Post Session: Quick Review

Bull run continued over the Dalal Street on Wednesday, with both Sensex and Nifty ending higher. After a positive start, key indices traded in green during morning deals, as the health ministry said the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 is in conversation with all vaccine manufacturers, including domestic and foreign ones, a day after Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE announced more than 90 per cent efficacy of their potential vaccine for the coronavirus. Some support also came as Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Minister of State Hardeep Singh Puri held a virtual dialogue with their UK counterparts to review the progress towards a post-Brexit Enhanced Trade Partnership with Britain, which could lead to a free trade agreement in the future.

However, benchmarks cut all of their gains in late morning session to turn negative, amid rating agency ICRA’s report that states are likely to cut capital outlay on infrastructure by up to 40 percent, with coronavirus disease (covid-19) pandemic severely impacting revenues of state governments, and additional expenditure towards healthcare and public welfare. Traders were seen taking a note of reports that markets regulator SEBI proposed extending the requirement of constituting a risk management committee to top 1,000 listed entities from 500 at present. The risk management committee should meet at least twice in a year from the current practice of minimum one meeting every year, Sebi said in a consultation paper. Considering the multitude of risks faced by listed entities, the regulator said risk management has emerged as a very important function of the board.

Markets regained momentum during last hours of the trade and ended the trading session on a higher note, taking support with Crisil Ratings in its latest report stated that revenue of the agrochemical sector is likely to grow 12-14 per cent in the ongoing financial year (FY21) on the back of sharp recovery in offtake from domestic agriculture sector and continuing healthy exports. Traders took some relief with report the Centre government has released Rs 6,195 crore as the eight equated monthly installment of post-devolution revenue deficit grants to 14 states. 

On the global front, European markets were trading higher. Asian markets ended mostly in green, even after South Korea's unemployment rate rose in October. The data from Statistics Korea revealed that the jobless rate rose to a seasonally adjusted 4.2 percent in October from 3.9 percent in September. In the same month last year, the unemployment rate was 3.5 percent. On an unadjusted basis, the unemployment rate increased to 3.7 percent in October from 3.6 percent in the previous month. The number of unemployed increased to 1.02 million in October from 1.0 million in the preceding month. Compared to a year ago, the figure rose by 164,000 persons.

The BSE Sensex ended at 43593.67, up by 316.02 points or 0.73% after trading in a range of 42970.21 and 43708.47. There were 24 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.77%, while Small cap index was up by 0.34%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 3.51%, Healthcare up by 2.95%, IT up by 2.05%, TECK up by 1.99% and Utilities up by 1.83%, while Energy down by 3.11% and Consumer Durables down by 1.30% were the only losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 7.39%, Axis Bank up by 4.28%, Bajaj Finserv up by 4.02%, ITC up by 3.87% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 3.12%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 5.62%, Reliance Industries down by 4.20%, Titan Co down by 2.33%, Asian Paints down by 0.95% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.34% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, amid festive season, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) in its latest report has showed that passenger vehicle wholesale in India increased by 14.19 per cent to 3,10,294 units in October 2020 against 2,71,737 units in the same month last year.

As per the report, motorcycle sales were at 13,82,749 units as against 11,16,886 units in October 2019, up 23.8 per cent. Scooter sales were also up 1.79 per cent at 5,90,507 units from 5,80,120 units in the same month last year.

But, three-wheeler sales, declined by 60.91 per cent to 26,187 units last month as against 66,985 units in the same month last year. Three-wheelers saw a slight improvement in sales, compared to the last month, however, it has still registered a de-growth of 60.91 per cent, over the corresponding month of last year.

The CNX Nifty ended at 12749.15, up by 118.05 points or 0.93% after trading in a range of 12571.10 and 12769.75. There were 43 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Steel up by 7.25%, Hindalco up by 6.08%, Axis Bank up by 4.29%, Eicher Motors up by 4.11% and Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 3.92%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 5.66%, Reliance Industries down by 4.19%, Titan Co down by 2.35%, Asian Paints down by 0.82% and Britannia down by 0.44% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 26.70 points or 0.42% to 6,323.55, France’s CAC increased 14.84 points or 0.27% to 5,433.81 and Germany’s DAX was up by 32.35 points or 0.25% to 13,195.46.

Asian markets ended mostly higher on Wednesday as easing US political uncertainty helped offset worries about a surge in corona virus cases globally. Japanese shares ended higher on upbeat company earnings reports and expectations of a quick global economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic following encouraging developments in the corona virus vaccine too supported the rally. Pfizer Inc and BioNTech released positive interim phase III results from their Covid-19 vaccine candidate on Monday, with the results suggesting that the vaccine was 90 percent effective in preventing infection. South Korean shares closed up following upbeat trade data. South Korea's exports rose an annual 20.1 percent in the first 10 days of November on strong chip sales and solid demand from major trading partners, customs data showed. The nation's unemployment rate climbed to a three-month high in October, while the number of employed fell at the fastest pace in six months, another report revealed. Though, Chinese shares ended lower as concerns about tighter regulation over big tech firms weighed sentiments.