Domestic equity benchmarks declined sharply on Friday, led by broader selling pressure. IT, pharma and PSU banks shares tumbled. Rising coronavirus cases across US, Europe and China weighed on investors' sentiment. Global cues were negative as the $1.9 trillion 'American Rescue Plan' was countered by weak job data in the US.

The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, dropped 549.49 points or 1.11% to 49,034.67. The Nifty 50 index lost 161.90 points or 1.11% at 14,433.70.

ONGC (down 3.48%), HDFC (down 1.95%), ICICI Bank (down 1.84%) and Reliance Industries (down 1.17%) were major drags.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 1.25% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index skid 1.06%.

Sellers outpaced buyers. On the BSE, 1080 shares rose and 1946 shares fell. A total of 137 shares were unchanged.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 9,31,05,607 with 19,94,440 deaths. India reported 2,13,027 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,51,918 deaths while 1,01,62,738 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Economy:

The government said that over 545 lakh tonnes of Paddy have been procured during the ongoing Kharif Marketing Season. This is an increase of 26.48% against the last year corresponding purchase of around 431 lakh tonnes. Agriculture Ministry said, government continues to procure Kharif crops at its Minimum Support Price from farmers as per its existing MSP Schemes. The Ministry said, more than 73 lakh paddy farmers have been benefited from current Kharif Marketing Season Procurement Operations with MSP value of over one lakh three thousand crore rupees.

Numbers To Track:

In the foreign exchange market, the partially convertible rupee depreciated to 73.07 compared with its previous closing of 73.0450.

The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper rose to 5.984% as compared to its previous close of 5.924%.

MCX Gold futures for 5 February 2021 settlement rose 0.02% to Rs 49,232.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, added 0.11% to 90.34.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for March 2021 settlement lost 85 cents to $55.57 a barrel. The contract gained 0.64% or 36 cents to settle at $56.42 in the previous trading session.

Global Markets:

European shares declined while Asian shares ended mixed on Friday as a re-emergence of COVID-19 cases in China pulled back the positive sentiment generated by U.S. President-elect Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion stimulus plan.

China reported the most daily cases of COVID-19 in more than 10 months on Friday, as local governments and factory owners began in offering incentives to the country's millions of migrant workers not to return to their home provinces for the Lunar New Year holidays in February.

Shares of Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi plunged in Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump's administration placed the firm on a blacklist of alleged Chinese military companies.

US President-elect Joe Biden unveiled a $1.9 trillion coronavirus plan Thursday to end a crisis of deep human suffering by speeding up vaccines and pumping out financial help to those struggling with the pandemic's prolonged economic fallout.

Biden proposed $1,400 checks for most Americans, which on top of $600 provided in the most recent COVID-19 bill would bring the total to the $2,000 that Biden has called for. It would also extend a temporary boost in unemployment benefits and a moratorium on evictions and foreclosures through September.

In US, stocks fell slightly on Thursday, with tech shares declining the most. The Labor Department's weekly jobless report showed the number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment benefits increased more than expected last week, underscoring the impact of a resurgence in COVID-19 infections.

Donald Trump became the first president in U.S. history to be impeached twice when the House voted 232-197 on Wednesday to charge him with inciting riots at the Capitol.

Meanwhile, U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said an interest rate hike is coming no time soon and pushed back against suggestions that the central bank might start tapering its bond purchases any time soon.

Buzzing Indian Segment:

The Nifty IT index fell 2.24% to 26,362.80. The index has fallen 2.38% in two sessions.

Tech Mahindra (down 3.95%), Coforge (down 3.72%), Wipro (down 3.63%), Info Edge (India) (down 2.79%), Mindtree (down 2.68%), Infosys (down 2.11%), Mphasis (down 1.82%) and TCS (down 0.64%) declined.

