Key equity indices settled with minor losses after seeing wild swings either ways. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, fell 10.08 points or 0.03% to settle at 34,431.97. The Nifty 50 index fell 6.15 points or 0.06% to settle at 10,380.45. IT shares dropped on firm rupee.

The Sensex fell 10.08 points or 0.03% to settle at 34,431.97. The index hit high of 34,679.93 and low of 34,303.38 in intraday trade.

The Nifty 50 index fell 6.15 points or 0.06% to settle at 10,380.45. The index hit high of 10,441.90 and low of 10,341.90 in intraday trade.

Broader market settled on a strong note. Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index rose 1.10%. The BSE Small-Cap index rose 1.09%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On BSE, 1613 shares rose and 988 shares fell. A total of 128 shares were unchanged.

Among the sectoral indices on BSE, the S&P BSE Capital Goods index (up 2.34%), the S&P BSE Realty index (up 2.27%), the S&P BSE Metal index (up 1.29%) outperformed the Sensex. The S&P BSE IT index (down 1.78%), the S&P BSE Teck index (down 1.6%) and the S&P BSE FMCG index (down 0.65%) underperformed the Sensex.

Larsen & Toubro gained 2.65% after consolidated net profit rose 28.37% to Rs 2593.41 crore on 21.6% rise in total income to Rs 32800.85 crore in Q2 September 2018 over Q2 September 2017. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 31 October 2018.

L&T said that the company has witnessed a strong growth of 46%, with order wins worth Rs 41921 crore at the group level during Q2 September 2018 due to pick-up in domestic ordering activity. International orders at Rs 8268 crore constituted 20% of the total order inflow. Infrastructure, Hydrocarbon, Heavy Engineering and Power businesses largely contributed to the growth in order inflows. The consolidated order book stood at Rs 281166 crore as at 30 September 2018. International order book constituted 22% of the total order book.

In its outlook, L&T said that investment by private sector however remains cautious with increased economic volatility in terms of hardening commodity prices, weakening INR, rising crude oil prices, tight liquidity in the financial markets, coupled with unevenly distributed monsoon. Global challenges are also being witnessed in terms of increasing trade barriers and activation of sanctions impacting free trade. The company continues to focus on operational excellence and cost competitiveness for profitable execution of its large order book.

Vedanta rose 0.78% after the company announced Q2 result after market hours yesterday, 31 October 2018. Consolidated net profit fell 34.82% to Rs 1900 crore on 4.06% rise in total income to Rs 23617 crore in Q2 September 2018 over Q2 September 2017. EBITDA for Q2 at Rs 5342 crore was down 8% on y-o-y primarily on account of higher costs due to input commodity inflation, lower volume at Zinc India, Zinc International, and closure of Tuticorin smelter. This was partially offset by higher commodity prices, acquisition of ESL and currency depreciation.

Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan, Chief Executive Officer, Vedanta, said the company is uniquely poised to grow in commodities that have rising demand especially in India with an enviable growth pipeline which is systematically being brought to fruition.

Vedanta's board of directors declared an interim dividend of Rs 17 per share for the financial year 2018-19. The company has fixed 10 November 2018 as the record date for the purpose of payment of interim dividend.

Housing finance major HDFC shed 0.44%. Net profit rose 24.7% to Rs 2467.08 crore on 24.97% increase in total income to Rs 11256.96 crore in Q2 September 2018 over Q2 September 2017. The result was announced during trading hours today, 1 November 2018.

Tata Motors rose 0.06% after the company announced its Q2 September 2018 result after market hours yesterday, 31 October 2018. Tata Motors reported consolidated net loss of Rs 1009.49 crore in Q2 September 2018 as compared with net profit of Rs 2501.67 crore in Q2 September 2017. Total income rose 2.61% to Rs 72729.30 crore in Q2 September 2018 over Q2 September 2017.

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) revenues for the quarter were £5.6 billion, 10.9% lower year-on-year primarily reflecting lower wholesales. The lower wholesales combined with higher depreciation and amortization led to a pre-tax loss for the quarter of £90 million. Earnings before interest, tax and depreciation (EBITDA) were £511 million (9.1% margin).

N Chandrasekaran, Chairman commented that Tata Motors has improved market shares whilst delivering robust improvement in profitability in both the commercial vehicles and passenger vehicles and generated positive free cash flows. In JLR, market conditions, particularly in China, have deteriorated further.

