The stock markets opened on a positive note amid mixed global cues on first day of trading at the bourses.
At 09:17 AM, the Sensex was up 207.75 points or 0.34 percent at 61,029.37, and the Nifty was up 32.20 points or 0.18 percent at 18147.10. About 1,365 shares have advanced, 680 shares declined, and 124 shares are unchanged.
Bank Nifty hits new record high at 40,779.55, up 1.13 percent.
ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Larsen and Toubro were among the early gainers while Asian Paints, Kotak Bank, ITC, HCL Tech, Hindustan Unilever were among the early losers at the opening bell.
Asian shares steady
Asian shares started steady on Monday ahead of a week packed with major quarterly earnings announcements, while the dollar hovered near October lows after three weeks of risk-friendly sentiment hurt safe-haven currencies.
Japan's Nikkei lost 1 percent. Asian shares have largely lagged their US and European counterparts in recent months mainly due to regulatory ructions and fears of slowing growth in China.
The US budget deficit totaled $2.77 trillion for 2021, the second-highest on record but an improvement from the all-time high of $3.13 trillion reached in 2020. The deficits in both years reflect trillions of dollars in government spending to counteract the devastating effects of a global pandemic.
The Reserve Bank remains laser-focused to bring back retail inflation to 4 per cent over a period of time in a non-disruptive manner, Governor Shaktikanta Das stressed while voting for status quo in interest rates, as per minutes of the October policy meeting released on Friday.
The central bank has been mandated by the government to ensure the Consumer Price Index (CPI) based inflation is at 4 per cent, with a band of 2 per cent on either side. The retail inflation, which was above 6 per cent during May and June, has started moving down and stood at 4.35 per cent in September.
FPI turn net sellers
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have turned net sellers in Indian market by pulling out Rs 3,825 crore in October so far. So far, in October, FPIs have pulled out Rs 1,494 crore, depositories’ data showed. From equities, FPIs tookout Rs 2,331 crore.
From equities, FPIs took out Rs 2,331 crore. The total net outflow stood at Rs 3,825 crore during October 1-22. V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said, "FPIs have sold software stocks worth Rs 5,406 cr in the first half of October even though the second quarter (Q2) results of software companies were good. So, this is a clear case of profit booking. FPIs have been buyers in financial services.”
Shares in China's Evergrande Group up 4%
Shares in China Evergrande Group shot up 4 percent on Monday after the embattled property developer announced plans to prioritise growth of its electric vehicles business over its core real estate operations.
China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group Ltd stock jumped as much as 17 percent, versus a 0.3 percent, fall in the Heng Seng Index. Evergrande chairman Hui Ka Yan said late on Friday that the company would aim to make its new electric vehicle venture its primary business, instead of property, within 10 years.
Results today
Tech Mahindra, HDFC Asset Management Company, Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC, ANG Lifesciences India, Aurionpro Solutions, Ceat, Coforge, Colgate-Palmolive (India), CSB Bank, Dwarikesh Sugar Industries, Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation, Goodluck India, Home First Finance Company India, ICRA, Indus Towers, Jagran Prakashan, Kansai Nerolac Paints, Karda Constructions, LKP Securities, Maharashtra Scooters, Mangalam Organics, Newgen Software Technologies, Orient Cement, Prakash Industries, Quick Heal Technologies, Ramco Cements, Shriram Asset Management, SRF, Suven Life Sciences, and Welcure Drugs & Pharmaceuticals have results today.
Six stocks under F&O ban
Six stocks - Escorts, Indiabulls Housing Finance, Vodafone Idea, Indian Energy Exchange, Punjab National Bank, and SAIL - are under the F&O ban.
