Markets likely to get positive start on Monday

Indian markets ended Friday's volatile session higher led by gains in PSU banks and metal stocks amid mixed global cues. Today, markets are likely to make positive start tracking positive global cues. Sentiments will get a boost as the country’s index of industrial production (IIP) grew 3.6 per cent to 128.5 in the month of October, according to the data released by the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MoSPI). Some support will come as the government is likely to launch the third tranche of Bharat Bond ETF, the exchange traded fund that invests in debt of public sector companies, this fiscal. However, there may be some cautiousness with report that on Sunday, India reported 27,336 fresh Covid-19 cases. Its case tally now stands at 9,884,716. The country's death toll has mounted to 143,393. With 18,80,416 cases, Maharashtra has the highest number of coronavirus cases, followed by Karnataka 901,000, Andhra Pradesh 875,000, Tamil Nadu 798,000, and Kerala 669,000. With 1,984 fresh cases, Delhi's Covid-19 tally has climbed to over 607,000. Besides, former chief statistician Pronab Sen said India's current macroeconomic situation is very uncertain and the country's GDP could contract closer to 10 per cent in the current fiscal. There will be some buzz in NBFCs with CRISIL’s report that the asset under management (AUM) of non-banking finance companies, including housing finance companies, is likely to see a positive growth but will be muted at 5-6 percent in the next financial year. Banking stocks will be in focus as the Finance Ministry will take a call on residual Rs 14,500 crore capital infusion in the public sector banks (PSBs) in the fourth quarter of this fiscal. There will be some reaction auto stocks with industry body SIAM’s statement that India's passenger vehicle sales posted a 4.6 percent rise in November as the festive season saw a pick up in demand, as it corrected its earlier projection of a sharp 13 percent growth. Meanwhile, the Rs 810-crore Burger King India IPO (initial public offer), which was open for subscription from December 2 to December 4, is set to make its stock market debut today. The fast-food major’s initial public offering was subscribed a massive 156.65 times by earlier this month, making it the second most subscribed public issue of 2020 so far.

The US markets closed mostly in red on Friday as talks on a Covid-19 relief package faced setbacks and fresh business restrictions were unveiled. Asian markets are trading mostly in green on Monday  as optimism rose on the approval of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine.

Back home, Indian equity benchmarks resumed their up move after a day's pause in the previous session, amid buying in utilities, oil and gas, power and metal stocks. The benchmarks staged a gap up opening, 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. Some optimism also came 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. However, minor profit booking in late afternoon deals wiped out all intraday gains. Some anxiety also spread among traders with a private report stated 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, indexes resumed their positive momentum in the final minutes of trading 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. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 139.13 points or 0.30% to 46,099.01, while the CNX Nifty was up by 35.55 points or 0.26% to 13,513.85.