Bourses continue gaining momentum in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets were in firm control of bulls in late afternoon session as the Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee kept the benchmark interest rates unchanged to 4 per cent maintained an accommodative stance for the ninth consecutive time. The Broader indices were mirroring the up-move. Bajaj Finance was the top index gainer, up above 3%, followed by ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finserv and SBI. On the sectoral front, automobile sector remained in limelight, as automobile dealers' body Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) in its latest report has showed that automobile retail sales in the country dropped by around 3 per cent in November as chip shortage and heavy rains in South India impacted sales across various segments, including passenger vehicles and two-wheelers.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green following big gains on Wall Street overnight amid easing fears surrounding the Omicron coronavirus variant. European markets were trading higher, as Sweden's industrial production increased in October. Industrial production grew a calendar-adjusted 3.7 percent year-on-year in October, after a 3.5 percent rise in September.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 58,535.74, up by 902.09 points or 1.57% after trading in a range of 58122.27 and 58660.01. There were 28 stocks advancing against 2 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 1.28%, while Small cap index was up by 1.42%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 2.24%, TECK up by 1.84%, IT up by 1.75%, Bankex up by 1.75% and Realty was up by 1.61%, while there were no losers on sectoral indices on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finance up by 3.27%, Bajaj Finserv up by 3.02%, ICICI Bank up by 2.93%, SBI up by 2.88% and Asian Paints up by 2.76%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 0.34% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.25% were the only losers.

Meanwhile, automobile dealers' body Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) in its latest report has showed that automobile retail sales in the country dropped by around 3 per cent in November as chip shortage and heavy rains in South India impacted sales across various segments, including passenger vehicles and two-wheelers.

As per the report, the total registrations last month stood at 18,17,600 units, down 2.7 per cent from 18,68,068 units in November 2020. Passenger vehicle sales last month stood at 2,40,234 units, a drop of 19.44 per cent from 2,98,213 units in the same period last year. Similarly, two-wheeler sales last month dropped to 14,33,855 units as compared to 14,44,762 units in the year-ago period.

FADA further noted that tractor sales dropped to 45,629 units last month from 50,180 units in November 2020. Commercial vehicle and three-wheeler registrations, however, increased last month as compared to the year-ago period.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17444.60, up by 267.90 points or 1.56% after trading in a range of 17308.95 and 17470.35. There were 45 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Finance up by 3.28%, Bajaj Finserv up by 3.00%, ICICI Bank up by 2.81%, Asian Paints up by 2.73% and SBI up by 2.72%. On the flip side, HDFC Life Insurance down by 1.35%, Divi's Lab down by 0.47%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.41%, Indian Oil down by 0.29% and Power Grid down by 0.24% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green, Nikkei 225 surged 405.02 points or 1.42% to 28,860.62, Shanghai Composite gained 42.48 points or 1.18% to 3,637.57, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 35.50 points or 0.2% to 17,832.42, Hang Seng increased 13.21 points or 0.06% to 23,996.87, KOSPI rose 10.08 points or 0.34% to 3,001.80 and Jakarta Composite was up by 1.23 points or 0.02% to 6,603.80. On the flip side, Straits Times was down by 4.36 points or 0.14% to 3,130.30.

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 34.46 points or 0.47% to 7,374.36, France’s CAC increased 33.84 points or 0.48% to 7,099.23 and Germany’s DAX was up by 7.95 points or 0.05% to 15,821.89.