Stock Markets end with modest gains; Sensex reclaims 40,500-mark & Nifty 50 settles at 11,914

Equity benchmarks on Friday, October 9, 2020, extended gains for the seventh session in a row amid mixed global cues. The Sensex reclaimed 40,500-mark while the Nifty regained 11,900.

The BSE 30-share index, Sensex, gained 326.82 points, or 0.81 per cent, to settle at 30,509.49. The Nifty-50 index also jumped 79.60 points, or 0.67 per cent, to settle at 11,914.20. Similarly, Nifty Bank gained 655.45 points, or 2.83 per cent, to settle at 23,846.80.

On the other hand, the broader market at BSE declined, underperforming the Sensex. The BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.42 per cent and the BSE Small-Cap index slipped 0.29 per cent.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1239 shares rose and 1447 shares fell. In the case of the Nifty 50, 24 shares advanced and 26 shares declined. The major gainers on the block were Wipro (up 4.40 per cent), ICICI Bank (up 4.06 per cent), Axis Bank (up 3.74 per cent), SBI (up 3.68 per cent) and HDFC Bank (up 3.64 per cent). The losers were Grasim (down 2.69 per cent), Hindalco (down 2/53 per cent), UPL (down 2.35 per cent), Sun Pharma (down 2.12 per cent) and SBI Life (down 2.08 per cent).

RBI's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to hold key policy rates at existing levels. Three new external members in the panel voted in today's decision. The repo rate was retained at 4 per cent. Consequently, the reverse repo rate remained unchanged at 3.35 per cent. The central bank retained its "accommodative" stance on monetary policy to support the coronavirus-hit economy. Taking into consideration the above factors, Governor Shaktikanta Das said India's GDP growth will contract by 9.5 per cent in FY21 due to disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic that has hit economic activities. However, the GDP growth rate may break out of contraction and turn positive during January-March due to recovery seen across sectors, he added.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spoke on Thursday about a broad Coronavirus stimulus plan, after U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of talks earlier in the week and called for stand-alone bills. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits totalled a seasonally adjusted 840,000 for the week ended October 3, 2020, compared with an upwardly revised 849,000 in the prior week, the Labour Department said on Thursday.