Larsen & Toubro Infotech (LTI) fell 2.47%. LTI plans to expand its multi-year, global alliance with IBM to help businesses transform their operations through open hybrid cloud adoption. With the proposed center, LTI will help their clients migrate and modernize core business applications leveraging IBM's open hybrid cloud platform built on Red Hat OpenShift.

Earnings Impact:

HCL Technologies slipped 3.73%. The IT firm's consolidated net profit rose 31.1% to Rs 3,982 crore on 6.4% rise in revenue from operations to Rs 19,302 crore in Q3 December 2020 over Q3 December 2019.

Sequentially, consolidated net profit rose 26.7% and revenue increased 3.80% in Q3 FY21 over Q2 FY21. EBITDA grew 9.9% to Rs 5,443 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q2 FY21. EBITDA margin improved to 28.2% in Q3 FY21 from 26.6% in Q2 FY21.

The company's revenue in constant currency grew 3.5% QoQ and rose 1.1% year-on-year (YoY). The company expects QoQ revenue to grow between 2% to 3% in constant currency for Q4 FY21, including DWS contribution. EBIT is expected to be between 21% and 21.5% for FY2021.

Tata Steel Long Products hit an upper circuit of 20% to Rs 859.85. The long steel maker reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 304.40 crore in Q3 FY21 compared with net loss of Rs 112.19 crore in Q3 FY20. Net sales during the quarter jumped 36.5% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 1364.17 crore.

Den Network rose 2.23% after the cable distribution company posted 238.8% jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 65.57 crore on a 7.6% rise in net sales to Rs 342.18 crore in Q3 December 2020 over Q3 December 2019.

Consolidated EBITDA grew by 12% year on year to Rs 65 crore in Q3 December 2020 from Rs 58 crore in Q3 December 2019. EBITDA margin slightly improved to 19% in Q3 December 2020 from 18% in Q3 December 2019.

On the operational front, subscription revenue was at Rs 201 crore (down 3% YoY), Placement/Marketing income was at Rs 106 crore (up 22% YoY) and Activation revenue came in at Rs 28 crore (up 58% YoY ) in the third quarter.

HFCL fell 4.21% after consolidated net profit jumped 86.7% to Rs 85.11 crore on 49.7% increase in net sales to Rs 1,277.48 crore in Q3 December 2020 over Q3 December 2019.

PVR added 2.68%. The multiplex chain operator reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 49.2 crore in Q3 December 2020 as compared to a consolidated net profit of Rs 36.3 crore registered in Q3 December 2019. Consolidated revenue from operations slipped 95% to Rs 45.4 crore in Q3 FY21 from Rs 915.7 crore in Q3 FY20.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Bharti Airtel added 3.84% to Rs 602.50. Global index provider MSCI on Thursday said it will take a decision on increasing the weightage of Bharti Airtel at upcoming index review in February.

GAIL (India) declined 3.82%. The board of GAIL (India) approved a proposal to buyback upto 6,97,56,641 equity shares (1.55% equity) at Rs 150 each for an aggregate consideration not exceeding Rs 1046.35 crore.

Dixon Technologies (India) fell 0.28% to Rs 14891.60. The company said that its board will consider stock split on 2 February 2021.

Trident rose 2.29% after the company said it secured a patent for 'Fabric and Method of Manufacturing Fabric' by European Patent office. It further said that the present invention comprises a method of producing a fabric by subjecting the fabric to a special treatment, thereby obtaining increased air space in the resultant fabric.

Bharat Dynamics (BDL) shed 1.01%. BDL and Thales have signed a teaming agreement to work in partnership on the STARStreak Air Defence system with the support of both the Governments of India and the United Kingdom.

The domestic equity benchmarks reversed early losses and ended with decent gains on Thursday. The indices witnessed volatility due to expiry of weekly index options on the NSE. Auto stocks extended gains for the sixth consecutive session.

The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, added 91.84 points or 0.19% to 49,584.16. The Nifty 50 index gained 30.75 points or 0.21% at 14,595.60. Both the indices attained record closing high levels.

