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Having traded in the red through most of the session, Indian benchmark equity indices trimmed losses to end flat on Wednesday, with the Nifty closing above 13,100. While banks and financial stocks weighed, gains in metal, auto and IT shares kept the market underpinned.
At close today, the Sensex was 37 points lower at 44,618 while the Nifty rose 5 points to settle at 13,114. Broader markets outperformed benchmarks with the Nifty Midcap index up half a percent. BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices also ended with marginal gains.
On the Nifty, GAIL, ONGC, Asian Paints, Coal India and Titan were the top gainers while Kotak Bank, HDFC Bank, HDFC, Shree Cement and ICICI Bank were the worst hit.
The Nifty Metal index surged 2.5% while the Nifty Auto index rose 1%. Nifty Bank and Nifty Fin Services fell over 1% each.
The local currency had opened at 73.45 per dollar compared with Tuesday's close of 73.66.
Global brokerage firm JP Morgan has cut its estimate for earnings per share (EPS) of Reliance Industries, admitting that its longstanding neutral rating on the stock has not worked so far.
Shares of the Mukesh Ambani-led company has been one of the best performing large cap stock in 2020 so far, outperforming benchmark indices by a wide margin. The stock has gained 29% in this year and rallied 122% from March lows while Nifty has jumped 8% in this year so far, increasing 72% from the covid-induced slump.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has asked BSE Ltd to clarify providing a No-objection-Certificate (NOC) to Kishore Biyani-led Future Group for amalgamation of certain Future Group companies as a part of the Rs. 24,713 crore deal, which involves buyout of Future Group's retail, wholesale and logistics business by RIL's subsidiary Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd.
A Delhi court on Wednesday expressed displeasure over the delay in completion of probe in Aircel-Maxis matter against former union minister P Chidambaram and his son Karti while granting two more months to the CBI, the Enforcement Directorate to do so.
Special Judge Ajay Kumar Kuhar allowed both the agencies' plea seeking more time to obtain report on Letters Rogatory (LRs) form the UK and Singapore in relation to their ongoing probe in the matter, and said “it is lingering on unnecessarily".
Income tax refunds of ₹38,105 crore have been issued in 57,68,926 cases and corporate tax refunds of ₹1,02,105 crore have been issued in 1,99,165 cases.
A new Bill, to be tabled in the budget session of Parliament, will seek to expand the financial muscle and scope of investment by state-owned Indian Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd. (IIFCL), positioning it like the China Development Bank (CDB), the largest in class and a key institution backing Beijing’s growth strategy.
The changes planned will convert the non-bank lender into a development finance institution that will lower its cost of finance and give access to a wider set of infrastructure projects which is expected to include premium housing.
India’s oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Wednesday said the privatization of state-owned Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) has received three preliminary bids.
Speaking at a webinar organised by Swarajya magazine, Pradhan said there was lot of interest in BPCL and Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) had recently informed the stock market about it.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday turned down the interim plea filed by Vedanta to reopen its Sterlite Copper smelting plant at Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu, till the pendency of the case.
Vedanta had appealed against the Madras high court’s order not allowing the mining company to reopen the Thoothukudi unit, which is mired in controversy. The top court has adjourned the case for a detailed hearing to January.
Rating agency Moody’s expects a growth revival in India Inc’s earnings in 2021, led by economic rebound on the back of widespread demand recovery across sectors. It said earnings will grow as demand starts to recover following a sharp slump, supporting deleveraging. Financially strong firms will maintain good access to funding, but speculative-grade issuers will face challenges, it added.
"These improving business conditions will increase rated issuers' earnings, which we expect to return to pre-pandemic levels by the end of fiscal 2022. A combination of higher earnings and reduced capital spending will support deleveraging over the next 12-18 months," said Sweta Patodia, analyst at the rating agency.
The UK became the first western country to approve a covid-19 vaccine with its regulator clearing Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE’s shot ahead of decisions in the U.S. and European Union.
The emergency authorization clears the way for the deployment of a vaccine that’s expected to play a significant role in the global effort to halt the coronavirus. Pfizer and its German partner said in November that the shot, relying on novel technology called messenger RNA, was 95% effective in a final analysis of clinical-trial data.
Oil prices slid as tensions between OPEC members heightened uncertainty over the group delaying its planned output increase.
West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.8% to $44.22 a barrel.
Russia's health minister Mikhail Murashko will virtually present the Sputnik V vaccine against the novel coronavirus at the United Nations headquarters on Wednesday, news agency TASS reported, citing Russia’s UN mission spokesman.
