Domestic markets end Samvat 2077 on a weak note; Sensex tumbles 257 points & Nifty settles at 17,829

Key equity barometers finished the last day of the Samvat 2077 with limited losses on Wednesday, November 3, 2021, on the back of selling pressure in select index heavyweights like Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank. The S&P BSE Sensex tumbled 257.14 points of 0.43 per cent to 59,771.92. The Nifty 50 index lost 59.75 points or 0.33 per cent to end at 17,829.20. The Nifty Bank index declined 436.40 points or 1.34 per cent to 39,402.05.

In the broader markets at the BSE, the S&P BSE MidCap fell 0.22 per cent and S&P BSE SmallCap declined 0.33 per cent.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1597 shares rose and 1641 shares fell. On the Nifty 50 index at the NSE, 23 shares advanced and 27 shares declined. The top five gainers on Nifty were Larsen & Turbo (up 4.25 per cent), Asian Paints (up 2.43 per cent), Hindalco (up 2.32 per cent), Grasim (up 2.19 per cent) and UPL (up 2.07 per cent). The top five losers on the index were Sun Pharmaceutical (down 3.24 per cent), IndusInd Bank (down 2.68 per cent), Bharti Airtel (down 2.30 per cent), ICICI Bank (down 2.05 per cent) and Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 1.91 per cent).

Stock exchanges will remain open for an hour this Diwali for the 'Muhurat' trading session tomorrow from 6:15 PM to 7:15 PM. The Muhurat trading session is held every year on the occasion of Diwali, for an hour.

Economy

The Reserve Bank of India will soon launch a web-based supervisory system that will enable off-site and on-site supervision of modern functions such as digital banking and cyber security. RBI Deputy Governor M. K. Jain informed this while speaking at a private function in Mumbai yesterday.

Mr. Jain said that the banks need to be careful in complying with rules and invest in technologies to meet the supervisory challenges as they experiment with new services in the post-COVID world through ultimately governance standards, business model, risk culture and assurance functions will decide how well they fare in long run. He further said that the web-based and end-to-end workflow automation system has been developed by the Central Bank.

The US Fed will hold a two-day meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Fed is widely expected to unwind its $120 billion in monthly bond purchases and end the programme entirely by the middle of next year. Bank of England policymakers will decide on interest rates on Thursday.

A private survey released on Wednesday showed growing Chinese services activity in October, with the Caixin/Markit services Purchasing Managers' Index coming in at 53.8, rising from September's reading of 53.4.