TCS (up 2.89%), Reliance Industries (up 1.11%), L&T (up 1.80%) and ITC (up 1.35%) were major market movers.

Investors looked forward to US President-elect Joe Biden's major COVID-19 relief package to be unveiled on Thursday.

In the broader market, the BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.29% and the BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.17%.

The market breadth was almost even. On the BSE, 1501 shares rose and 1509 shares fell. A total of 173 shares were unchanged.

COVID-19:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 9,23,51,683 with 19,78,629 deaths. India reported 2,13,603 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,51,727 deaths while 1,01,46,763 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Economy:

India's wholesale prices rose by 1.22% year-on-year in December 2020, slowing from a 1.55% gain in November 2020 and 2.76% in December 2019.

Meanwhile, Fitch Ratings projected India's medium-term growth to slow down to 6.5% from FY23 onward, after the initial rebound to 11% in FY22, as the economy suffers lasting damage from the pandemic. The agency downgraded its projection of supply-side potential growth to 5.1% annually over the five-year period from 2020-25 compared to its pre-pandemic expectation of 7%.

Numbers to Watch:

The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper fell to 5.924% as compared with 5.947% at close in the previous trading session.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 73.0450, compared with its close of 73.15 during the previous trading session.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for March 2021 settlement fell 3 cents at $56.03 a barrel. The contract fell 52 cents, or 0.92% to settle at $56.06 a barrel in the previous trading session.

Foreign Markets:

European stocks advanced while most Asian markets ended higher on Thursday despite ongoing concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic and political turbulence in the U.S. Vaccination rollouts across the continent have raised hopes that an end to the pandemic is on its way.

Trial data published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine reportedly showed Johnson & Johnson's one-shot COVID-19 vaccine is safe and appears to generate an immune response in both young and elderly volunteers. J&J's vaccine candidate, which only requires one dose, could simplify logistics for health-care providers. The two vaccines currently authorized by the Food and Drug Administration from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna require two doses about three to four weeks apart.

In US, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite closed slightly higher on Wednesday, led by tech shares, as traders kept an eye on interest rates, the political uncertainty coming out of Washington and a still raging pandemic. President-elect Joe Biden is expected to release details on his economic plan on Thursday.

The S&P 500 index gained 0.2% to end the day at 3,809.84, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced 0.4% to 13,128.95. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed just 8.22 points lower, or 0.03%, at 31,060.47.

Meanwhile, turmoil in Washington continues with the House on Wednesday impeaching U.S. President Donald Trump for inciting the attack on the U.S. Capitol last week.

The riots led to the death of five people and raised questions in the U.S. and around the world about the integrity of U.S. democracy and a smooth transfer of presidential power. The Wall Street Journal reported that it was the fastest impeachment vote assembled in the nation's history.

Buzzing Indian Segment:

The Nifty Auto index rose 0.29% to 10,238.30, extending gains for sixth day in a row. The index has added 9.16% in six sessions.

Tata Motors (up 1.09%), Eicher Motors (up 0.91%), Hero Motocorp (up 0.25%), Maruti Suzuki India (up 0.25%), TVS Motor (up 0.23%) and Mahindra & Mahindra (up 0.14%) advanced.

Earnings Impact:

Infosys fell 1.23%. On a consolidated basis, the IT major's net profit jumped 16.6% to Rs 5,197 crore on a 12.3% rise in revenues to Rs 25,927 crore in Q3 December 2020 (Q3 FY21) over Q3 December 2019 (Q3 FY20).

Sequentially, Infosys net profit rose 7.3% and revenue increased 5.5% in Q3 FY21 over Q2 September 2020 (Q2 FY21). Profit before tax (PBT) stood at Rs 7,151 crore in Q3 FY21, gaining 5.9% over Rs 6,750 crore in Q2 FY21. Income tax expense rose 2.3% to Rs 1,936 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q2 FY21.

