Market Commentary - Mid-Session
Barometers trade lower amid monthly expiry; IT shares tumble As on : 31-Oct-24  13:36

The key equity benchmarks traded with deep cuts in afternoon trade. The Nifty hovered below the 24,250 mark. IT, consumer durables and FMCG shares declined while Pharma and media shares advanced. Trading could be volatile due to monthly F&O series expiry today.

At 13:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, declined 502.95 points or 0.63% to 79,436.23. The Nifty 50 index fell 131.40 points or 0.54% to 24,209.45.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.85% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.89%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,419 shares rose and 1,389 shares fell. A total of 130 shares were unchanged.

Both, BSE and NSE will conduct the Muhurat trading session on Friday, 1 November, from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm. While markets remain closed during the day, this evening session allows investors to make token investments, following a long-standing custom of trading during Diwali.

Gainers & Losers:

Cipla (up 9.87%), Larsen & Toubro (up 6.58%), Dr Reddy Laboratories (up 2.10%), Hepr Motocorp (up 2.07%) and ONGC (up 1.39%) were major Nifty gainers.

Cipla surged 9.87% after the drug maker the US drug regulator classified the manufacturing facility in Goa as voluntary action indicated (VAI). The United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) conducted routine current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) inspection at Goa manufacturing facility from 10 to 21 June 2024. On conclusion, the company received 6 inspectional observations in Form 483.

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) jumped 6.58% after the company reported 5.36% increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 3,395.29 crore in Q2 FY25 on 20.64% jump in revenue from operations to Rs 61,554.58 crore in Q2 FY25 over Q2 FY24.

Tech Mahindra(down 3.87%), HCL Technologies (down 3.08%), Shriram Finance (down 2.87%), Tata Consultancy Service (TCS) (down 2.51%) and Infosys (down 2.40%) were major Nifty losers.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Biocon fell 2.84% to Rs 311.70 after the company reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 16 crore in Q2 FY25 as against a net profit of Rs 126 crore in Q2 FY24. Revenue from operations rose by 4% year-over-year (YoY) to Rs 3,590 crore during the quarter.

Tata Power Company advanced 1.84% to Rs 435 after the company's consolidated net profit increased 7.44% to Rs 1,093.08 crore despite of 0.26% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 15,697.67 crore in Q2 FY25 over Q2 FY24.

DCM Shriram gained 2.09% to Rs 1,068.90 after the company reported consolidated net profit surged 95.16% to Rs 62.92 crore on 10.79% rise in total revenue from operations to Rs 3,130.09 crore in Q2 FY25 over Q2 FY24.

Global Market:

The US Dow Jones index futures are currently down by 63 points, signaling a negative opening for US stocks today.

European market declined as invetors look ahead to the euro zone inflation data.

Asian stocks traded mixed on Thursday as investors look to the Bank of Japan's rate decision, as well as key business activity figures from China.

The BOJ held its benchmark policy rate at 0.25%, unchanged from the previous meeting. The bank released a two-line statement simply stating the decision, with no clues on the timing of its next rate hike.

In China, the country's manufacturing purchasing managers index flipped into expansion territory for the first time since April, with the National Bureau of Statistics revealing the manufacturing PMI came in at 50.1.

In the US, stocks rallied on Wednesday, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite reaching a new record high, driven by strong earnings from Alphabet. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.51%, the S&P 500 rose 0.29%, and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.24%.

Economic data released on Wednesday showed that the US economy grew at an annual rate of 2.8% in the third quarter, supported by consumer spending and government expenditure. However, this was a slowdown from the second quarter's 3% pace. Additionally, US private payrolls surged by 233,000 jobs in October, exceeding expectations.

Market participants are cautiously looking ahead to a crucial week, which includes the release of US non-farm payrolls data on Friday, the presidential election next Tuesday, and a Federal Reserve policy decision next Thursday. Gold prices continued to climb, reaching a new record high.

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