Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks ended flat with a negative bias on Friday’s trading session. After a cautious start, key indices remained lower during the trading session. Traders remained concerned as Health Ministry said that there are 23 cases of Omicron variant of Covid-19 in India and authorities are closely monitoring the situation. Maharashtra leads the chart with 10 cases, followed by Rajasthan with nine, while globally there are 2303 cases of Omicron variant.

Market participants remained cautious with former Reserve Bank of India Governor Duvvuri Subbarao’s statement that the central bank could lose control over the money supply and inflation management if cryptocurrency is allowed in the country. Rao also said India's case for issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) may not be strong as there are capital controls. Indices added more losses in afternoon deals, as some concerns came with a private report stating that gender pay gap has deepened during the COVID-19 pandemic, with women being left behind on pay raises and bonuses.

But, in the last hour of the trade, markets staged recovery, amid reports that chief financial officers (CFOs) of companies have shown higher confidence in the financial and macroeconomic conditions. Some support also came with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that for a strong, sustainable and inclusive recovery of the global economy hit by the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, it is imperative to ensure collective progress of all countries. She stressed on the critical role of multilateralism and collective action in achieving the goal of global recovery.

On the global front, European markets were trading lower, as renewed concerns about the omicron Covid-19 variant continue to weigh, while investors await key U.S. inflation data later in the day. Asian markets settled mostly lower on Friday, even after Malaysia's industrial production grew in October. The data from the Department of Statistics showed that industrial production rose 5.5 percent year-on-year in October, following a 2.5 percent increase in September. The growth in production was mainly driven by a rise in production of manufacturing industry and electricity.

The BSE Sensex ended at 58786.67, down by 20.46 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 58414.76 and 58859.91. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.39%, while Small cap index up by 0.85%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.90%, Oil & Gas up by 0.86%, Consumer Disc up by 0.74%, Power up by 0.73% and PSU up by 0.60%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.28%, Telecom down by 0.19%, Bankex down by 0.08% and TECK down by 0.02% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Asian Paints up by 3.25%, SBI up by 1.25%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.02%, TCS up by 0.91% and Bajaj Finserv up by 0.69%. On the flip side, Titan Co down by 1.39%, HDFC down by 1.19%, Axis Bank down by 0.92%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.86% and Tech Mahindra down by 0.59% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, emphasizing the utmost importance of timely completion of project works, the Union Steel Minister, Ram Chandra Prasad Singh has reviewed the progress of capital expenditure (CAPEX) by Steel CPSEs (Central Public Sector Enterprises) against their annual target of Rs 13,300 crore for the year 2021-22.

Minister advised setting daily targets and close monitoring for time bound project implementation. This achievement of targets shall motivate the work force, enhance India’s steel production and spur higher growth. He directed CMDs to redouble efforts to ensure that there are no slippages in milestones for achieving the project targets for the year 2021-22.

Besides, the Steel Minister reviewed the capital expenditure done till November in FY 2021-22, by PSUs. Singh advised the CMDs to plan for the remaining period of Fin Year on a daily basis to meet the shortfall in target achievement.

The CNX Nifty ended at 17511.30, down by 5.55 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 17405.25 and 17534.35. There were 25 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Asian Paints up by 3.29%, Grasim Industries up by 1.54%, SBI up by 1.24%, SBI Life Insurance up by 1.23% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.01%. On the flip side, Divi's Lab down by 1.54%, Titan Co down by 1.42%, HDFC down by 1.17%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.02% and Tata Consumer Products down by 1.01% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 14.66 points or 0.2% to 7,306.60, France’s CAC decreased 28.42 points or 0.41% to 6,979.81 and Germany’s DAX was down by 51.87 points or 0.33% to 15,587.39.

Asian markets settled mostly lower on Friday as investors cautious ahead of US consumer inflation data for November due this evening and the US central bank's meeting next week. A higher-than-expected inflation reading would strengthen the case for a policy tightening decision at the Fed’s meeting. Asian shares slipped further by tracking weakness in Wall Street overnight as investors reacted to restrictions in the UK to curb the spread of the Omicron variant of the corona-virus. Chinese shares declined amid uncertainty in the country's property sector after Evergrande and Kaisa Group Holdings were downgraded to restricted default by rating agency Fitch Ratings yesterday, which cited missed dollar bond interest payments in Evergrande’s case and failure to repay a $400 million dollar bond in Kaisa’s. Japanese shares dropped, but posted their first weekly gain in three on easing fears over the Omicron variant's impact on the pace of economic recovery. Moreover, Seoul shares tumbled as new coronavirus infections in South Korea' stayed above 7,000 for the third consecutive day today amid the waning immunity and cold weather conditions.