Local equities extend gains in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets extended their gains in late afternoon session, with the Sensex and the Nifty gaining above 170 and 50 points, respectively. The broader indices, BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index were also trading in green. Sentiments remained largely positive, as foreign direct investment (FDI) equity inflows into India grew 21 per cent to USD 35.33 billion during April-October period of the current financial year. In the year-ago period, FDI equity inflows stood at USD 29.31 billion, as per the data of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). Some additional support also came after NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar has said India's economy will grow at 10 per cent in real terms and by the end of next year it will reach pre-COVID-19 level. Growth will be in positive figures in the fourth quarter of 2020-21. On the global front, all the European markets are closed on Friday on account of the New Year holiday. Back home, sector wise, steel sector remained in focus, as steel production having 17.92 percent weight declined by 4.4 percent in November, 2020 over November, 2019 and its cumulative index declined by 19.4 percent during April to November, 2020-21 over the corresponding period of previous year.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 47949.53, up by 198.20 points or 0.42% after trading in a range of 47771.15 and 47963.31. There were 24 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 1.09%, while Small cap index was up by 0.91%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 1.26%, Industrials up by 1.09%, PSU up by 1.08%, Auto up by 0.95% and IT was up by 0.93%, while Consumer Durables was down by 0.01% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.89%, ITC up by 1.72%, TCS up by 1.59%, SBI up by 1.51% and HDFC up by 0.88%. On the flip side, ICICI Bank down by 1.00%, Titan Company down by 0.44%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.32%, HDFC Bank down by 0.25% and Power Grid down by 0.16% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, after a review of current liquidity and financial conditions, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to conduct simultaneous purchase and sale of government securities under Open Market Operations (OMO) for an aggregate amount of Rs 10,000 crore each on January 07, 2021.

The Reserve Bank reserves the right to decide on the quantum of purchase/sale of individual securities, accept bids/offers for less than the aggregate amount, purchase/sell marginally higher/lower than the aggregate amount due to rounding-off and accept or reject any or all the bid/offers either wholly or partially without assigning any reasons.

The RBI further noted that eligible participants should submit their bids/offers in electronic format on the Reserve Bank of India Core Banking Solution (E-Kuber) system between 10:00 am and 11:00 am on January 07, 2021. Only in the event of system failure, physical bids/offers would be accepted.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 14043.45, up by 61.70 points or 0.44% after trading in a range of 13991.35 and 14043.45. There were 39 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.07%, Adani Ports up by 2.12%, ITC up by 1.89%, TCS up by 1.83% and SBI up by 1.64%. On the flip side, ICICI Bank down by 1.06%, SBI Life down by 0.83%, Hindalco down by 0.71%, Shree Cement down by 0.40% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.36% were the top losers.