Sensex, Nifty End Higher For Sixth Day, Close To Erasing 2020 Losses

Good Morning!

Indian equity market maintained its longest winning streak in more than a month as it ended higher for the fifth straight day on Wednesday.

Futures, however, are indicating a flat start to the weekly options expiry session for Nifty and Bank Nifty contracts. The Singapore-traded SGX Nifty, an early indicator of the Nifty 50 Index’s performance in India, was little changed at 11,814 as of 8:05 a.m. on Thursday.

Information technology stocks like TCS and Wipro will be in focus in today's session.

Most markets in Asia are advancing this morning as investors mulled encouraging signs for Joe Biden in the presidential election race and its impact on any potential stimulus.

Markets in Australia are outperforming, while gains are modest in Japan. Hong Kong markets are declining in early trade.

Futures on the Dow Jones are currently trading 90 points higher. The index ended with gains of 1.9% on Wednesday.

West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.2% to $39.9 per barrel, extending an overnight decline after the U.S. government data showed a rise in crude stockpiles for the first time in four weeks.

Short on time? Well, then listen to this podcast for a quick summary of All You Need To Know before the opening bell.

• TCS: U.S. Dollar revenue growth highest in 24 quarters. Most other parameters other than net profit surpass Bloomberg estimates. Net profit impacted by an exceptional item of Rs 1,218 crore. Announces share buyback at Rs 3,000 per share, a 9% premium to Wednesday's closing. Declares dividend of Rs 12 per share.
• Wipro: To consider proposal for buyback of equity shares at its board meeting on October 13.
• Bandhan Bank: Says that collection efficiency in September stood at 92% across all loan categories. The lender reported 20% growth in advances over the July-September period while deposits rose 34% year-on-year to Rs 66,153 crore.
• RBL Bank: Advances down 3% in the second quarter while deposits rise 3% year-on-year. CASA deposits up 21% to Rs 20,060 crore. Liquidity Coverage Ratio at 170.7%.
• ICICI Prudential: New Business Premium for the April-September period (H1FY21) down 13.5% to Rs 4,456 crore while Annualised premium equivalent down 32.1% to Rs 2,288 crore.
• Asian Granito: To consider stock split from shares of face value of Rs 10 into shares of face value of Rs 2 each along with a proposal to raise funds though an equity issue on October 23.
• Adani Power: Appellate Tribunal of Electricity has upheld the order of the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission regarding the allowability of compensation under the change in law. It has also allowed the Adani Power Maharashtra's appeals related to calculation methodology, extent of shortfall and carrying cost.
• Non-Nifty Earnings Today: Prabhat Dairy, GM Breweries, 5Paisa Capital

For details on the stocks to watch, key brokerage updates, F&O cues and more, click here.

• Nifty: Sell 11,500 Put of the October 15 expiry in the range of Rs 50-52. Target of Rs 36-26 and stop loss of Rs 66.
• Nifty Bank: Buy in the range of 22,750-22,850 for target of 23,100-23,300 with a stop loss of 22,650
• Buy Bata India October futures for target of Rs 1,395.4 and Rs 1,419.9 with a stop loss of Rs 1,362.6
• Sell Hindalco October futures for target of Rs 172.4 and Rs 169.3 with a stop loss of Rs 176.6
• Hindalco and Bata are intraday recommendations

Source: ICICI Direct

Indian equity markets opened higher for the sixth straight session, extending their longest winning streak in over a month.

The S&P BSE Sensex opened 0.8% higher at 40,204 while the NSE Nifty 50 index opened above the mark of 11,800, up 0.82% at 11,835. The Sensex is back above the mark of 40,000 for the first time after February 26 this year.

The Nifty I.T. index has opened with gains of 2.5% courtesy gains in TCS, Infosys and Wipro. The Nifty Media index is up 1.1% at the start of trade.

Other indices like Nifty Bank, Nifty PSU Bank have opened with gains of 0.8% while the rest are trading flat but with a positive bias.

Broader markets - which underperformed in Wednesday's session, have opened higher. The midcap index is up 0.4% while the smallcap index has gained 0.8%.

1,078 stocks on the NSE have opened with gains while 360 are declining.

Shares of the I.T. major are trading at an all-time high after its second quarter results managed to surpass analyst estimates on most parameters.

The company's revenue growth in U.S. Dollar terms was the highest in 24 quarters while net profit was impacted due to an exceptional item of Rs 1,218 crore in the EPIC Systems Corporation matter.

Growth was led by Retail and BFSI segments - both saw growth in their revenue and margins on a sequential basis.

The company's growth in constant currency terms stood at 4.8% - a beat as compared to estimates of 2.5%.

TCS also announced a buyback of equity shares. The company will buyback shares at Rs 3,000 apiece - a premium of 9% as compared to Wednesday's closing price. It has also declared a dividend of Rs 12 per share.

Shares gained as much as 5.2% to an all-time high of Rs 2,877.9. The stock is up for the ninth straight day - its longest winning streak on record.