounted for 51.7% of the outstanding loan book and loans against property product account for 18.7% of the same. Stage 3 assets stood at 4% of the loan assets as at the end of June 2020 as compared to 4.2% as at the end of June 2019.

Global Markets:

European markets opened higher while most Asian stocks were trading lower on Monday. The Trump administration is reportedly considering imposing export restrictions on Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, China's largest manufacturer of semiconductors.

US stocks closed lower on Friday though well above its session low as selling eased late in the day after investors dumped heavyweight technology stocks due to concerns about high valuations.

US employment growth slowed further in August and permanent job losses increased as money from the government started running out. Nearly a fifth of the job gains reported by the Labor Department on Friday were from the government's temporary hiring for the 2020 Census. While the unemployment rate fell below 10%, it was biased down by a continuing misclassification problem.

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