Benchmarks manage to continue trade in green zone

The Indian equity benchmarks managed to continue their trade in green zone in late afternoon session. Sentiments remained positive even after former chief statistician Pronab Sen said that at the moment India's current macroeconomic situation is very uncertain and the country's Gross domestic product (GDP) could contract closer to 10 percent in the current fiscal (FY21). He also said that although the overall macro management of the economy by the government has not been very good but this particular slowdown is really beyond its control. Some support came, as 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. Sector wise, automobile sector remained in focus, as 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. 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed even as risk appetite improved after the U.S. approved a COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech for emergency use and commenced first shipments of the vaccine to distribution centers across the country. News that Britain and the European Union have agreed to continue Brexit trade talks beyond Sunday's deadline also boosted sentiment.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 46234.16, up by 135.15 points or 0.29% after trading in a range of 45951.53 and 46373.34. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.76%, while Small cap index was up by 0.78%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 1.92%, PSU up by 1.89%, Oil & Gas up by 1.77%, Metal up by 1.30% and Industrials was up by 1.21%, while Auto down by 0.86%, Realty down by 0.50%, IT down by 0.24% and TECK was down by 0.15% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Larsen & Toubro up by 4.27%, ONGC up by 3.67%, NTPC up by 2.00%, ICICI Bank up by 1.96% and Sun Pharma up by 1.68%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.76%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.11%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.92%, HDFC Bank down by 0.69% and HDFC down by 0.68% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India’s inflation based on wholesale price index (WPI) surged to 1.55% (provisional) for the month of November 2020 as compared to 0.58% during the corresponding month of the previous year. Component wise, primary articles index having weight of 22.62%, declined by (-0.79%) to 151.2 (provisional) in November 2020 from 152.4 (provisional) for the month of October 2020. Prices of Non-food Articles increased in November 2020 as compared to October 2020, while prices of Minerals, Crude Petroleum & Natural Gas and Food Articles declined in November 2020 as compared to October 2020.

Fuel & Power index, having weight of 13.15%, increased by (0.22%) to 91.3 (provisional) in November 2020 from 91.1 (provisional) for the month of October 2020. Prices of Mineral Oils and Coal increased in November 2020 as compared to October 2020, while prices of electricity remain unchanged.

Manufactured Products constituting the major portion of the index with weight of 64.23%, increased by (0.83%) to 121.3 (provisional) in November 2020 from 120.3 (provisional) for the month of October 2020. Meanwhile, for the month of September 2020 the final Wholesale Price Index and inflation rate for 'All Commodities' (Base: 2011-12=100) stood at 122.9 and 1.32% respectively.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 13548.15, up by 34.30 points or 0.25% after trading in a range of 13472.45 and 13597.50. There were 32 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Larsen & Toubro up by 4.62%, Cipla up by 3.94%, ONGC up by 3.62%, Coal India up by 3.40% and Indian Oil up by 2.45%. On the flip side, Eicher Motors down by 2.54%, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.46%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.86%, Wipro down by 1.56% and HDFC Life Insurance down by 1.50% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed, Nikkei 225 surged 79.92 points or 0.3% to 26,732.44, Jakarta Composite soared 74.19 points or 1.25% to 6,012.52, Straits Times advanced 38.55 points or 1.37% to 2,860.25 and Shanghai Composite was up by 21.93 points or 0.66% to 3,369.12. On the flip side, KOSPI fell 7.86 points or 0.28% to 2,762.20, Taiwan Weighted dropped 50.64 points or 0.36% to 14,211.05 and Hang Seng was down by 116.35 points or 0.44% to 26,389.52.

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 17.75 points or 0.27% to 6,564.50, France’s CAC increased 46.33 points or 0.84% to 5,553.88 and Germany’s DAX was up by 106.92 points or 0.82% to 13,221.22.