Markets ended marginally in the green; Sensex rises 84 points & Nifty closes at 11,931

Domestic equity benchmarks ended with minor gains after a volatile session on Monday, October 12, 2020. The S&P BSE Sensex gained 84.31 points or 0.21 per cent to close at 40,593.80. The Nifty 50 index added 16.75 points or 0.14 per cent to end at 11,930.95. However, Nifty Bank closed 134 points or 0.56 per cent low at 23,712.80.

Nifty continues upward with its bullish march, with immediate resistance seen around 12,050-12,100 zone whereas support is seen around 11,700-11,750.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 947 shares rose and 1741 shares fell. Similarly, on the Nifty 50 block, 26 shares advanced while 24 dropped. The top five gainers on Nifty 50 include Infosys (up 2.93 per cent), ITC (up 2.74 per cent), UPL (up 1.95 per cent), Cipla (up 1.81 per cent) and Asian Paints (up 1.73 per cent). The major losers were Bharti Airtel (down 2.81 per cent), JSW Steel (down 2.74 per cent), GAIL (down 2.63 per cent), HDFC Life (down 1.92 per cent) and Tata Motors (down 1.84 per cent).

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's Press Conference

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman addressed a press conference on economic issues today. The FM announced a leave travel concession (LTC) cash voucher scheme and special festival advance scheme for government employees with an aim to increase consumer spending.

Power Outage in Mumbai

Mumbai faced a power outage on Monday morning. The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) Electricity tweeted that the electric supply in Mumbai was interrupted due to Tata's incoming electric supply failure. Power has now been restored in most areas of the city.

BEST Electricity in a tweet said, "Due to Grid failure at Padgha - Kalwa there is a total failure of electricity in Mumbai. The restoration work is in progress."

Pandemic Update

The pandemic continues to cause widespread havoc in Europe with governments reportedly resorting to localised lockdowns to stem the spread of the virus. Spain's government has caused controversy after it imposed a state of emergency on Madrid and the UK government is set to announce further restrictions for England on Monday, the reports added.

Growing expectations of a Democratic victory in next month's presidential election also supported risk sentiments. US President Donald Trump tweeted: "Covid Relief Negotiations are moving along. Go Big!" The media reported that the White House is preparing a $1.8 trillion stimulus proposal.