Sensex, Nifty trade near neutral lines

Indian equity benchmarks remained weak in late morning deals, with both Sensex and Nifty trading near their neutral lines. Mixed cues from other Asian markets impacted sentiments over the Dalal Street. Traders were seen taking a note of reports that 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. Following the financial performance review after the first half, it was found that Punjab & Sind Bank, out of the 12 PSBs, was in need of Rs 5,500 crore to meet the regulatory requirement.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed, even after large manufacturing in Japan posted some improvement in the fourth quarter of 2020, the Bank of Japan's quarterly Tankan Survey on business sentiment showed on Monday with a diffusion index score of -10. That beat forecasts for a reading of -15 as expectations were very soft because of the global Covid-19 pandemic. But it was up from a score of -27 three months ago. The outlook came in at -8, again beating expectations for -11 and up from -17 in the previous quarter.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 46111.33, up by 12.32 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 46056.65 and 46373.34. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.57%, while Small cap index was up by 0.50%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were PSU up by 1.62%, Oil & Gas up by 1.44%, Metal up by 1.08%, Utilities up by 0.96% and Consumer Durables up by 0.91%, while Auto down by 0.91%, IT down by 0.43%, Realty down by 0.39% and TECK down by 0.30% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 2.94%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.17%, NTPC up by 2.05%, Titan Company up by 1.55% and Tata Steel up by 1.51%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.84%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.21%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.18%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.84% and Infosys down by 0.81% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with pick-up in festive season demand, industry body -- the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) has said that India's passenger vehicle sales posted a 4.6 per cent rise in November 2020. SIAM in revised numbers said as many as 2,64,898 passenger vehicles were sold in November as against 2,53,139 units in the same month last year. SIAM, which is currently headed by Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) MD and CEO Kenichi Ayukawa, released auto sales numbers for November that added more than 20,000 vehicle sales to Maruti's actual despatches, overturning a 2.4 per cent decline into a 12.3 per cent growth.

According to the latest data by the SIAM, two-wheeler sales rose 13.43 per cent to 16,00,379 units, compared with 14,10,939 units in the same month last year. 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. Total sales of passenger vehicles, two-wheelers, three-wheelers and the quadricycles during last month stood at 18,88,903 units, up 9.83 per cent from 17,19,874 units in November 2019. The total production of passenger vehicles, three-wheelers, two-wheelers and quadricycles last month stood at 22,96,701 units, as against 2,258,290 units in November 2019, marking a growth of 1.7 per cent.

SIAM Director General Rajesh Menon said ‘We have witnessed an increase in wholesale numbers in the month of November, where passenger vehicles grew by 4.65 per cent and two-wheelers by 13.43 per cent over the corresponding month of last year, primarily on account of the festive season’. He added the retail sales of two-wheelers lag behind the wholesale sales numbers but would even out over a period, as original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) engage with their dealers. Menon noted ‘While the festive season brought back some fervour in specific segments, the overall economic scenario would determine the industry's performance going forward’.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 13514.00, up by 0.15 points after trading in a range of 13503.65 and 13597.50. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Cipla up by 3.59%, Coal India up by 3.18%, ONGC up by 2.94%, Indian Oil Corporation up by 2.24% and Larsen & Toubro up by 2.22%. On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.03%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.90%, Eicher Motors down by 1.70%, Wipro down by 1.56% and HDFC Life Insurance down by 1.33% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Nikkei 225 surged 80.64 points or 0.3% to 26,733.16, Jakarta Composite soared 62.37 points or 1.05% to 6,000.70, Straits Times advanced 41.48 points or 1.47% to 2,863.18 and Shanghai Composite gained 13.29 points or 0.4% to 3,360.48. On the flip side, KOSPI fell 9.34 points or 0.34% to 2,760.72, Taiwan Weighted dropped 14.57 points or 0.1% to 14,247.12 and Hang Seng decreased 159.81 points or 0.6% to 26,346.06.