Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks ended the last trading day of the week in green terrain. The start of the day was on a positive note, amid report that investments through participatory notes (P-notes) in the Indian capital market surged to Rs 78,686 crore at October-end, making it the highest level in 14 months, on enhanced global liquidity and measures taken by the government back home. Some support also came as the Reserve Bank announced to conduct simultaneous purchase and sale of government securities under open market operations (OMOs) for Rs 10,000 crore each on November 26. The decision was taken after a review of the current liquidity and financial conditions.

In late morning deals, markets turned negative, as Global forecasting firm Oxford Economics revised downwards its India growth forecast over the medium term to an average 4.5 per cent over 2020-25, from its pre-pandemic projection of 6.5 per cent. In a research note, it said India's post-COVID-19 scars could be among the worst in the world. Sentiments were also negative, as Niti Aayog Member (Health) V K Paul said that India's overall spending on the health sector is 'low' and the situation must be 'corrected'. Emphasising that there is a need to request both the union and state governments to enhance spending on health, he said the COVID-19 experience will justify an increase in expenditure on health sector.

But, during the last hours of the trade, key indices came back in green terrain to close the trading session on a higher note, after State Bank of India (SBI) in its latest research report from SBI Ecowrap has upgraded India's second-quarter (Q2) gross domestic product (GDP) to -10.7 per cent from -12.5 per cent with a positive bias. Besides, ICRA said that the contraction in the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) may have narrowed to 9.5 per cent in the second quarter of the current fiscal from 23.9 per cent in the April-June quarter as the economy recovered from the lows of the pandemic-induced lockdown.

On the global front, European markets were trading higher. Asian markets ended mostly higher on Friday, after China kept its benchmark loan prime rates unchanged for the seventh consecutive month, as widely expected. The one-year loan prime rate was retained at 3.85 percent and the five-year loan prime rate was maintained at 4.65 percent. The one-year and five-year loan prime rates were last reduced in April. The one-year loan prime rate was lowered by 20 basis points and five-year rate by 10 basis points in April. The loan prime rate is fixed monthly based on the submission of 18 banks, though Beijing has influence over the rate-setting. This new lending rate replaced the central bank's traditional benchmark lending rate in August 2019.

The BSE Sensex ended at 43882.25, up by 282.29 points or 0.65% after trading in a range of 43453.75 and 44013.02. There were 23 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.22%, while Small cap index was up by 0.77%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 4.73%, Consumer Durables up by 2.77%, Power up by 1.83%, TECK up by 1.43% and Utilities up by 1.35%, while Energy down by 2.84% was the only losing index on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finserv up by 9.13%, Titan Co up by 5.61%, Bajaj Finance up by 4.05%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 3.52% and Bharti Airtel up by 3.18%. On the flip side, Reliance Industries down by 3.72%, Indusind Bank down by 0.94%, Sun Pharma down by 0.87%, ONGC down by 0.69% and Axis Bank down by 0.57% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, State Bank of India (SBI) in its latest research report from SBI Ecowrap has upgraded India's second-quarter (Q2) gross domestic product (GDP) to -10.7 per cent from -12.5 per cent with a positive bias.

The report said that there was no doubt that the country's economy had suffered and the scarring still remained. The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector borne the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Export Promotion Capital Goods (ECLGS) scheme was a shot in the arm.

According to the report, corporate results remained good and growth in corporate GVA of 3,640 listed entities was at 22.06 per cent year on year (y-o-y) for Q2 FY21 and size-wise analysis based on turnover showed resilience in small and medium enterprises.

The CNX Nifty ended at 12859.05, up by 87.35 points or 0.68% after trading in a range of 12730.25 and 12892.45. There were 37 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Finserv up by 9.19%, Titan Co up by 5.62%, GAIL India up by 4.06%, Bajaj Finance up by 3.95% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 3.45%. On the flip side, Reliance Industries down by 3.73%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 1.58%, Indusind Bank down by 0.86%, Sun Pharma down by 0.81% and Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 0.78% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 15.21 points or 0.24% to 6,349.56, France’s CAC increased 22.56 points or 0.41% to 5,497.22 and Germany’s DAX was up by 22.20 points or 0.17% to 13,108.36.

Asian markets ended mostly higher on Friday, tracking modest gains at Wall Street overnight as fresh fiscal stimulus hopes boosted risk appetite. Investors remained focused on the latest developments concerning a public spat between the US Treasury and Federal Reserve over emergency lending facilities and the resumption of US fiscal aid talks. Meanwhile, US Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer said that the Covid-19 vaccine developed in partnership with BioNTech was found to be 95% effective in the final analysis of the phase 3 trial too supported market sentiment. Although, surging corona virus cases and chances of fresh restrictions in the United States kept the market under pressure. Japanese shares ended lower after the Tokyo Metropolitan Government raised its virus alert status to its fourth and highest level after daily corona virus cases in Japan hit another record high on Thursday.