Sensex hits 40,000 in volatile trade

Volatility struck bourses in early trade. The Sensex is currently trading below the psychological 40,000 level after hitting intraday high above that level in early trade. At 9:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 245.22 points or 0.62% at 39,973.63. The Nifty 50 index was up 62.25 points or 0.53% at 11,742.60. Stocks logged gains after yesterday's steep losses.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.68%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.56%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, is strong. On the BSE, 1050 shares rose and 408 shares fell. A total of 80 shares were unchanged.

Stocks in news:

Tech Mahindra rose 0.65%. Tech Mahindra has on Thursday executed a Joint Venture Agreement with Sumitomo Corporation, Japan to set up a JV company to provide engineering services to the automotive sector. The proposed Joint Venture (JV) shall have two shareholders with each holding a 50% stake.

Persistent Systems rose 0.16%. Persistent Systems announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire Palo Alto, CA-based CAPIOT, including its subsidiaries in Australia, India and Singapore.

Mindtree slumped 7.65%. The company's consolidated profit after tax rose 19.1% to Rs 253.70 crore on a 0.9% rise in revenue to Rs 1926 crore in Q2 September 2020 over Q1 June 2020.

Cyient rose 3.43%. The company's consolidated profit after tax rose 3% to Rs 83.90 crore on a 1.2% rise in revenue to Rs 1003.30 crore in Q2 September 2020 over Q1 June 2020.

AstraZeneca Pharma India rose 0.29%. The company will launch Calquence in India on October 21, 2020. Acalabrutinib 100mg capsules (Calquence) is indicated for the treatment of patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) who have received at least one prior therapy, indicated for treatment of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL)/ small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL).

Dhanuka Agritech rose 3.25% to Rs 739.30. Dhanuka Agritech said its buyback will open on October 20 and close on November 2. The buyback offer is for of not exceeding 10,00,000 equity shares at Rs 1,000 per share on a proportionate basis through the tender offer process using stock exchange mechanism.

On the macro front, India's exports increased 5.99% year-on-year to $27.58 billion in September, according to the government data released on October 15. Exports stood at $26.02 billion in September 2019. The country's imports declined 19.6% to $30.31 billion in September. It was $37.69 billion in the same month last year. The trade deficit in September was $2.72 billion, compared to $11.67 billion in the year-ago month.

Global Markets:

Overseas, Asian stocks are mostly subdued on Friday, with dampened sentiment on the coronavirus front. European governments reinstate pandemic restrictions to curb a second wave of the coronavirus. France has declared a public health state of emergency and the U.K. is nearing a second national lockdown.

In US, stocks fell for a third day in a row on Thursday as hope for a U.S. coronavirus stimulus deal continues to decrease while infections across Europe are on the rise.

U.S. President Donald Trump said that he is willing to go beyond the $1.8 trillion stimulus offer, but was rejected by senate majority leader Mitch McConnell.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin reportedly told that he and President Donald Trump are committed to getting a stimulus deal done and that while it will be hard to get one done before the election, they will keep trying.

The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits unexpectedly rose last week. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits totaled a seasonally adjusted 898,000 for the week ended October 10, compared to 845,000 in the prior week, the Labor Department said on Thursday.

Back home, the domestic equity benchmarks crashed on Thursday with the Nifty slipping below the 11,700 mark. Selling was broad based with banks shares losing the most. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, slumped 1066.33 points or 2.61% at 39,728.41. The Nifty 50 index tumbled 290.70 points or 2.43% at 11,680.35.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 604.07 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were also net sellers to the tune of Rs 808.29 crore in the Indian equity market on 15 October, provisional data showed.

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