Operating profit rose 5.8% to 6,589 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q2 FY21. Operating margin stood at 25.4% in Q3 FY21, higher than 25.3% in Q2 FY21 and 21.9% in Q3 FY20. The company has revised FY21 growth guidance upward to 4.5% to 5% in constant currency term. Operating margin for FY21 is revised upward in the range of 24% to 24.5%.

Wipro lost 0.94%. The IT major, after market hours yesterday, 13 January 2021, posted a 20.37% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 2,968 crore on a 3.68% increase in revenue to Rs 15,670 crore in Q3 December 2020 (Q3 FY21) over Q2 September 2020 (Q2 FY21).

The company's consolidated net profit grew by 20.85% and revenue has risen by 1.29% in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20. Profit before tax (PBT) in Q3 FY21 stood at Rs 3850.4 crore, up by 20% from Rs 3,207.30 crore in Q2 FY21. Total tax expense during the third quarter increased 18% to Rs 852.6 crore in Q3 December 2020.

Wipro's IT services segment revenue came at $2,071 million in Q3 FY21, a sequential growth of 3.9%. The company's non-GAAP constant currency IT services segment revenue increased by 3.4% quarter on quarter. The company said its IT services operating margin grew by 243 basis points quarter on quarter to 21.7% in Q3 FY21.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) jumped 9.57%. The Union Cabinet on January 13 has approved procurement of 83 Light Combat Aircrafts (LCA) 'Tejas' from the company for the Indian Air Force (IAF).

IndusInd Bank added 2.84%. Sebi has granted additional two weeks to promoters of the bank for infusion of residual capital in lieu of conversion of shares warrants issued to them worth over Rs 2,695.26 crore.

Indian Bank jumped 6.17%. The bank has raised Tier 2 Capital Fund through private placement of Basel III compliant Tier 2 bonds aggregating to Rs 2,000 crore at a coupon of 6.18% p.a. payable annually.

Steel Authority of India (SAIL) slumped 9.97% to Rs 67.25 after the offer for sale (OFS) opened for non-retail investors today, 14 January 2021. The floor price for the OFS has been set at Rs 64 per share, at a 14.2% discount to SAIL's closing price of Rs 74.70 on Wednesday, 13 January 2021.

Through the OFS, the Indian government proposes to sell 20,65,26,264 shares (representing 5% stake), with an option to sell an additional 5% stake or 20,65,26,264 equity shares in case of oversubscription. With this, the total OFS size stands at 41,30,52,528 shares, which is calculated at Rs 2,664 crore.

As on 15:30 IST, the OFS received subscription for 74,74,60,041 shares or 413.62% against the base non-retail offer size of 18,07,10,481 shares.

Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers rose 1.78%. The company secured a contract from the Transport and Harbours Department, Ministry of Public Works, Government of Guyana, for designing, construction and supply of an ocean-going passenger and cargo vessel at the cost of $12.7 million.

The domestic equity barometers ended almost flat after a volatile session on Wednesday. Select autos and PSU banks advanced while pharma and financial stocks lagged.

The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 24.79 points or 0.05% to 49,492.32. The Nifty 50 index added 1.40 points or 0.01% to 14,564.85.

Mahindra & Mahindra (up 6.24%), ITC (up 2.35%) and NTPC (up 2.24%) supported the indices. HDFC (down 2.76%), HDFC Bank (down 0.70%) and Reliance Industries (down 0.90%) dragged.

The Sensex hit a record high of 49,795.19 and the Nifty hit a record high of 14,653.35 in early trade.

Developments on the US political front kept investors on the edge as the US House of Representatives is expected to vote on an impeachment motion against President Trump today.

The sentiment, however, received a boost after the domestic retail inflation cooled off in December, falling below RBI's upper tolerance limit of 6%.

In the broader market, the BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.63% and the BSE Small-Cap index lost 0.38%. Both the indices underperformed the Sensex.

