-Indian markets were flattish on Wednesday after a slide in financials
-Sensex was down 551 pts – at 65,877
-Nifty was at 19671 – down 140 pts
-Metals jumped nearly 1% after data showed China’s economy grew at a faster-than-expected rate in July-September, easing concerns over recovery in the top metals consumer.
-High weightage financials lost 0.52%. Bajaj Finance shed as much as 2.13% and was the top Nifty 50 loser.
-Bajaj Finance posted a smaller-than-expected rise in September quarter profit post-market hours on Tuesday, as provisions for bad loans increased.
Top gainers of Sensex were Tata Motors, Sunpharma, Maruti and M&M
Top losers were: Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, NTPC, Axis and HDFC Bank
Small- and mid-caps extended their outperformance over the blue chips, rising 0.5% and 0.2%, respectively, aided by strong retail inflows.
Global markets
Asian stocks fell after a blast at a Gaza hospital shattered hopes of containing the Israel-Hamas military conflict. A surge in the U.S. Treasury yields after strong retail sales data reignited rate concerns and dragged sentiment.
Rupee and oil
The Indian rupee closed unchanged as U.S. dollar sales by the RBI kept the rupee off its record low, offsetting pressure from higher crude oil prices and equity-related outflows. The rupee ended steady at 83.2575 against the U.S. dollar.
Worries about supply disruptions from the Middle East lifted oil prices to nearly $92 per barrel in today’s trade.