Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks managed to end in green terrain on Friday. The start of the day was on a positive note, as Union Minister for Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Nitin Gadkari said that India was a destination with huge potential for attractive investments and urged people to invest in MSMEs in the country. He also said that with the world moving production away from dealings in China, India was the next best alternative. Markets remained higher for the most part of the session, as the finance ministry has notified the Viability Gap Funding (VGF) scheme under which infrastructure projects would be selected for financial support to give a push to the sector. As per the scheme notified by the ministry, funding up to Rs 200 crore will be sanctioned by the Empowered Committee (EC) headed by the economic affairs secretary, while projects needing over Rs 200 crore would be approved by the EC with the approval of the finance minister.

In late noon deals, markets cut all of their gains and turned negative, amid 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 also took note of a private report that the handsome 25 per cent rise in corporate profits in the September quarter amid a sharp contraction in GDP was on the back of wage squeezes, leading to rise in inequalities in India. But, at the end, markets again came back in green to close higher, as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman reviewed the situation about outstanding payments to micro, small and medium enterprises, especially by CPSEs and central government agencies. Top officials including Secretary in the Department of Financial Services Debasish Panda, MSME Secretary A K Sharma, among others, were present in the meeting.

On the global front, European markets were trading lower, as fears about a potential no deal Brexit continued to hang over investors’ heads. Asian markets ended mostly higher on Friday, after Malaysia's industrial production dropped in October due to the weakness in the mining sector. The data from the Department of Statistics showed that industrial production fell 0.5 percent year-on-year in October, after a 1.0 percent increase in September. The drop in production was mainly due to decline in production of mining industry. Manufacturing output rose 2.4 percent yearly in October, but slower than the 4.3 percent increase in the previous month. Among other sectors, the mining and quarrying output decreased the most by 10.6 percent, while electricity output rose 1.0 percent.

The BSE Sensex ended at 46099.01, up by 139.13 points or 0.30% after trading in a range of 45706.22 and 46309.63. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.15%, while Small cap index was up by 0.51%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 1.93%, PSU up by 1.89%, Oil & Gas up by 1.65%, Power up by 1.30% and Metal up by 1.23%, while Healthcare down by 0.43%, TECK down by 0.26%, IT down by 0.25%, Auto down by 0.20% and Telecom down by 0.10% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 5.68%, NTPC up by 5.30%, Tata Steel up by 1.90%, ITC up by 1.65% and ICICI Bank up by 1.63%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 2.19%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.18%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.94%, HCL Tech. down by 0.61% and Bajaj Finserv down by 0.46% were the top losers. (Provisional)

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 ended at 13513.85, up by 35.55 points or 0.26% after trading in a range of 13402.85 and 13579.35. There were 25 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 5.62%, NTPC up by 5.40%, GAIL India up by 4.83%, Coal India up by 2.52% and Tata Steel up by 1.90%. On the flip side, Divis Lab down by 2.42%, Axis Bank down by 2.20%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.17%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 1.00% and Cipla down by 0.90% were the top losers. (Provisional)

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.

Asian markets ended mostly higher on Friday on optimism about corona virus vaccine rollouts, but investors are cautiously keeping track on Brexit trade talks as well as ongoing negotiations in the US for a corona virus relief package. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said there was ‘a strong possibility’ Britain and the European Union would fail to strike a new trade deal. US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested that negotiations on a federal rescue package could stretch into late December if necessary. Japanese markets declined as the yen gained following worries over surging Covid-19 cases. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said the coronavirus situation in the country is tense, but he was not thinking of suspending the government travel subsidy program. However, Chinese shares declined on sign of rising Sino-US tensions as the US Federal Communications Commission began the process of revoking China Telecom's authorization to operate in the United States. Also, worries about policy tightening dented risk appetite of Chinese investors.