Sellers outpaced buyers. On the BSE, 1,236 shares rose and 1,828 shares fell. A total of 148 shares were unchanged.

COVID-19:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 9,16,05,941 with 19,62,345 deaths. India reported 2,14,507 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,51,529 deaths while 1,01,29,111 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Economy:

The country's retail inflation, which is measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), eased to 4.59% in the month of December mainly due to decline in food prices.

The CPI inflation had been continuously been above RBI's upper tolerance band of 6% for the past eight months until November. Inflation peaked in October to 7.61% and had fallen to 6.93% in November.

India's factory output, measured in terms of Index of Industrial Production (IIP), witnessed a contraction of 1.9% for November 2020, reverting back to the declining territory after rising in the previous two months, data released by the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MOSPI) showed on Tuesday.

Numbers to Watch:

The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper rose to 5.950% as compared with 5.931% at close in the previous trading session.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 73.15, compared with its close of 73.2550 during the previous trading session.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for March 2021 settlement rose 9 cents at $56.63 a barrel. The contract rose 92 cents, or 1.65% to settle at $56.58 a barrel in the previous trading session.

Foreign Markets:

Most Asian shares ended higher while European shares were mixed on Wednesday. European investors kept track of COVID-19 developments in the region, with governments looking to accelerate, or to keep good momentum, in their coronavirus vaccination drives. In the meantime, lockdowns have been extended in Germany and the Netherlands.

In Asia, the Japanese government is set to expand the state of emergency to more areas on Wednesday, as per reports. That comes after Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga recently declared a state of emergency in Tokyo and three other areas in a bid to stem a rise in coronavirus infections.

Meanwhile, local Chinese authorities in regions near Beijing are reportedly stepping up restrictions on social activity following a rise in new coronavirus cases.

US stocks closed along the flatline on Tuesday as traders weighed higher rates, possible stimulus and political turmoil. Investors will watch for developments from Washington, with the U.S. House set to push ahead with efforts to remove President Donald Trump from office over his role in sparking last week's deadly attack on the Capitol.

As per reports, Vice President Mike Pence told House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday that he does not support invoking the 25th Amendment against President Donald Trump. Pence's letter came as the House is preparing to vote on a resolution calling on Pence to convene and mobilize Trump's cabinet to remove the president from power, using the powers granted by the amendment, the reports added.

House Democrats reportedly are moving forward with efforts to remove Trump from office following last week's riot at the U.S. Capitol, which they charge he incited. An impeachment vote is reportedly expected on Wednesday.

Buzzing Indian Segment:

The Nifty Bank index rose 0.73% to 32,574.65. The index has added 1.80% in two sessions.

The banking index hit a record high of 32,683.50 in intraday today.

Bank of Baroda (up 6.5%), State Bank of India (up 4.6%), Indusind Bank (up 1.56%), Axis Bank (up 1.53%) and ICICI Bank (up 1.46%) advanced.

HDFC Bank (down 0.5%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 1.23%), RBL Bank (down 1.36%), Federal Bank (down 1.9%), IDFC first Bank (down 2.33%) and Bandhan Bank (down 4.04%) declined.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Wipro rose 0.23%. The IT major reported 20.37% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 2,968 crore on a 3.68% increase in revenue to Rs 15,670 crore in Q3 December 2020 (Q3 FY21) over Q2 September 2020 (Q2 FY21). Profit before tax (PBT) in Q3 FY21 stood at Rs 3850.4 crore, up by 20% from Rs 3,207.30 crore in Q2 FY21. Total tax expense during the third quarter increased 18% to Rs 852.6 crore in Q3 December 2020.

The company's consolidated net profit has grown by 20.85% and revenue has risen by 1.29% in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20.

