Benchmarks turn negative in late afternoon session

Indian benchmarks erased all gains to turn negative in late afternoon session, both Sensex and Nifty were trading below their crucial 46000 and 13500 marks, respectively. Traders were cautious with a private report that India’s retail inflation probably fell in November from October but remained above the Reserve Bank of India’s target, amid high food and petrol prices. Traders overlooked terming India as an attractive destination for investments, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has urged investors to tap the vast opportunities it offers and get good returns at a time when the whole world is finding an alternative destination for investment in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic. Sector wise, automobile sector remained in focus, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) in its latest report has showed that passenger vehicle wholesales in India increased by 12.73 per cent to 2,85,367 units in November as against 2,53,139 units in the same month last year, on the back of festive demand.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green as progress on COVID-19 vaccines boosted investor sentiment, but tricky Brexit negotiations and U.S. stimulus talks capped gains in riskier assets. European markets were trading lower, as fears about a potential no deal Brexit continued to hang over investors’ heads.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 45933.69, down by 26.19 points or 0.06% after trading in a range of 45878.38 and 46309.63. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green and red; the BSE Mid cap index declined by 0.13%, while Small cap index was up by 0.36%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were PSU up by 1.74%, Oil & Gas up by 1.63%, Utilities up by 1.31%, Metal up by 1.22% and Energy was up by 0.62%, while Telecom down by 0.60%, Healthcare down by 0.59%, TECK down by 0.46%, IT down by 0.42% and Auto was down by 0.33% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 5.84%, NTPC up by 3.91%, Tata Steel up by 1.89%, ITC up by 1.88% and SBI up by 1.13%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 1.84%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.00%, Asian Paints down by 0.97%, HCL Tech down by 0.70% and Tech Mahindra down by 0.61% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) in its latest report has showed that passenger vehicle wholesales in India increased by 12.73 per cent to 2,85,367 units in November as against 2,53,139 units in the same month last year, on the back of festive demand.

As per the report, two-wheeler, motorcycle and scooter sales also rose in the month of November. Two-wheeler sales rose 13.43 per cent to 16,00,379 units in November as compared with 14,10,939 units in the same month last year. Besides, motorcycle sales were at 10,26,705 units as against 8,93,538 units in November 2019, up 14.9 per cent.

Scooter sales were also up by 9.29 per cent at 5,02,561 units, from 4,59,851 units in the same month last year. However, three-wheeler sales declined by 57.64 per cent to 23,626 units last month as against 55,778 units in November 2019. Meanwhile, total sales of passenger vehicles, two-wheelers, three-wheelers and the quadricycles during last month stood at 19,09,372 units, up 11.02 per cent from 17,19,874 units in November 2019.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 13447.60, down by 30.70 points or 0.23% after trading in a range of 13445.65 and 13579.35. There were 15 stocks advancing against 35 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 5.24%, GAIL India up by 4.04%, NTPC up by 3.81%, Coal India up by 2.63% and Tata Steel up by 1.53%. On the flip side, Divis Lab down by 2.58%, Axis Bank down by 2.55%, Eicher Motors down by 1.47%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.30% and Cipla down by 1.04% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green, Hang Seng increased 95.28 points or 0.36% to 26,505.87, KOSPI rose 23.60 points or 0.86% to 2,770.06, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 12.20 points or 0.09% to 14,261.69, Straits Times advanced 5.49 points or 0.19% to 2,830.45 and Jakarta Composite was up by 4.63 points or 0.08% to 5,938.33. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite declined 26.09 points or 0.77% to 3,347.19 and Nikkei 225 was down by 103.72 points or 0.39% to 26,652.52.

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 58.01 points or 0.88% to 6,541.75, France’s CAC decreased 59.37 points or 1.07% to 5,490.28 and Germany’s DAX was down by 135.03 points or 1.02% to 13,160.70.