Sensex climbs 200 pts to 80,400; Nifty at 24,500; IT gains 3%, Bank down

Indian benchmark equity indices BSE Sensex and Nifty 50 were trading at higher higher amid volatility in the markets.

At 11 AM, the BSE Sensex was up 186.41 points, or 0.23 per cent, at 80,407.13, while the Nifty 50 was at 24,540.25, up 68.15 points, or 0.28 per cent.

After opening bell, more than half the stocks on the BSE Sensex were trading with gains, led by Bajaj Finance (up 3.15 per cent), followed by Bajaj Finserv, HDFC Bank, Tata Steel, and Nestle India. In contrast, loses were capped by Mahindra & Mahindra (down 1.17 per cent), followed by Power Grid Corp., Sun Pharma, Asian Paint, and NTPC.

On the Nifty 50, half of the stocks were trading with gains, while the rest dragged. Loses were capped by Mahindra & Mahindra (down 1.36 per cent), followed by Eicher Motors, Power Grid Corp., Shriram Finance, and Dr Reddy’s, while gains were led by Bajaj Finance, (2.76 per cent), followed by Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Auto, Adani Enterprises, and HDFC Bank.

Among sectoral indices the Realty, Healthcare, Pharma, and Auto indices were trading in the red, while IT and Metal indices were trading in the lead with marginal gains.

In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap index was ahead by 0.21 per cent, and the BSE SmallCap was higher by 0.51 per cent.

Benchmark equity indices BSE Sensex, and Nifty 50 ended Tuesday’s trading session in the red, each falling by over 1 per cent. The BSE Sensex crashed 930.55 points, or 1.15 per cent, to settle at 80,220.72, while the Nifty 50 ended at 24,472.10, down 309 points, or 1.25 per cent.

Smallcap stocks were the worst hit among the broader markets, as the Nifty Smallcap 100 closed 3.92 per cent lower, and the Nifty Midcap 100 was 2.61 per cent lower at close.

Notably, the fear index, India VIX, which gauges the volatility in the Indian stock markets, ended higher by 4.21 per cent at 14.34 points.

Among sectoral indices, the Nifty PSU Bank index was the worst hit, ending down by 4.18 per cent. This was followed by realty and metal indices, which settled lower by 3.08 per cent and 3 per cent, respectively.

Auto, media, consumer durables, and select healthcare indices also closed down by over 2 per cent each.

Meanwhile, markets in the Asia-Pacific region were mixed, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 trading slightly below the flatline, down 0.04 per cent, while the broad based Topix was higher by 0.19 per cent.

South Korea’s Kospi was up 0.43 per cent, while the small-cap Kosdaq was down 0.72 per cent.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.14 per cent, while in mainland China, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.08 per cent, and the CSI300 was down 0.53 per cent.

However, the Hang Seng index was ahead by 0.39 per cent.

That apart, global stocks dropped for the second straight session while US yields rose on Tuesday amid market uncertainty ahead of the US election as well as the outlook on interest rate cuts.

Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris held a marginal lead of 46 per cent to 43 per cent over Republican former President Donald Trump, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, as both candidates vie to capture swing states ahead of November 5.

The benchmark S&P 500 and the Dow finished lower in choppy trading driven by losses in industrials, materials and utilities stocks. The Nasdaq ended higher as investors digested corporate results from companies across sectors in the US economy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.02 per cent to 42,924.89, the S&P 500 fell 0.05 per cent to 5,851.20 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.18 per cent to 18,573.13.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index finished down 0.21 per cent. MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe fell 0.29 per cent to 851.14.

“Yields being up is a big headwind,” said David Spika, chief markets strategist at Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors in Dallas. “We’ve seen the largest increase post a rate cut in the 10-year in the last 30 years … I think the bond market is telling us don’t be pricing in a whole bunch of rate cuts anytime soon. To expect the Fed to just be cutting rates 50 basis points every meeting is not realistic.”

The odds that the Fed will deliver a quarter-point cut at its November 7 meeting are at 92 per cent, while the chance of no rate cut is at 8 per cent, according to CME’s FedWatch tool.

Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields were up 2.2 bps at 4.204 per cent, after earlier reaching 4.222 per cent, the highest level since July 26.

The US dollar rose to a fresh 2-1/2-month high amid Fed rate cut expectations. The dollar index, which measures the dollar against a basket of currencies, rose 0.13 per cent to 104.09, after hitting 104.10, its highest since August 2.

“I think the election odds are fairly split between Trump and Harris, and broadly, it’s a story of stronger economic growth,” said Eric Wallerstein, chief markets strategist at Yardeni Research in Santa Monica, California.

Oil prices rose for the second consecutive session, as traders downplayed hopes of a Middle East ceasefire and focused on a tightening global supply and demand balance.

Brent crude futures for December settlement rose 2.36 per cent to $76.04 per barrel. US West Texas Intermediate futures for November delivery, which expire after Tuesday’s settlement, rose 2.17 per cent to $72.09 a barrel.

Gold hit an all-time peak. Spot gold rose 1.03 per cent to $2,747.56 an ounce. US gold futures settled 0.8 per cent higher at $2,759.8.