Wipro's IT services segment revenue came at $2,071 million in Q3 FY21, a sequential growth of 3.9%. The company's non-GAAP constant currency IT services segment revenue increased by 3.4% quarter on quarter. The company said its IT services operating margin grew by 243 basis points quarter on quarter to 21.7% in Q3 FY21.

Infosys rose 1.16%. The IT major's consolidated net profit jumped 16.6% to Rs 5,197 crore on a 12.3% rise in revenues to Rs 25,927 crore in Q3 December 2020 over Q3 December 2019. Operating profit rose 5.8% to 6,589 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q2 FY21. Operating margin stood at 25.4% in Q3 FY21, higher than 25.3% in Q2 FY21.

Infosys has revised FY21 growth guidance upward to 4.5% to 5% in constant currency term. Operating margin for FY21 is also revised upward in the range of 24% to 24.5%.

Tech Mahindra rose 0.08%. The company said that it has agreed to acquire 100% shareholding of Payments Technology Services for a cash consideration of $9 million. Headquartered in Hong Kong, Payments Technology Services entity is a stepdown subsidiary of Fidelity Information Services (FIS). The company is a payments solutions provider with a banking and financial services (BFS) focus.

Tata Elxsi surged 14.41% after the company's net profit jumped 39.5% to Rs 105.20 crore on 10.9% rise in total income to Rs 492.20 crore in Q3 December 2020 over Q3 December 2019. EBITDA rose 52.4% to Rs 143.60 crore in Q3 December 2020 over Q3 December 2019. EBITDA margin expanded to 30.1% in Q3 December 2020 from 22.2% in Q3 December 2019.

Bharti Airtel added 2.21%. The telecom operator said that it has received approvals for its relevant downstream investments and it is initiating process to revise its foreign investment limit to 100% with an immediate effect.

Bharat Rasayan rose 1.98% to Rs 10554.95. The board of Bharat Rasayan on Tuesday (12 January 2021) approved a proposal to buyback upto 93,472 shares (2.2% of the total number of fully paid-up equity shares) at a price of Rs 11,500 per share, aggregating to amount not exceeding Rs 107.49 crore.

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) rose 0.17% to Rs 1352. The company said its construction arm secured 'significant' orders for its various businesses. As per L&T's classification, the valuation of the 'significant' contract lies between Rs 1000 crore to Rs 2500 crore.

Hero MotoCorp rose 0.33%. The two-wheeler major reinforced its presence in Central America by appointing new distributor partners in Nicaragua and Honduras, with expansion plans for both the countries.

Tata Motors advanced 1.98% after the Tata Motors Group global wholesales in Q3 FY21, including Jaguar Land Rover, stood at 2.78 lakh units, recording a 1% year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth compared with Q3 FY20.

Filatex India tumbled 5.37%. The textile firm's net profit surged 255.63% to Rs 66.04 crore in Q3 FY21 compared with Rs 18.57 crore in Q3 FY20. Net sales during the quarter declined 2.19% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 721.59 crore. EBITDA stood at Rs 120.2 crore in third quarter as against Rs 55.9 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal. EBITDA margin was at 16.65% as on 30 December 2020 compared with 7.57% as on 30 December 2019.

The domestic equity benchmark ended near the day's high on Tuesday. PSU banks, auto and realty stocks rallied while IT, pharma and FMCG shares declined. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, jumped, 247.79 points or 0.50% to 49,517.11. The Nifty 50 index added 78.70 points or 0.54% to 14,563.45. Both the indices attained record closing high levels.

The Sensex hit a record high of 49,569.14 and the Nifty hit a record high of 14,590.65 in late trade today. Positive Asian cues and robust FII inflows boosted sentiment. Developments on the vaccine front and signs of economic recovery also supported buying.

Bharti Airtel (up 3.41%), Reliance Industries (up 3.14%) and HDFC Bank (up 2.10%) were major index movers.

In the broader market, the BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.44% and the BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.25%.

Buyers outpaced sellers. On the BSE, 1,664 shares rose and 1,435 shares fell. A total of 154 shares were unchanged.

