Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks ended higher on Thursday. The markets made a positive start and remained in green terrain for the whole trading session, taking support with Union Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs Anurag Thakur’s statement that India will have a strong economic revival thanks to its well-planned easing of lockdown. He also defended the contentious farm sector reforms, saying the Narendra Modi government had the courage to do what others could not. Sentiments remained up-beat with Secretary in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Guruprasad Mohapatra’s statement that the 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.

In late morning deals, key indices trimmed some of their gains, however again added gains in the second half of the session, after the Reserve bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das asked banks to take proactive measures to strengthen their resilience and lending capacity by raising capital, with an aim to support the ongoing revival in economic activities. Traders were seen taking a note of reports that businesses with monthly turnover of over Rs 50 lakh will have to mandatorily pay at least 1 per cent of their GST liability in cash, the finance ministry said as it moved to curb evasion by fake invoicing. The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has notified certain changes to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Rules, bringing in stringent conditions for getting GST registration as well as for businesses to settle tax liability using input tax credit.

On the global front, European markets were trading higher as markets are convinced a Brexit deal is in sight following several news reports that one will be announced within hours. Asian markets ended higher on Thursday, after Singapore's industrial production rebounded strongly in November driven by biomedical manufacturing. The data from the Economic Development Board showed that industrial output climbed 17.9 percent on a yearly basis, in contrast to a 0.8 percent fall in October. Production was forecast to grow 15.4 percent. Excluding biomedical manufacturing, industrial production grew 14 percent from the same period last year. On a monthly basis, industrial production advanced 7.2 percent, reversing a 19 percent decline in the previous month. This was also faster than the expected 5 percent increase.

The BSE Sensex ended at 46973.54, up by 529.36 points or 1.14% after trading in a range of 46539.02 and 47053.40. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.06%, while Small cap index was up by 0.59%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Energy up by 2.29%, Bankex up by 1.77%, Oil & Gas up by 1.58%, Metal up by 1.35% and Telecom up by 1.33%, while IT down by 0.59%, Realty down by 0.45%, TECK down by 0.39% and Capital Goods down by 0.05% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Axis Bank up by 2.94%, Sun Pharma up by 2.67%, ONGC up by 2.59%, Reliance Industries up by 2.58% and HDFC up by 2.23%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 1.32%, Nestle down by 0.67%, Indusind Bank down by 0.51%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 0.34% and HCL Tech. down by 0.30% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, describing India as an attractive investment destination for the energy sector, Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Steel Dharmendra Pradhan has said that several policy reforms have enhanced the ease-of-doing-business.

The minister also noted that India’s developmental stage engenders a rapid expansion of energy consumption and a need for robust energy security. He also said that India took leadership in pledging to adapt energy efficiency and move towards green power, such as solar and wind.

Besides, Pradhan said that India is most committed to environmental and climate causes with the massive renewable energy and the energy efficiency programs. Talking about boosting rural economy, he mentioned about the waste-to-wealth generation under the Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) initiatives.

The CNX Nifty ended at 13749.25, up by 148.15 points or 1.09% after trading in a range of 13626.90 and 13771.75. There were 33 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 3.99%, Axis Bank up by 3.00%, Sun Pharma up by 2.76%, ONGC up by 2.59% and Reliance Industries up by 2.59%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 1.36%, Nestle down by 0.89%, Wipro down by 0.87%, UPL down by 0.56% and Grasim Industries down by 0.54% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 9.80 points or 0.15% to 6,505.55 and France’s CAC increased 7.29 points or 0.13% to 5,534.88.

Asian markets ended higher on Thursday amid renewed optimism over a potential Brexit deal and ahead of the Christmas holiday, even after US President Donald Trump's threat to veto the stimulus bill. Moreover, Covid-19 vaccine rollout also buoyed expectations of global economic recovery from the pandemic. Seoul shares ended up after South Korea signed deals with Pfizer Inc and Johnson & Johnson's Janssen to import corona virus vaccines to cover up to 16 million people. Though, Chinese shares declined on reports of an antitrust investigation into Alibaba, the country’s biggest tech company, a month after authorities halted sister company Ant Group’s $37 billion initial public offering.