Hopes of fresh US stimulus package before the election and expectation of coronavirus vaccine by the end of the year boosted investors sentiment.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 0.17% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.34%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1377 shares rose and 1103 shares fell. A total of 159 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 479.59 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net sellers to the tune of Rs 429.81 crore in the Indian equity market on 16 October, provisional data showed.

COVID-19 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.

Gainers & Losers:

ICICI Bank (up 4%), Axis Bank (up 4%), GAIL India (up 3.93%), Nestle India (up 3.5%) and ONGC (up 3.35%) were top gainers in Nifty 50 index.

Divi's Labs (down 3.65%), Eicher Motors (down 3.18%), Hero MotoCorp (down 2.92%), Cipla (down 2.12%) and Bharti Airtel (down 1.64%) were top losers in Nifty 50 index.

Earnings Today:

Britannia Industries (up 0.79%), HDFC Life (up 1.46%), ACC (down 0.72%), Century Textiles (down 0.48%), Hatsun Agro (up 0.48%), L&T Technology Services (down 0.1%), Rallis India (up 1.3%), Tata Metaliks (up 6.83%) and CSB Bank (up 3.64%) will announce quarterly earnings today.

Earnings Impact:

HDFC Bank added 0.91% to Rs 1209.95 after the bank's net profit increased 18.4% to Rs 7513.11 crore on a 6.9% rise in total income to Rs 36,069 crore in Q2 September 2020 over Q2 September 2019. The bank said it is net interest income (interest earned less interest expended) for Q2 September 2020 grew by 16.7% to Rs 15,776.4 crore from Rs 13,515 crore recorded in Q2 September 2019, driven by asset growth of 21.5% and core net margin of 4.1%. The bank's continued focus on deposits helped in maintenance for a healthy liquidity coverage ratio at 153%, above the requirement.

The bank's provisions and contingencies increased by 37% to Rs 3,703.50 crore in Q2 September 2020 from Rs 2700.68 crore in Q2 September 2019. On the asset quality side, the ratio of gross NPAs to gross advances stood at 1.08% on 30 September 2020 as against 1.36% as on 30 June 2020 and 1.38% as on 30 September 2019. The ratio of net NPAs to net advances stood at 0.17% as on 30 September 2020 as against 0.33% as on 30 June 2020 and 0.42% as on 30 September 2019.

Avenue Supermarts rose 2.16% to Rs 2026.35. The company's consolidated net profit tumbled 38.4% to Rs 199 crore on 11.4% fall in revenues to Rs 5,306 crore in Q2 September 2020 over Q2 September 2019. EBITDA margin was at 6.2% in Q2 September 2020 compared with 8.6% in Q2 September 2019. FMCG and staples demand remains robust. September 2020 sales of all stores exceeded September 2019 sales for FMCG and Staples while General Merchandise and Garments did lesser sales in the same period. However, discretionary consumption has seen significant improvement over Q1FY21.

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. The company's consolidated gross revenue grew by 3% to Rs 4401 crore in Q2 September 2020 over Q2 September 2019. Consolidated EBITDA rose 38.9% to Rs 1,158 crore. Consolidated EBITDA margin expanded 680 basis points to 26.3%. The result was announced after market hours on Friday, 16 October 2020.

Oberoi Realty was up 1.75%. On a consolidated basis, Oberoi Realty registered a 0.24% decline in net profit to Rs 137.74 crore on 35.7% drop in net sales to Rs 316 crore in Q2 September 2020 over Q2 September 2019. Consolidated profit before tax (PBT) stood at Rs 168.81 crore in Q2 September 2020, falling 12% from Rs 192 crore in Q2 September 2019. Current tax expense fell 36.6% to Rs 33.73 crore in Q2 September 2020 over Q2 September 2019. The result was announced on Saturday, 17 October 2020.

Stocks in Spotlight:

The US Dow Jones futures were up 249 points, indicating a strong opening for the US stocks today.

European markets opened higher while Asian Markets advanced on Monday. 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.