The domestic equity benchmarks ended with strong gains on Friday. The Nifty closed tad below the 17,900 mark. As per provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, advanced 381.23 points or 0.64% to 60,059.06. The Nifty 50 index added 104.85 points or 0.59% to 17,895.20.
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, slumped 3.11% to 15.65.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.15% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.83%.
The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1870 shares rose and 1431 shares fell. A total of 152 shares were unchanged.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)'s six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) at its meeting today (8 October 2021) decided to keep the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) unchanged at 4%. The reverse repo rate under the LAF remains unchanged at 3.35% and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the bank rate at 4.25%.
The MPC also decided to continue with the accommodative stance as long as necessary to revive and sustain growth on a durable basis and continue to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the economy, while ensuring that inflation remains within the target going forward.
These decisions are in consonance with the objective of achieving the medium-term target for consumer price index (CPI) inflation of 4% within a band of +/- 2%, while supporting growth, RBI statement said.
COVID-19 Update:
Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 236,748,936 with 4,834,268 deaths. India reported 240,221 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 450,127 deaths according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
A total of 93,11,77,197 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in the country so far, with over 50.03 lakh doses being given yesterday, according to the Co-WIN dashboard.
Buzzing Segment:
Shares of five hotel companies advanced after the Union Government announced its decision to start the issue of tourist visas from 15 October 2021.
The Central Government had been receiving representations from several State Governments as well as various stakeholders in the tourism sector to start Tourist Visas also, to allow foreign tourists to come to India.
On Thursday, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said that it has decided to begin granting of fresh tourist visas for foreigners coming to India through chartered flights with effect from 15 October 2021. Foreign tourists entering into India by flights other than chartered aircraft would be able to do so only with effect from 15 November 2021 on fresh Tourist Visas.
As per media reports, the Indian hotel industry is witnessing a consistent and rapid recovery in occupancies after a dull period amid the second wave of COVID-19. Further, a recovery in the business travel and permitting foreign tourist to travel in India would further give a boost to the occupancies in the quarters ahead, media reports said.
Lemon Tree Hotels (up 6.45%), Royal Orchid Hotels (up 3.42%), EIH (up 3.95%), Taj GVK Hotels & Resorts (up 1.70%) and Indian Hotels Company (up 1.24%) advanced.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Tata Consultancy Services rose 1.04% to Rs 3,933.20. The IT major will announce its September 2021 quarter earnings today, 8 October 2021.
Reliance Industries added 3.81% to Rs 2,670.35. RIL on Thursday announced the launch of its premium retail destination, Jio World Drive (JWD), in Mumbai's commercial epicenter, Bandra Kurla Complex. It will be home to prominent international and Indian brands, 27 culinary outlets, Mumbai's first rooftop Jio Drive-In Theatre, an open-air weekend community market, pet-friendly services, a dedicated pop-up experience and other services.
JSW Energy gained 1.24% to Rs 383.90. The company has signed a contract with GE Renewable Energy for supply of 810 MW of onshore wind turbines for the company's underconstruction pipeline of approximately 2.5 GW of renewable projects in India. The supply of the turbines will start by the second quarter of CY2022.
K P I Global Infrastructure jumped 7.18% to Rs 138.10. The company informed that it signed a new long-term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with GHCL, Bhilad for sale of 1.25 MW solar power for a period of 20 years under Independent Power Producer (IPP) business vertical.
Tata Motors rose 1.55% to Rs 382.35. A media report said the auto major is seeking to buy Ford's units in Tamil Nadu and Gujarat states. According to reports, Ford's manufacturing plants could help Tata Motors augment capacity as it focuses on eco-friendly vehicles. While Tata Motors has no manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu, it has a plant in Gujarat, which is next to Ford's production unit, reports said.
Separately, the media reported that TPG is in advanced talks with the Tata group to invest $1 billion-$1.5 billion in its electric vehicle unit. The group is also in talks with several Middle East-based sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) such as Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Saudi Arabia's PIF to come as anchor investors on the deal, the report added.
Zee Entertainment Enterprises added 0.20% to Rs 293.30. As per media reports, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Thursday completed the hearing on a petition filed by Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL) seeking more time to reply to Invesco's demand for convening a shareholders' meeting.
The NCLAT reportedly asked the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to provide “reasonable and sufficient opportunity” to ZEEL to reply to a plea by Invesco seeking a meeting of the company's shareholders. It said the NCLT committed an “error” by not granting reasonable time to ZEEL to reply to Invesco's plea, media reports added.
Bajaj Auto shed 0.36% to Rs 3,814.65. the auto maker said that has resigned from the position of chief financial officer of the company to explore other opportunities. The same has been accepted by the company. His last date in the company will be 20 December 2021. The company further added that it is in the process of identifying and appointing a suitable person for the said position.
Multi Commodity Exchange of India jumped 5.90% to Rs 1,930. On the BSE, over 3.34 lakh shares of the company were traded in the counter so far as against an average trading volume of 0.61 lakh shares.
The Power Ministry said on Thursday said that the resolution of the jurisdiction issue between market regulator SEBI and electricity regulator CERC will further deepen the power market and pave the way for the introduction of longer duration delivery-based contracts on exchanges.
The resolution has opened the gate for introduction of longer duration delivery-based contracts on the power exchanges which has been currently restricted to only 11 days due to the pendency of the case, the ministry informed. This will further deepen the power market from the present level of approx. 5.5% of the volume to the targeted volume of 25$ by 2024-25.
The commodity exchanges viz. MCX etc. can now introduce financial products viz. electricity futures etc. which will enable discoms and other large consumers to effectively hedge their risks of power procurement, it stated.
Global markets:
Most European shares declined while most Asian stocks advanced. Chinese stocks jumped on the first day of trade after a week-long holiday.
Investors eyed key US jobs data for any fresh insight into the timing of Federal Reserve tapering.
Activity in China's services sector returned to growth in September as a major COVID-19 outbreak in the eastern province of Jiangsu receded, a private-sector survey showed on October 8. The Caixin/Markit services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to 53.4 from 46.7 in August.
US stocks rallied on Thursday as Senate leaders moved to avert a US debt default. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Thursday that lawmakers have reached a deal on a short-term debt ceiling increase after hours of discussion with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Markets will look ahead to Friday's key September jobs report as the Federal Reserve prepares to slow its $120 billion-per-month bond-buying program.
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