Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks ended with strong gains on Wednesday. After a cautious start of the day, key indices traded higher for the whole trading session, amid a private report that India is likely to approve Oxford/AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine for emergency use by next week after its local manufacturer submitted additional data sought by authorities. Traders also took encouragement with PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s EBM Index showing that the continuous improvement in the key economic and business indicators signals that the worst is behind us and expectations of positive GDP growth at 0.1 per cent to 2 per cent in Q3 and 2 per cent to 4 per cent in Q4 FY 2020-21 are becoming strong with a higher growth trajectory in FY 2021-22 at 7.7 per cent.

Markets extended their gains in the second half of the session, after Industry body CII said it has demanded higher allocation of fund for food processing schemes and tax incentives for exports of agriculture and food items. In a pre-Budget meeting with senior finance ministry officials, CII highlighted the need to find ways for tapping export markets for wheat. Traders took support with report that high growth story of foreign direct investments into India will ‘go well’ in the new year too as there is a growing interest among overseas investors about the country amid the government's continuing reform measures to further improve the business climate. Some support also came with rating agency ICRA’s report that the domestic securitization volumes of retail pools originated by non-banking financial companies (NBFC) and housing finance companies (HFC)) are likely to witness a healthy bounce back in FY2022, after witnessing a sharp contraction in the current fiscal so far.

On the global front, European markets were trading mostly in green, as a report that a Brexit trade deal could be struck later in the day cheered investors amid concerns over the passage of a much-awaited U.S. pandemic aid bill. Asian markets finished mostly higher on Wednesday, after Malaysia's consumer prices fall further in November. The data from the Department of Statistics showed that consumer prices declined 1.7 percent year-on-year in November, following a 1.5 percent fall in October. The annual fall was largely driven by the decline in transportation cost, as prices fell 11.1 percent. Prices for housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels declined 3.3 percent yearly in November. Prices for clothing and footwear decreased 0.5 percent and those of furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance fell 0.1 percent.

The BSE Sensex ended at 46444.18, up by 437.49 points or 0.95% after trading in a range of 45899.10 and 46513.32. There were 26 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 2.40%, while Small cap index was up by 2.65%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 3.97%, Metal up by 2.53%, IT up by 2.34%, Telecom up by 2.23% and TECK up by 2.20%, while there were no losing sectoral indices on the BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindustan Unilever up by 2.67%, Infosys up by 2.64%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.35%, ITC up by 2.14% and SBI up by 2.14%. On the flip side, Titan Co down by 0.81%, Power Grid down by 0.37%, NTPC down by 0.35% and HDFC down by 0.02% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, describing the agriculture sector as the backbone of the Indian economy, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has said that under the leadership of the Prime Minister Modi the focus will be on doubling farmer’s income by 2022. He explained that the Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act 2020 and Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities Amendment Act 2020 are the biggest agricultural reforms in the country so far. The reforms will provide farmers market freedom, encourage entrepreneurship, access to technology and they will transform agriculture.

The Minister also outlined the various measures and reforms undertaken by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare during the last six years. He said that Indian agriculture has come a long way from food scarcity to food surplus. The Government therefore had realised that pro farmers reforms were essential to uplift the sector i.e. the backbone of the economy. Every effort is being made to create an eco system of farmer friendly policies to see that the sector goes from strength to strength.

Further, the Minister reiterated that reforms have been made in the interest of farmers and will bring about a new era in Indian agriculture. The Government has had many rounds of talks with farmer unions and is willing to continue the dialogue on contentious issues, clause by clause, with an open mind.

The CNX Nifty ended at 13601.10, up by 134.80 points or 1.00% after trading in a range of 13432.20 and 13619.45. There were 39 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining, while 1 stock remains unchanged on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Wipro up by 5.86%, Cipla up by 3.73%, Tata Steel up by 3.33%, Infosys up by 2.67% and Tata Motors up by 2.58%. On the flip side, Divis Lab down by 0.87%, Titan Co down by 0.53%, NTPC down by 0.35%, Coal India down by 0.33% and Hero MotoCorp down by 0.30% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading mostly in green, France’s CAC increased 23.25 points or 0.43% to 5,490.11 and Germany’s DAX was up by 67.07 points or 0.5% to 13,485.18. On the flip side, UK’s FTSE 100 was down by 12.54 points or 0.19% to 6,440.62.

Asian markets finished mostly higher on Wednesday following approval of US stimulus package by US Congress. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump threatened on Tuesday not to sign an $892 billion corona virus relief bill, saying he wants Congress to increase the amount in the stimulus checks for individuals to $2,000 from $600, or he may veto the legislation. Market sentiments improved further as concerns over a new Covid-19 strain eased, and WHO said the new Covid-19 variant found in UK is not out of control and it can be prevented via existing measures. Chinese shares ended higher after Covid-19 vaccine candidate developed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences was found to be safe and triggered immune responses in early and mid-stage trials.