Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks ended marginally higher on Friday. After a cautious start of the trading day, key indices turned negative, amid a  private report stating that the current pandemic is likely to shape consumer thinking and consequently impact shopping behaviour, and the overall consumption growth is likely to get delayed by up to two years. It also said that the household consumption is going to be negatively impacted over 2020 and 2021. Weak trade continued over the street for the most part of the trading session, as a private report stated that venture investments by private equity and venture capital funds were 27 percent lower on yearly basis in November at $3.9 billion, and more than halved from the $8.5 billion reported in October.

However, in the last hour of the trade, markets cut all of their losses to end in green terrain, after CBDT said further adding to the recovery signals, advance tax payment by companies has shown a massive 49 per cent growth to Rs 1,09,506 crore in the third quarter this fiscal. Besides, domestic rating agency ICRA in its latest report is expecting that the technical recession in the country's economy to end in the fourth quarter of the current fiscal (Q4FY21), limiting the contraction in the Gross domestic product (GDP) to 7.8 percent in the financial year 2021. Traders took a note of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that the government has taken several measures to support the economy but no amount of intervention will be adequate to deal with the crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

On the global front, European markets were trading higher as British and European leaders strike pessimistic tones about the prospect of agreeing to a post-Brexit trade deal. Asian markets ended mostly lower on Friday, even after overall consumer prices in Japan were down 0.9 percent on year in November. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said that was roughly in line with expectations following the 0.4 percent decline in October. Core CPI, which excludes volatile food prices, also sank an annual 0.9 percent - again roughly matching forecasts following the 0.7 percent drop in the previous month. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, overall inflation was down 0.4 percent and core CPI was down 0.1 percent.

The BSE Sensex ended at 46960.69, up by 70.35 points or 0.15% after trading in a range of 46630.31 and 47026.02. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.35%, while Small cap index was down by 0.24%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.70%, TECK up by 1.27%, Consumer Durables up by 0.95%, Healthcare up by 0.73% and Consumer Disc up by 0.32%, while Telecom down by 1.41%, Oil & Gas down by 0.74%, Realty down by 0.67%, Power down by 0.44% and Bankex down by 0.31% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 3.06%, Infosys up by 2.64%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.39%, SBI up by 1.42% and ICICI Bank up by 1.40%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 3.30%, ONGC down by 2.51%, HDFC Bank down by 2.09%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.64% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.84% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, terming sustainability as an important element of decision-making both in the government and the corporate sector of the country, the Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said that sustainable development will further enhance the scale and speed of growth in the years to come.

The Commerce and Industry Minister further said the present situation provides a unique opportunity to redesign, reinvent and realign various practices and processes. He also noted that under the mission of 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat', India is progressing rapidly to become a hub of manufacturing and expand its role in the global economy.

Besides, the Minister said that this is not possible without strengthening the ecosystem of MSMEs. Goyal also said ''India is going through a series of radical reforms which is changing our mindset to alleviate our actions, ambition and aims.''

The CNX Nifty ended at 13760.55, up by 19.85 points or 0.14% after trading in a range of 13658.60 and 13772.85. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 3.07%, Infosys up by 2.64%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.36%, Wipro up by 1.86% and Hindalco up by 1.65%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 3.27%, ONGC down by 2.46%, HDFC Bank down by 2.11%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.74% and Indian Oil Corporation down by 1.52% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 33.90 points or 0.52% to 6,584.96, France’s CAC increased 14.14 points or 0.25% to 5,563.60 and Germany’s DAX was up by 35.04 points or 0.26% to 13,702.29.

Asian markets ended mostly lower on Friday, despite prospect of a major corona virus relief package from United States. Chinese shares ended lower amid fresh Sino-US tensions following reports that the United States is set to add dozens of Chinese firms, including the country's top chipmaker SMIC, to a trade blacklist later in the day. Japanese shares declined as investors showed little reaction to the Bank of Japan's interest rate announcement. Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike has urged people to take increased anti-virus measures during the year-end and New Year holiday period. Tokyo’s cumulative Covid-19 cases tally now stands at 50,154.