Markets rise for fourth day in a row; end at record closing highs

Indian equity benchmarks rose for fourth session in a row on Monday and settled at their record closing highs, led by gains in realty, metal and consumer durables stocks amid positive global cues. The benchmarks staged a gap up opening, as India Ratings revised its projections for economic contraction to 7.8 per cent for 2020-21 from the earlier expectation of 11.8 per cent due to easing Covid-19 headwinds and better than expected numbers in the second quarter of the current financial year. Traders remained optimistic with an article on the state of economy in the RBI Bulletin stated that the economy is coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic's deep abyss faster than most of the predictions, and the growth will enter positive zone in the third quarter of the current financial year.

Key gauges maintained their up move in the second half of trading session, taking support from Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that the focus on 'Vocal for Local' and manufacturing of value-added products in India can create job opportunities for the youth and boost the country's economic growth. He noted that as consumers emphasize more on quality products and services at the right price manufactured in the country, it will create more jobs for the youth and help in accelerating the growth of the country's economy. Additional support also came with the Centre for Economics and Business Research’s (CEBR) report that India, which appears to have been pushed back to being the world's sixth biggest economy in 2020, will again overtake the UK to become the fifth largest in 2025 and race to the third spot by 2030.

On the global front, Asian markets ended mostly higher on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump signed a $2.3 trillion coronavirus relief and government spending package into law on Sunday, just days after he threatened not to sign the package and called it a disgrace. Trump's approval of the legislation extended the unemployment benefits being paid to about 14 million people into March and also averted a federal government shutdown. Nevertheless, investors turned cautious after data showed that Japan's industrial output stalled in November and the country confirmed its first case of the new COVID-19 strain in a Tokyo resident who recently returned from Britain. European markets were trading higher, as the rollout of the coronavirus vaccine propped up hopes that the economic recovery can gain momentum next year. While Western nations accelerated vaccination programs, the European Union is preparing to kick off vaccinations across the bloc on Sunday.

Back home, on the sectoral front, there was some buzz in telecom industry stocks with a private report that the telecom industry's active subscriber base rose by nearly 2.5 million in October 2020 to touch about 961 million, and user additions benefited from vanishing impact of SIM consolidation triggered from tariff hike. Auto stocks were in focus with the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers’ (SIAM) statement that automakers in India are bracing for a parts shortage and possible production losses over the next three to four months due to a global shortage of available shipping containers.

Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 380.21 points or 0.81% to 47,353.75, while the CNX Nifty was up by 123.95 points or 0.90% to 13,873.20.

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 47,406.72 and 47,148.24, respectively and there were 27 stocks advancing against 3 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.83%, while Small cap index was up by 1.49%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.65%, Metal up by 2.25%, Consumer Durables up by 2.19%, Industrials up by 1.76% and Finance up by 1.29%, while there were no losing sectoral indices on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Titan Company up by 3.15%, SBI up by 3.15%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.16%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.92% and Indusind Bank up by 1.67%. On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.41%, Sun Pharma down by 0.39%, Dr. Reddys Lab down by 0.18% and Bajaj Finserv down by 0.07% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said that the focus on 'Vocal for Local' and manufacturing of value-added products in India can create job opportunities for the youth and boost the country's economic growth. He noted that as consumers emphasize more on quality products and services at the right price manufactured in the country, it will create more jobs for the youth and help in accelerating the growth of the country's economy.

Goyal said the economy is consumer-driven and 130 crore consumers in the country have the power to decide how fast the economy of the country can grow. He also said the more value-added products are manufactured in the country, the more jobs opportunities it will create in the country. He said it is a collective responsibility of both the consumers and the manufacturers to become vocal for local, which will help in providing jobs for everyone in the country and also help in growing the country’s export share in the global markets.

The minister further said that if the youth demand the best-quality products at the right price and not get attracted to the low-quality or low-priced product, this will force the manufacturers to produce and sell quality products across the country at the right price. He said this will also help the industry to take up this as a challenge to only sell good-quality products or the consumers will reject them. He further stated that the government is committed to protection of rights of consumers. He added that start-ups need to be encouraged so that people in India get an opportunity to showcase their talent and boost the economy.

The CNX Nifty traded in a range of 13,885.30 and 13,811.55 and there were 41 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were JSW Steel up by 5.83%, Tata Motors up by 5.60%, State Bank of India up by 3.26%, Titan Company up by 3.22% and HDFC Life Insurance up by 3.20%. On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.47%, Sun Pharma down by 0.47%, Cipla down by 0.44%, Shree Cement down by 0.34%, Britannia Industries down by 0.33% were the top losers.

European markets were trading higher; France’s CAC increased 59.82 points or 1.08% to 5,581.83 and Germany’s DAX increased 205.45 points or 1.51% to 13,792.68.

Asian markets ended mostly higher on Monday after US President Donald Trump signed a $2.3 trillion corona virus relief and government spending package into law on Sunday. President Trump also restored unemployment benefits to millions of Americans and averted a federal government shutdown. Japanese shares ended higher, despite data showed Japan's industrial output stalled in November from the previous month. Japan confirmed its first case of the new Covid-19 strain in a Tokyo resident who recently returned from Britain. Chinese shares were little changed, driven by strong industrial profit data that underscored a continued recovery in the world's second-largest economy. Though, Hong Kong shares declined after Chinese regulators ordered an Alibaba-affiliate Ant Group to rectify its businesses. While, Alibaba Group boosted its share buyback program to $10 billion from $6 billion.