Stock markets ended with decent gains; Sensex jumps 127 points & Nifty 50 closed above 11,900

Stock markets today: Domestic equity benchmarks ended with decent gains after volatile trade on Friday, October 23, 2020, with Nifty 590 closing above 11,900 level. The S&P BSE Sensex advanced 127.01 points or 0.31 per cent to 40,685.50. The Nifty 50 index gained 33.85 points or 0.28 per cent to settle at 11,930.35. However, Nifty Bank closed 5.85 or 0.02 per cent down from the previous closing at 24,478.30.

On the other hand, the broader market at BSE climbed outperformed the Sensex. The BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.59 per cent and the BSE Small-Cap index added 0.71 per cent.

Buyers outnumbered sellers. On the BSE, 1689 shares rose and 1026 shares fell. On the same lines, 29 shares advanced on the Nifty 50, while 21 declined. The major gainers in Nifty block were Maruti (up 4.26 per cent), M&M (up 3.30 per cent), Tata Steel (up 3.27 per cent), Power Grid (up 2.91 per cent) and Bajaj Auto (up 279 per cent). The major losers include UltraTech Cement (down 2.44 per cent), HCL Tech (down 1.59 per cent), Hindustan Unilever (down 1.56 per cent), GAIL (down 1.35 per cent) and Hindalco (1.30 per cent).

On the weekly basis, S&P BSE Sensex gained 702.52 points or 1.75 per cent to close at 40,685.50. Nifty 50 rose 167.95 points or 1.42 per cent to end at 11,930.30.

COVID-19 update

India reported 6,95,509 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,17,306 deaths while 69,48,497 patients have been discharged, data showed. Total Covid-19 confirmed cases worldwide were at 4,16,40,295 with 11,36,495 deaths.

Realtors Report in the US

Existing home sales in the US soared by 9.4% to an annual rate of 6.54 million in September after jumping by 2 per cent to a revised rate of 5.98 million in August, reflecting record-low interest rates and an abundance of buyers, the National Association of Realtors reported on Thursday. US initial jobless claims fell to 7,87,000 in the week ended October 17, 2020, a decline of 55,000 from the previous week's revised level of 8,42,000, a report released by the Labour Department on Thursday showed. The US leading economic index climbed by 0.7 per cent in September after surging a revised 1.4 per cent in August, the Conference Board reported.