Domestic bourses are expected to start the day on flat note today on Thursday. Investors will today focus on global cues, corporate results, and stock-specific developments for the market direction amid the murmurs of another stimulus package likely to be announced within a month.

On the result front, a total of 48 companies including Asian Paints, Bajaj Auto, Bharti Infratel, and SBI Cards are set to announce their quarterly earnings today.

On Wednesday, the 30-share benchmark index ended at 40707.31 up by 162.94 points or by 0.4 % and then NSE Nifty was at 11937.65 up by 40.85 points or by 0.34 %.

On the global front, Wall Street’s three major averages closed lower on Wednesday after a volatile trading session, as investors worried whether difficult negotiations in Washington would produce a deal for a fresh U.S. coronavirus stimulus package.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 97.97 points, or 0.35%, to 28,210.82, the S&P 500 lost 7.56 points, or 0.22%, to 3,435.56 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 31.80 points, or 0.28%, to 11,484.69. In early Asian trade, Australian stocks fell 0.73 per cent, Japan's Nikkei slipped 0.65 per cent and Hong Kong was down 0.8 per cent.

Back home, top traded Volumes on NSE Nifty – State Bank of India 54516482.00, ICICI Bank Ltd. 43125095.00, Tata Motors Ltd. 39252680.00, NTPC Ltd. 38563963.00, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. 28080425.00.

On NSE, total number of shares traded was 213.94 Crore and total turnover stood at Rs. 61444.39 Crore.

On NSE Future and Options, total number of contracts traded in index futures was 643883 with a total turnover of Rs. 46141.28 Crore. Along with this total number of contracts traded in stock futures were 956546 with a total turnover of Rs. 70898.21 Crore. Total numbers of contracts for index options were 42164391 with a total turnover of Rs. 3044477.47 Crore. and total numbers of contracts for stock options were 1796630 with a total turnover of Rs. 140601.69 Crore.

The FIIs on 21/10/2020 stood as net buyer in equity and debt. Gross equity purchased stood at Rs. 6521.67 Crore and gross debt purchased stood at Rs. 1367.26 Crore, while the gross equity sold stood at Rs. 4690.43 Crore and gross debt sold stood at Rs. 797.71 Crore. Therefore, the net investment of equity and debt reported were Rs. 1831.24 Crore and Rs. 569.55