Sensex, Nifty trade with decent gains; metal stocks shine

The benchmark indices traded with moderate gains in mid-afternoon trade. The Nifty traded above the 24,850 mark. Metal shares advanced after declining in four consecutive trading sessions.

At 14:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 368.79 points or 0.45% to 81,371.56. The Nifty 50 index added 129.50 points or 0.52% to 24,879.50.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.34% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 0.08%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,809 shares rose and 2,052 shares fell. A total of 118 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

Indian Railways has cut down Advance Reservation Period from current 120 days to 60 days w.e.f. 01.11.2024; excluding the date of the journey. The Ministry of Railways has announced this change in the Advance Reservation Period (ARP) for train bookings by Indian travelers in order to promote genuine passengers. The decision will help the Railway Board to improve the visibility of genuine demand for rail travel in India. It was being noticed that about 21 percent of reservations done for 61 to 120 day periods were getting cancelled. Further, 5% of passengers were neither canceling their tickets nor were they undertaking the journey. This No Show trend was also one of the factors behind the decision, which will help Indian Railways in better planning of special trains during peak seasons.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index rose 1.56% to 9,752.85. The index declined 1.53% in the four consecutive trading sessions.

Jindal Steel & Power (up 4.17%), NMDC (up 3.19%), National Aluminium Company (up 3.09%), Hindalco Industries (up 2.5%), Tata Steel (up 2.03%), APL Apollo Tubes (up 1.77%), Hindustan Copper (up 1.77%), JSW Steel (up 1.75%), Vedanta (up 1.63%) and Ratnamani Metals & Tubes (up 1.29%) edged higher.

On the other hand, Jindal Stainless (down 2.58%), Welspun Corp (down 2.14%) and Hindustan Zinc (down 0.94%) edged lower.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper advanced 1.96% to 6.917 as compared with previous close 6.896.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 84.0750, compared with its close of 84.0600 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 December 2024 settlement rose 0.46% to Rs 77,455.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was down 0.16% to 103.66.

The United States 10-year bond yield gained 0.27% to 4.109.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for November 2024 settlement added 23 cents or 0.31% to $74.68 a barrel.

Stocks in spotlight:

Shriram Finance added 3.31% after the NBFC announced that its board will meet on Friday, 25 October 2024, to consider a proposal for the sub-division/ split of existing equity shares of the company.

Tanla Platforms declined 3.28% after the company's consolidated net profit declined 8.65% to Rs 130.21 crore on 0.78% fell in net sales to Rs 1,000.72 crore in Q2 FY25 over Q2 FY24.

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