Strong market breadth

Key equity benchmarks traded with strong gains in mid-morning trade. The Nifty was currently trading near the 12,000 mark. Metals, banks and financials led the gains. Asian stocks advanced amid renewed optimism for the prospects of stimulus talks in the US.

At 11:22 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 356.74 points or 0.88% at 40,901.11. The Nifty 50 index added 88.85 points or 0.75% at 11,985.65.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 0.78% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.55%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1460 shares rose and 829 shares fell. A total of 149 shares were unchanged.

Coronavirus Update:

India reported 740,090 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 115,914 deaths while 6,795,103 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 40,728,371 with 1,123,967 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index rose 2.18% to 2,414.95. The index had lost 0.19% yesterday.

Jindal Steel & Power (up 3.47%), Tata Steel (up 3.31%), Hindustan Zinc (up 2.94%), Hindalco Industries (up 2.90%) and APL Apollo Tubes (up 2.21%) advanced while Hindustan Copper (down 1.65%) and Welspun Corp (down 0.89%) lagged behind.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) gained 0.88% to Rs 925.35 after the construction arm of the company secured 'large' orders from various clients. As per the L&T's classification, the valuation of the 'large' order stands between Rs 2,500 crore and Rs 5,000 crore. The announcement was made during market hours today, 21 October 2020.

Larsen & Toubro Infotech (L&T Infotech) jumped 5.35% to Rs 3123.15 after the company reported 9.70% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 456.80 crore on 1.7% increase in revenues to Rs 2,998.40 crore in Q2 September 2020 over Q1 June 2020. EBITDA margin grew 22.9% in Q2 FY21 as against 20.1% in Q1 FY21.

The board declared first interim dividend of Rs 15 per share for the financial year 2020-21. The record date is set at 28 October 2020.

CRISIL fell 1.27% to Rs 1841 after the credit rating agency recorded a 14.2% fall in consolidated net profit to Rs 90.23 crore on a 11.3% rise in net sales to Rs 484.99 crore in Q3 September 2020 over Q3 September 2019.

Motherson Sumi Systems shed 0.82% to Rs 108.30. The company, through its Mexican arm, MRS, struck a deal to acquire Bombardier's electrical wiring interconnection business in Mexico on a debt-free and cash-free basis valued at around $10 million.

Global Markets:

Most Asian stocks advanced on Wednesday as investors continued to monitor the development on the US fiscal stimulus front.

The US stock market finished session higher on Tuesday, 20 October 2020, as risk sentiments underpinned on continued hope the lawmakers will eventually agree on a stimulus plan sometime soon.

Reports that Moderna's coronavirus vaccine could be available for emergency use in December if it gets positive results from interim trial in November further aided sentiment.

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin have made good progress during talks, before adding that they still have a ways to go before an agreement is reached.

Tech shares shook off the US Justice Department's decision to sue Google for allegedly abusing its power. Alphabet's shares rose 1.4%. Procter & Gamble shares climbed 0.4% after reporting sales growth of 9% for the previous quarter. Shares of insurer Travelers gained 5.6% as it beat quarterly profit expectations. But IBM shares fell 6.5% after it refused to issue a current quarter outlook.

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