IT shares declined on a firm rupee. Hexaware Technologies (down 4.29%), HCL Technologies (down 3.73%), Tech Mahindra (down 3.11%), MindTree (down 3%), Infosys (down 2.9%), Oracle Financial Services Software (down 2.18%), MphasiS (down 1.29%), Persistent Systems (down 1.22%), Wipro (down 0.47%) and TCS (down 0.15%) edged lower.

A weak rupee boosts revenue of IT firms in rupee terms as the sector derives a lion's share of revenue from exports. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 73.565, compared with its close of 73.95 during the previous trading session.

Maruti Suzuki India rose 1.52%. The company said its total sales rose 0.2% to 146,766 units in October 2018 over October 2017. The announcement was made during trading hours today, 1 November 2018.

Eicher Motors rose 1.01%. Royal Enfield's manufacturing facility at Oragadam, near Chennai, remained operational through the month of October 2018, even though a part of the workforce continued to stay away from work since 24 September 2018. Due to the strike, the loss of production for the month of September and October 2018, is 25,000 motorcycles. A majority of workforce continues to report to work at the Oragadam plant and are actively engaged in operations. Manufacturing facility at Vallam Vadagal continues to operate and deliver to its full capacity. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 31 October 2018.

Ashok Leyland fell 1.31%. The company said its total October auto sales rose 17% at 15,149 units against 12,944 in October 2017. M&HCV sales were up 7% at 9,797 units versus 9,140 units. LCV sales rose 41% at 5,352 units versus 3,804 units, YoY. The announcement was made during trading hours today, 1 November 2018.

Bosch fell 0.78%. The company said the board of directors at their meeting scheduled to be held on 5 November 2018, shall consider the proposal for buyback of the equity shares of the company. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 31 October 2018.

On the economic front, manufacturing sector growth in India gathered momentum in October as firms responded to stronger order inflows by scaling up production, input purchasing and employment. Rising from 52.2 in September to 53.1 in October, the Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) highlighted the joint-strongest upturn in the health of the sector in 2018 so far. Moreover, the current growth spell was stretched to 15 months.

The combined Index of Eight Core Industries stood at 127.20 in September 2018, which was 4.3% higher as compared to the index of September 2017. Its cumulative growth during April to September 2018-2019 was 5.5%. The Eight Core Industries comprise 40.27% of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP). The data was unveiled after market hours yesterday, 31 October 2018.

Meanwhile, India climbed another 23 points in the World Bank's ease of doing business ranking to 77th place, becoming the top ranked country in South Asia for the first time and third among the BRICS. The details were revealed in World Bank's Doing Business Report which is an assessment of business regulation across 190 economies.

India has improved its rank in 6 out of 10 indicators and has moved closer to international best practices (Distance to Frontier score) on 7 out of the 10 indicators. But, the most dramatic improvements have been registered in the indicators related to 'Construction Permits' and 'Trading across Borders'.

Overseas, European stocks were slightly positive as investors monitored another batch of earnings results. Most shares in Asia ended higher on the first day of November trading after a roller coaster October rocked stocks in the region.

The Caixin China manufacturing purchasing managers' index edged up to 50.1 in October from 50.0 in September, Caixin Media Co. and research firm Markit said Thursday. The 50 level separates an expansion in manufacturing activity from a contraction.

The Bank of Japan kept its ultra-easy monetary policy in place as concerns grow about the impact of US-China trade tensions on the Japanese economy. The board voted 7-2 to maintain short-term interest rates at minus 0.1% and the target for the 10-year Japanese government bond yield at around zero. The BOJ reiterated Wednesday that it would keep “extremely” low interest rates “for an extended period” and allow the 10-year JGB yield to move in a more flexible manner.

US stocks climbed Wednesday to close out an ugly October on a positive note as solid earnings from high-profile brands cheered investors and revived strong buying interest in equities.

On the US data front, private-sector employers added 227,000 new jobs in October, according to payroll firm Automatic Data Processing.

Labor costs rose 0.8% in the third quarter, according to the Labor Department's employment cost index report. Year-over-year, compensation growth remained at the 2.8% level seen in the second quarter, a 10-year high.

Chicago-area PMI came in at 58.4, down from 60.4, according to FactSet. While a reading above 50 indicates expanding activity, this was the lowest reading of the index since April.