Dr Reddy Labs (up 3.69%), Cipla (up 2.08%), Tata Motors (up 1.90%), Shree Cement (up 1.87%) and Asian Paints (up 1.84%) were the top Nifty gainers.

JSW Steel (down 2.71%), Tata Steel (down 2.61%), Coal India (down 2.08%) and IOCL (down 1.54%) were the top Nifty losers.

BPCL tanked 7.92% after the government extended the deadline to submit expression of interest (EoI) for the company's privatisation to 16 November 2020.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 0.29% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.08%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1132 shares rose and 1274 shares fell. A total of 187 shares were unchanged.

COVID-19 Update:

India reported 9,40,441 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 97,497 deaths while 51,87,825 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 33,560,877 with 10,06,564 deaths.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty FMCG index rose 1.81% to 29,966.75. The index had lost 1.51% yesterday.

Godrej Consumer (up 3.05%), Hindustan Unilever (up 2.61%), Nestle India (up 2.18%), Britannia Industries (up 2.15%), Dabur India (up 2.11%) and Marico (up 1.84%) were the top index gainers.

Varun Beverages (down 2.35%), Jubilant Foodworks (down 0.67%), United Breweries (down 0.45%) and Emami (down 0.19%) were the top index laggards.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Reliance Industries (RIL) gained 0.36% to Rs 2235. RIL said that General Atlantic, a leading global growth equity firm, will invest Rs 3,675 crore into Reliance Retail Ventures, a subsidiary of the company. This investment values Reliance Retail at a pre-money equity value of Rs 4.285 lakh crore. General Atlantic's investment will translate into a 0.84% equity stake in RRVL on a fully diluted basis. The transaction is subject to regulatory and other customary approvals. This marks the second investment by General Atlantic in a subsidiary of Reliance Industries, following a Rs 6,598.38 crore investment in Jio Platforms announced earlier this year.

Indiabulls Housing Finance rose 1.78% to Rs 154.75. In a regulatory filing made after market hours on Tuesday, the company said that it had further sold a portion of its stake in OakNorth Holding (the wholly-owning parent company of OakNorth Bank) to TEMF (a fund managed by Toscafund Asset Management) for approximately Rs 630 crore. The sale proceeds will be accretive to the regulatory net worth and the capital-to-risk weighted assets ratio (CRAR) of Indiabulls Housing Finance.

"With the latest stake sale, the company has raised a total of Rs 1,832 crore as fresh equity in the month of September 2020 (Rs 683 crore through QIP and Rs 1,149 crore through sale of stake in OakNorth) adding to the regulatory equity capital of the company," the housing financier said. Further, the company has launched a buyback of all its bonds maturing in next 12 months.

Ramco Systems hit an upper circuit of 5% at Rs 426 after the company signed an agreement with a Global Top 5 logistics major. The agreement is for modernizing and transforming the logistics major's multi-country Payroll operations on Ramco's Global Payroll platform. The logistics major will be unifying its payroll operations for 15 countries across Middle East & Africa.

Punjab National Bank (PNB) fell 1.55% to Rs 28.60. The media reported that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have told PNB to get ready to take over Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB) in case the beleaguered lender's proposed transaction with Clix Capital does not materialise. Following the media reports, PNB clarified to the bourses today (30 September) that it has not received any such instruction from RBI and the above reported news is incorrect.

Global Markets:

The Dow Jones Futures 30 were down 244 points, indicating a weak start in US markets today.

European shares opened in the green while most Asian markets were trading higher on Wednesday as investors reacted to the release of China's manufacturing activity data for September and US presidential debate.

China's official manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for September came in at 51.5 on Wednesday as compared to 51 in August, according to the country's National Bureau of Statistics. Meanwhile, a private manufacturing survey also showed manufacturing activity expanding in September, with the Caixin/Markit PMI coming in at 53 from 53.1 in August.

With respect to developments on the COVID-19 front, the US-based Regeneron Pharmaceuticals on Tuesday reportedly said its experimental two-antibody cocktail reduced viral levels and improved symptoms in non-hospitalized coronavirus patients.

In US, Wall Street closed lower on Tuesday, snapping a three-day winning streak as investors took money off the table hours before the first U.S. presidential debate.

US President Donald Trump and Joe Biden, the Democratic nominee, wrapped up their first presidential debate on Tuesday night with heated exchanges. Two more debates between the presidential candidates are scheduled to take place on 15 October and 22 October 2020. The US Presidential election is scheduled on Tuesday, 3 November 2020.

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi reportedly unveiled a new, $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief bill proposed by House Democrats, a sign of potential progress in the partisan tug-of-war over the new aid package nearly two months after emergency unemployment benefits expired for millions.