Market Closing: Indices end higher amid volatility, Nifty settles above 20950; banks, IT stocks lead gains

India's benchmark indices closed the week with gains after a volatile session, as the Reserve Bank of India maintained status quo on key policy rates.

Nifty50 closed at 20,969.40, up 68 points, while the Sensex rose 304 points to end the day at 69,825.60.

During the session, the Nifty hit an all-time high of 21,006.10, while the Sensex hit a fresh peak of 69,893.8.

World shares were also mostly up on Friday ahead of a US government jobs report.

Germany’s DAX edged 0.1% higher to 16,646.88 and the CAC 40 in Paris gained 0.3%, to 7,450.53. Britain’s FTSE 100 was up nearly 0.1% at 7,518.90.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index shed 1.7% to 32,307.86, as investors speculated that the Bank of Japan may end its negative interest rate policy.

Back home, on the Nifty, HCL Technologies, JSW Steel, LTIMindtree, Apollo Hospitals and Infosys were the top gainers on the Nifty, while Adani Enterprises, ITC, Adani Ports, Hero MotoCorp and Britannia Industries were the worst hit.

Broader markets ended marginally lower. 

Equity mutual fund inflows stood at ₹15,514.5 crore in November, down from ₹19,932 crore in October, according to data Association of Mutual Funds in India.

Total assets under management rose ₹49.04 trillion last month from ₹46.71 trillion in October.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is exploring introducing an entirely new category of assets, which will be positioned between Portfolio Management Services (PMS) and mutual funds, according to chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch. The proposed asset class is aimed at investors with a high risk appetite. 

Sebi is actively engaging in discussions about this potential new asset class with various industry players and stakeholders, Buch said.

Europe's main stock markets edged higher at the start of trading on Friday with all eyes on the release later in the session of key US jobs data.

London's benchmark FTSE 100 index gained 0.1% to 7,523.04 points.

In the eurozone, Frankfurt's DAX index advanced 0.1% to 16,643.50 points and Paris CAC 40 won 0.1% to 7,437.97.

 Axis Mutual Fund has launched Axis US Treasury Dynamic Bond ETF Fund of Fund. Benchmarked against the Bloomberg US Intermediate Treasury TRI, the primary investment objective of the scheme is to provide regular income by investing in units of overseas ETFs where the investment mandate is to invest in US treasury securities across duration. 

The scheme will aim to allocate 95-100% of its instruments in units of overseas ETFs wherein the underlying investments comprise of US treasury securities (residual maturity of the underlying securities in which investments shall be made shall not exceed 15 years) and the remaining 0-5% in debt and money market instruments.

Oil benchmarks were headed for a seventh straight weekly decline on worries over a global supply surplus and weak Chinese demand, although prices recovered ground on Friday after Saudi Arabia and Russia called for more OPEC members to join output cuts.

Brent crude futures rose $1.54, or 2.1%, to $75.59 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained $1.39, or 2%, to $70.73 a barrel.

Both benchmarks slid to their lowest since late June in the previous session, a sign that many traders believe the market is oversupplied. Brent and WTI are also in contango, a market structure in which front-month prices trade at a discount to prices further out

No significant surprise in the RBI’s decision to persist with existing policy rates. Although the stance remains ‘withdrawal of accommodation’, the RBI governor also cautioned against the ‘risk of over-tightening’, which is implicitly a more balanced stance. The MPC remains focused on bringing headline CPI inflation towards 4% YoY, and particularly vigilant about the risk of a renewed spurt in vegetable inflation in Nov-Dec’23. We are more optimistic about growth (we were forecasting 7.2% growth for FY24 from the start of the fiscal year, revised it up to 7.6% in Oct’23, and recently revised that up to 7.9% this month after the release of the Q2FY24 real GDP growth numbers), so we welcome the upward revision of the RBI’s forecast for FY24 to 7%.

We believe that the central bank has done its job well in controlling the inflation and bring it below 5%, though more work needs to done to have inflation in the guided range of 2-4%. We believe that food inflation is still a concern to further lower the inflation trajectory and the RBI will remain watchful on the same. However, it was surprising that though the RBI increased the risk weights to keep control over unsecured loans but kept at bay any measures to lift the affordable housing market which is impacted due to high cost of funds. Going forward, we believe that the central bank would keep the key rate unchanged until the end of 1QFY25 as the earlier rate actions are still working through the economy.

Yields on government bonds were in a tight range on Friday, Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy decision sprung no surprises.

The central bank's rate setting panel kept key policy rates unchanged, with inflation control staying as the major focus amid expectations of a spike in food prices in coming months and better than expected economic growth.

The 10-year benchmark bond yield was at 7.2375%, after ending the previous session at 7.2382%. 

Housing finance company India Shelter Finance on Friday fixed a price band of ₹469-493 a share for its ₹1,200 crore initial public offering (IPO).

The issue will open for subscription from 13 December to 15 December.

The IPO comprises a fresh issue of equity shares worth ₹800 crore and an offer-for-sale of ₹400 crore by investor shareholders.

Adani Green Energy Ltd., part of billionaire Gautam Adani’s conglomerate, has announced its plan to repay a $750 million bond, due in September 2024.

In a filing to the Singapore stock exchange, the company said it will redeem the notes in full by the due date. The bond’s underwriters will provide a funding letter for $675 million. The company said it has $75.47 million in restricted reserves.

FY24 real GDP growth forecast at 7%, up from 6.5%

Jan-Mar real GDP growth seen at 6.0% versus 5.7% earlier

Oct-Dec real GDP growth seen at 6.5% versus 6.0% earlier

FY24 inflation projection unchanged at 5.4%

RBI keeps repo rate unchanged

RBI maintains “withdrawal of accommodation” stance

Monetary policy to remain disinflationary, says RBI governor Shaktikanta Das

Broad-based easing in core inflation; risks to food inflation remains, says RBI governor 

Economic activity exhibits buoyancy in second quarter, says RBI governor

Healthy twin balance of banks and corporate should propel private sector capex, says RBI governor 

Indian shares opened higher on Friday, ahead of the RBI's monetary policy decision, where the central bank is expected to stand pat on key rates for the fifth consecutive time

At open, the Sensex was up 131.18 points at 69,652.87, and the Nifty rose 46.10 points to 20,947.30. 

On Thursday, Nifty50 made a lower top on daily charts and closed in an inside range of the previous day and expects an either side breakout from current levels.

The immediate support levels will be at 20,500 being the current week lows followed by at 20,250 levels being the previous all time high.

RSI has lowered below the average line on hourly charts and expects a minor pullback and retracement from the current range. Highest call OI has moved to 21,000 strike while on the downside

E-way bills, required for transporting goods within and across states, dropped 12.5% to 87.5 million in November from over 100 million permits raised in October, official data showed.

The moderation indicates the normalization of goods movement after a spike in October as companies pushed goods into supply chains to cash in on festival season sales. 

On an annual basis, e-way bill generation rose 8% in November, data showed.