Domestic equity benchmarks pared gains in mid-morning trade. Hopes of fresh US stimulus package before the election and expectation of coronavirus vaccine by the end of the year boosted investors sentiment. At 11:23 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 354.40 points or 0.89% at 40,337.38. The Nifty 50 index added 97.70 points or 0.83% at 11,860.15.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.01% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.27%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1312 shares rose and 959 shares fell. A total of 130 shares were unchanged.

Coronavirus Update:

India reported 772,055 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 114,610 deaths while 6,663,608 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 39,899,915 with 1,112,599 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Buzzing Segment:

The Nifty Bank index rose 2.18% to 24,045.70. The index has gained 4.2% in two sessions.

Bank Of Baroda (up 4.59%), Federal Bank (up 4.50%), ICICI Bank (up 3.90%), Axis Bank (up 3.30%), RBL Bank (up 2.91%), Bandhan Bank (up 2.52%), SBI (up 2.40%), IndusInd Bank (up 2.21%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (up 2.04%), IDFC First Bank (up 1.47%), Punjab National Bank (up1.09%) and HDFC Bank (up 0.04%) advanced.

Earnings in Focus:

Tata Communications was locked in 5% upper circuit at Rs 921.45 after the company's consolidated profit after tax soared 613.4% to Rs 384 crore in Q2 September 2020 over Q2 September 2019. Consolidated gross revenue grew by 3% to Rs 4401 crore in Q2 September 2020 over Q2 September 2019.

Bajaj Consumer Care gained 4.21% to Rs 191.9 after the FMCG company posted a 1.6% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 56.92 crore on a 4.3% rise in net sales to Rs 223.37 crore in Q2 September 2020 over Q2 September 2019.

The company said urban markets continued to be under stress as being lockdown in various markets, migration of labour away from town centres and drying up of upcountry customers at wholesale markets put pressure. The company's international business remained stable with recovery in Q2 due to ease of restrictions. The rural markets did well. The van operations have helped scale up rural business.

Shoppers Stop reported consolidated net loss of Rs 97.70 crore in Q2 September 2020, higher than net loss of Rs 8.18 crore in Q2 September 2019. Consolidated net sales slumped 65.7% to Rs 296.98 crore in Q2 FY21 as against Rs 866.48 crore in Q2 FY20.

Meanwhile, the company's board approved the appointment of Venugopal G Nair as an additional director of the company. He has also been appointed as a managing director, designated as managing director & chief executive officer of the company for a period of three years effective 6 November 2020, subject to approval of shareholders of the company.

The board also approved raising up to Rs 300 crore through rights issue of equity shares. The board has constituted the right issue committee of board of directors and authorized it to proceed with rights issue forthwith, and decide the other terms and conditions of the rights issue, as may be required, from time to time.

Global Markets:

The US Dow Jones futures were up 175 points, indicating a strong opening for the US stocks today.

Asian Markets advanced on Monday amid hopes of fresh stimulus package announcement in the US paired with expectations of a coronavirus vaccine by the end of this year.

Shanghai witnessed some correction. China's economy recovered further from the coronavirus in the third quarter, according to data released Monday by the National Bureau of Statistics. China's GDP rose by 4.9% YoY in the third-quarter. That brings growth for the first three quarters of the year to 0.7% from a year ago. Slower recovery in Chinese consumption remained a drag, while uncertainty persisted about the ability of other countries to control the coronavirus pandemic and return to economic growth.

US stocks rose on Friday as further clarity regarding the timeline for the development of a coronavirus vaccine and much better-than-expected retail sales data and brought buyers back to the market. However, market gains were capped amid lingering uncertainty about a new stimulus bill.

Retail sales rose strongly in September, the fifth consecutive month of growth, as Americans spent more on clothing, cars and sporting goods. The US Commerce Department said Friday that retail sales jumped 1.9% last month. That's up from an increase of 0.6% in August.

US industrial production fell 0.6% in September. The Federal Reserve reported Friday that industrial production suffered its first decline since a 12.7% drop in April during the spring lockdowns.

The University of Michigan released a report showing a bigger than expected improvement in consumer sentiment in the month of October. The preliminary report said the consumer sentiment index rose to 81.2 in October from the final September reading of 80.4.

Meanwhile, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reportedly said on Sunday she was optimistic legislation on a wide-ranging coronavirus relief package could be pushed through before the election.

Pfizer shares jumped after Pfizer (PFE) Chairman and CEO Albert Bourla said the drug giant will apply for emergency use of the Covid-19 vaccine it is developing with BioNTech (BNTX) soon after the safety milestone is achieved in the third week of November.