Stocks markets closed with modest losses; Sensex slides 149 pts to end at 40,558 & Nifty falls 41 pts to 11,896

Equity benchmarks on Thursday, October 22, 2020, logged losses, snapping winning rally of four sessions amid negative global cues. The BSE 30-share index, Sensex lost 148.82 points or 0.37 per cent to settle at 40,558.49. The NSE Nifty-50 index also fell 41.20 points or 0.35 per cent to settle at 11,896.45. Similarly, Nifty Bank fell 150.90 points or 0.61 per cent to 24,484.15.

On the other hand, the broader market at BSE climbed outperformed the Sensex. The BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.54 per cent and the BSE Small-Cap index added 0.85 per cent.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1424 shares rose and 1205 shares fell. Following the trend, 22 shares advanced in the case of Nifty 50, while 28 declined. The major gainers on the Nifty block were NTPC (up 4.13 per cent), Tata Motors (up 3.07 per cent), Bharti Airtel (up 2.86 per cent), IOC (up 2.70 per cent) and Bajaj Finance (up 2.29 per cent). The major losers were Hero MotoCorp (down 3.03 per cent), IndusInd Bank (down 2.99 per cent), ICICI Bank (down 1.62 per cent), Titan (down 1.43 per cent) and Hindalco (down 1.21 per cent).

COVID-19 update

The government has said that the country's Covid-19 recovery rate has reached 88.81 per cent. In the last 24 hours, more than 61,000 COVID patients have recovered. Currently, India's case fatality rate is at 1.51 per cent, which is one of the lowest globally. India reported 715,812 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 116,616 deaths while 6,874,518 patients have been discharged, data showed.

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide were at 41,171,093 with 1,130,597 deaths, data showed.

The US Elections

The US election campaign has entered its final stretch. President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden will face off in their second and final debate on Thursday night where Mr Trump will attempt to change the trajectory of a race that Mr Biden is leading, according to national polls. US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin failed to reach a deal before a Tuesday deadline and now aim to finalise a proposal before the weekend.