Indian equity benchmarks ended higher on Friday following gains in IT, Banking and TECK stocks amid positive signals in the global market. Key indicators started and stayed in green for the whole session. Some favourable cues also came with S&P Global Ratings’ report stating that growth in large Asia Pacific economies like China, India and Indonesia will be less affected as their economies are more domestically oriented. 

“On the daily timeframe, the Nifty formed a bearish candle while protecting the 20-day SMA (simple moving average – 17,240.70 Level) on the upside for the 16th consecutive day, this points towards the bearish undertone of the prices while having high underlying volatility,” Vidnyan Sawant, AVP – Technical Research at GEPL Capital said.

Also Read: JPMorgan Chase earnings top estimates on gains from higher interest rates

Indian Indices

The Sensex rose 684.64  points or 1.20% to 57,919.97 while the Nifty jumped 171.35  points or 1.01% to 17,185.70 at the close of trading on Friday. The Sensex moved in a high and low band of high and low of 58,435.12 and 57,848.23. There were 19 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining, while one stock was stable on the index. The Nifty traded in a range of 17,348.55 and 17,169.75. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

Broader Indices

The broader indices ended in mixed with the BSE MidCap index down by 0.13% while the SmallCap index was up by 0.01%. The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE, IT was up by 1.72%, Bankex was up by 1.71%%, TECK was up by 1.56%, Capital Goods was up by  0.71% and Consumer Durableswas up by 0.56%. On the flip side, Power down was down by 1.34%, Utilities was down by 1.34%, Oil & Gas was down by 1.00%, Energy was down by 0.77% and Realty by 0.77%.

Also Read: World’s largest chipmaker TSMC reports 80% jump in net profit

India VIX Index

Nifty or India VIX, a gauge of the market’s expected volatility over the near term, fell 10.02% to 18.26 on Friday.

SGX Nifty

The trends on SGX Nifty indicate a negative opening for the index in India with a 146-point loss. The Nifty futures traded at 17,066.5 on the Singaporean Exchange at around 7:50 hours IST.

Support and Resistance levels

The key support level for the Nifty is at 17,121, followed by 17,056. If the index moves up, the key resistance levels to watch out for are 17,300 and 17,413, according to pivot charts.

Also Read: RBI MPC minutes: Repo rate hikes necessary to combat high inflation risks

US Markets 

The S&P 500 fell 86.84 points, or 2.37%, to 3,583.07 on Friday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 403.89 points, or 1.34%, to 29,634.80.

The Nasdaq fell 327.76  points, or 3.08%, to 10,321.40.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 1,662.40 points, or 2.66%, to 1,691.92.

Asian Markets

Asian markets ended mostly higher on Friday. Nikkei 225 was up by 3.25%, Taiwan Weighted was up by 2.18%, KOSPI Composite was up by 2.30% and Shanghai Composite was 1.84% up.

European Markets

European markets ended higher on Friday; UK’s FTSE 100 higher by 0.12%, France’s CAC rose by 0.90% and Germany’s DAX rose  0.67%.

Also Read: Why has Decathlon reversed its name to Nolhtaced in Belgium?

Major Headlines

RBI MPC minutes: Repo rate hikes necessary to combat high inflation risks

India is likely to be among the fastest-growing major economies this financial year, geopolitical turbulence notwithstanding, Reserve Bank of India’s Shaktikanta Das said in the minutes of the central bank’s monetary policy meeting held last month.

On September 30, the six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), headed by Das, hiked the short-term lending rate for the third straight time by 50 basis points to take the repo rate to 5.9%. In May, the repo rate was raised by 40 basis points.

Except for Ashima Goyal, who favoured a 35 basis points hike, the other five members had voted for a 50 bps hike in the repo rate.

The Governor said the growth projection of 7% for the financial year 2022-23, therefore, carries risks that are badly balanced. Whatever the upcoming scenario, India is expected to be among the fastest-growing major economies in the world.

India wholesale price-based inflation eases to 10.7% in September

India’s annual wholesale price-based inflation (WPI) eased to 10.70% in September, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry. 

September is the 18th straight month of double-digit WPI inflation. This year, the Wholesale Price Index touched a record high of 15.88% in May.

Food inflation based on WPI Food Index also eased to 8.08% in September from 9.93% in August. Fruits prices eased to 4.51% in September, against 31.75% in August. Prices of pulses fell 0.28% and onions slipped 20.96%. Wheat prices eased to 16.09% in September from 17.35% in August while that of eggs, meat & fish eased to 3.63% from 7.88% a month ago. However, inflation in vegetables rose to 39.66% during the month, as against 22.29% in August.

In the fuel and power segment, inflation came in lower at 32.61% in September, against 33.67% in August. LPG prices eased to 8.45% from 19.75% a month ago, but HSD (High-Speed Diesel) spiked to 65.96% from 60.15% and petrol prices rose to 40.38% from 38.68%.

HDFC Q2 Reports: 20% YoY rise in net profit, NII rises 19% 

The private lender on Saturday reported a 20.1% year-on-year rise in net profit to Rs 10,605.8 crore for the second quarter of the financial year 2022-23. Net interest income (NNI) grew by 18.9% to Rs 21,021.2 crore, and the loan book grew 19% against the year-ago period. The lender reported improvement in asset quality with the gross non-performing assets (NPA) ratio was 1.23%, from 1.28% a quarter ago. The net NPA reported is 0.33% against 0.35% in the earlier quarter.

Also Read: India wholesale price-based inflation eases to 10.7% in September

Bulk Deal data

Ask Financial Holdings Private Limited bought 54,00,000 shares in National Highways Infra Trust at Rs 109.73 per share on the NSE.

Shankar Sharma bought 11,50,000 shares in BLS Intl Servs Ltd at Rs 275 per share on the NSE.

Topgain Finance Private Limited bought 2,98,881 shares in TRF Limited at Rs 174.5 per share on the NSE.

Mansi Shares & Stock Advisors Pvt Ltd bought 2,00,040 shares in TRF Limited at Rs 174.2  per share on the NSE.

Topgain Finance Private Limited sold 1,83,453 shares in TRF Limited at Rs 176.73 per share on the NSE.

DII and FII data

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have sold shares worth a net of Rs 1,011.23 crore, whereas domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased shares worth a net of Rs 1,624.13 crore on October 14, as per data available on the NSE.

Also Read: Rupee depreciates 5 paise to 82.29 against US dollar

NSE F&O Ban

Delta Corp Ltd, Indiabulls Housing Finance, and India Cements have been placed under the F&O ban for October 17. Securities in the ban period under the F&O segment include companies in which the security has crossed 95% of the market-wide position limit.