Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks ended Thursday’s trading session on a positive note. After a cautious start of the day, key indices traded in green terrain for the whole session, taking support with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that the government is making efforts to deregulate the economy with an aim to attract greater investments from across the world. He said the government has opened up defence, manufacturing, mining, finance and capital market sectors. Adding optimism among traders, SBI Research scaled up its projections for the economy, projecting gross domestic product (GDP) to contract 7.4 per cent during the current financial year compared to its earlier forecast of a 10.9 per cent fall. Sentiments also remained positive with Former RBI Governor D Subbarao’s statement that while managing a crisis is extremely difficult and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had been successful in preserving the financial stability of the economy during the present coronavirus disease (covid-19) pandemic.

In the second half of the session, markets added more gains, after Secretary in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Guruprasad Mohapatra has said that reforms like reduction in corporate taxes and introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST) under taken by the government have created a solid footing to boost investments into the country. Traders were positive, as a study by the World Economic Forum showed that few economies in the world are ready for long-term prosperity through improved public services, green investments and digitization. The special edition of the WEF's Global Competitiveness Report, which examined how the recovery from the COVID-19 crisis can build productive, sustainable and inclusive economic systems, found that the countries with advanced digital economies, strong social safety nets and robust healthcare systems have managed the impact of the pandemic more effectively.

On the global front, European markets were trading higher, as traders react positively to comments from the U.S. Federal Reserve that it will continue to support the economy. Asian markets ended mostly lower on Thursday, even after South Korea's unemployment rate fell in November. The data from Statistics Korea showed that the jobless rate rose to a seasonally adjusted 4.1 percent in November from 4.2 percent in October. In the same month last year, the unemployment rate was 3.6 percent. On an unadjusted basis, the unemployment rate decreased to 3.4 percent in November from 3.1 percent in the previous month. The number of unemployed decreased to 967,000 in November from 1.028 million in the preceding month. Compared to a year ago, the figure rose by 101,000 persons.

The BSE Sensex ended at 46890.34, up by 223.88 points or 0.48% after trading in a range of 46627.60 and 46992.57. There were 12 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.13%, while Small cap index was down by 0.23%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 0.74%, Realty up by 0.61%, Bankex up by 0.39%, Consumer Durables up by 0.21% and Industrials up by 0.10%, while Metal down by 1.42%, Oil & Gas down by 0.99%, Utilities down by 0.97%, PSU down by 0.91% and FMCG down by 0.68% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were HDFC up by 2.92%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.74%, HDFC Bank up by 2.17%, Indusind Bank up by 1.23% and Ultratech Cement up by 1.08%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 1.55%, Power Grid down by 1.50%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.47%, Tata Steel down by 1.35% and Hindustan Unilever down by 1.24% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, underlining efforts being taken to further reduce compliance burden for industry, Secretary in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Guruprasad Mohapatra has said that reforms like reduction in corporate taxes and introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST) under taken by the government have created a solid footing to boost investments into the country.

DPIIT Secretary further said that foreign direct investment (FDI) into India is booming, even in the times of COVID-19, and expressed hope that this growth would continue. He also added that certain reforms are like ‘unpalatable medicines’ but they are needed.

While talking about India, Japan trade, he said the bilateral trade ''is not of the volume that we would expect such close allies to have''. There are lot of work to be done on both the sides on that front and ''I hope that we will be working very closely and we will see lot of improvements on that.''

The CNX Nifty ended at 13740.70, up by 58.00 points or 0.42% after trading in a range of 13673.55 and 13773.25. There were 15 stocks advancing against 35 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were HDFC up by 2.88%, Divis Lab up by 2.87%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.72%, HDFC Bank up by 2.20% and Indusind Bank up by 1.52%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 2.23%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 1.64%, Power Grid down by 1.48%, Coal India down by 1.41% and ONGC down by 1.36% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 25.66 points or 0.39% to 6,596.57, France’s CAC increased 29.74 points or 0.54% to 5,577.42 and Germany’s DAX was up by 143.18 points or 1.06% to 13,709.16.

Asian markets ended mostly lower on Thursday as concerns over continued spike in global corona virus cases and lockdown measures kept the sentiment under pressure. However, the US Federal Reserve’s commitment to continue its asset purchase program and progress toward a $900 billion corona virus relief deal, capped some losses on the markets. Japanese shares ended marginally higher despite pressure from a stronger yen. Japan Post Insurance shares surged on private report said  that it would buy back $2.9 billion of its own shares from its parent Japan Post Holdings. Chinese shares climbed on growing optimism over swift recovery in the world's second-largest economy.