During a speech at the UN General Assembly in September, Russian President Vladimir Putin had offered to supply the vaccine for voluntary vaccination of the UN personnel.
SpiceJet on Wednesday said it was preparing to provide logistics support for covid-19 vaccination with its dedicated freighter division SpiceXpress having the capability to transport extremely sensitive drugs and vaccines in controlled temperatures ranging from -40°c to 25°c.
After playing a critical role in transporting essentials and medical supplies during the lockdown, SpiceXpress has come forth to take up the responsibility of seamlessly transporting the vaccine through a specialised service called Spice Pharma Pro, SpiceJet said in a release.
Gold and silver prices in Indian markets eased on Wednesday amid weak global cues. On MCX, February gold futures slipped 0.24% to ₹48,449 per 10 gram. The yellow metal has been on a downhill journey since hitting a high of ₹56,200 in August.
The Indian unit had opened at 73.45 per dollar today compared with Tuesday's close of 73.66.
Leading mall developer Phoenix Mills Ltd (PML) and its subsidiaries have signed a term-sheet with an affiliate of Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC for formation and development of to set up a retail-led mixed-use platform. The transaction comes at a time when shopping malls are somewhat returning to normalcy though footfalls and customer sentiment remain low amid an ongoing pandemic.
GIC will invest in the PML subsidiaries through a mix of primary infusion and secondary purchase of equity shares. It will initially acquire an equity stake of 26% and may further increase its stake up to 35% within a year from closing the transaction subject to certain terms and conditions.
The IPO of quick service restaurant chain Burger King opened today, with the issue subscribed 97% by 1145 am. The price band of initial public offering (IPO) has been fixed at ₹59-60 per share. The ₹810 crore issue will close on 4th December. The company has reserved 10% portion of IPO for retail investors, 15% for non-institutional investors and 75% for qualified institutional investors.
Business software pioneer Salesforce.com is buying work-chatting service Slack for $27.7 billion in a deal aimed at giving the two companies a better shot at competing against longtime industry powerhouse Microsoft.
The acquisition announced Tuesday is by far the largest in the 21-year history of Salesforce. The San Francisco company was one of the first to begin selling software as a subscription service that could be used on any internet-connected device instead of the more cumbersome process of installing the programs on individual computers.
Japan's SoftBank Group Corp is winding down its derivatives strategy following investor backlash, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The company is letting its options expire, instead of maintaining its positions, according to the report.
A federal judge on Tuesday struck down two Trump administration rules designed to drastically curtail the number of visas issued each year to skilled foreign workers.
The changes applying to the H-1B visa program announced in October include imposing salary requirements on companies employing skilled overseas workers and limits on specialty occupations. Department of Homeland Security officials deemed it a priority because of coronavirus-related job losses and estimated as many as one-third of those who have applied for H-1B's in recent years would be denied under the new rules.
Cyclone Burevi is likely to emerge into the Gulf of Mannar and the adjoining Comorin area on Thursday morning, after crossing the Sri Lankan coast late on Wednesday. Heavy, widespread rains likely across souther Tamil Nadu till Saturday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said.
It is likely to cross south Tamil Nadu, between Kanniyakumari and Pamban, early on Friday.
Tata Motors has reported a 21% year-on-year rise in its total vehicles sales (domestic and international) for November to 49,650 units.
The company had sold 41,124 units in the same month last year.
Total domestic sales increased 26% to 47,859 vehicles, the company said in a statement.
UTI Small Cap Fund is set to launch today. The fund will be managed by Ankit Agarwal, the fund manager of UTI Midcap Fund. According to data from Value Research, UTI Midcap underperformed the S&P BSE Midcap 150 over the past 3 and 5 years. However, to be fair to Agarwal, the fund has outperformed since he took over the reins in August 2019. Much of the revival has come from a shift in the fund’s strategy from value to growth investing, a strategy that Agarwal is likely to implement in the small cap fund as well. (Read more)
A low-intensity earthquake hit Ghaziabad early on Wednesday, the National Centre for Sesimology said. The magnitude of the quake was 2.7 and it occurred at 0405 am at a depth of 5 kilometres.
India's daily coronavirus cases continued to stay below the 50,000 mark for the 25th straight day, with 36,604 new infections reported, as per data from the health ministry.
The country now has 9.5 million total infections, but cases have been dipping since a peak in September, in spite of a busy festival season last month.
Daily cases rose by less than 40,000 for the third straight day on Wednesday, according to a Reuters tally.
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