COVID-19:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 9,08,94,797 with 19,44,754 deaths. India reported 2,16,558 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,51,327 deaths while 1,01,11,294 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Bharat Biotech reportedly inked a purchase agreement with the Government of India on January 11 to provide 55 lakh doses of COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin at Rs 295 per dose. The pharma firm will be providing its coronavirus vaccine directly to 12 states, and the process will be completed in two days by January 14. Dispatches will begin from Hyderabad starting January 12. Bharat Biotech will be providing 38.5 lakh doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in stage 1 and 16.5 doses in stage 2.

Economy:

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, in his foreword for the financial stability report released on Monday, said: Stretched valuations of financial assets pose risks to financial stability. Banks and financial intermediaries need to be cognizant of these risks and spillovers in an interconnected financial system.

The financial stability report has also warned that banks' bad loans may double by September 2021. The RBI sees gross bad loans account for 13.5% of total loans by September even in a base case scenario.

The RBI expects banks' capital ratios will erode to 14% in September from 15.6% in September 2020, the report showed. This may worsen to 12.5% in a very severe stress scenario, under which nine banks may fall short of meeting the minimum capital requirement of 9%.

Numbers to Watch:

The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper rose to 5.933% as compared with 5.924% at close in the previous trading session.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 73.2550, compared with its close of 73.4025 during the previous trading session.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for March 2021 settlement rose 89 cents at $56.55 a barrel. The contract fell 33 cents, or 0.59% to settle at $55.66 a barrel in the previous trading session.

Foreign Markets:

Most European stocks were trading lower on Tuesday as investors remain focused on the latest coronavirus developments and the state of U.S. politics. Rising infections in Europe are dominating investor concerns although there is hope amid a mass rollout of vaccinations across the continent.

Most Asian shares ended higher on Tuesday. However, South Korea's Kospi declined nearly 2% in trade today.

Malaysia's King on Tuesday reportedly declared a state of emergency in the country. That came after Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin reportedly announced Monday that the country would tighten COVID-19 restrictions from Wednesday, with multiple states coming under a lockdown. Consequently, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI index slipped 0.74%.

President Donald Trump on Monday reportedly approved an emergency declaration for Washington that lasts through January 24, after authorities warned of security threats to President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration next week.

US stocks declined from record high on Monday, 11 January 2021, with major indices- S&P 500 index, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite all settling lower, as investors elected to book some profit amid concerns about stocks valuations after record-setting runs. Rising coronavirus cases across the world and concerns about developments in Washington also weighed on stocks.

At the close of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index declined 0.29%, the S&P 500 index slipped 0.66% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index lost 1.25%.

Political uncertainty continues to hang over markets. House Democrats are preparing to impeach Donald Trump even though the president has less than two weeks left in his term. After the siege of the U.S. Capitol building by Trump supporters last week, Democrats are concerned about additional incitement by the president in his final days in office.

Buzzing Indian Segment:

The Nifty PSU Bank index surged 5.97% to 1,910.15. The index fell 1.94% in the past two sessions.

Bank of Baroda (up 10.66%), J&K Bank (up 9.88%), Bank of India (up 7.92%), Canara Bank (up 6.87%), Union Bank of India (up 5.74%), Indian Bank (up 5.67%), Bank of Maharashtra (up 5.42%), Central Bank of India (up 5.05%), Punjab National Bank (up 4.3%), State Bank of India (up 3.79%), Indian Overseas Bank (up 3.62%) and UCO Bank (up 2.71%) jumped.

Stocks in Spotlight:

GAIL (India) advanced 4.16%. The natural gas distributor said its board will consider share buyback on 15 January 2021.

Karnataka Bank surged 5.62% after the bank's net profit grew 10% to Rs 135.38 crore on a 6.2% decline in total income to Rs 1868.62 crore in Q3 December 2020 over Q3 December 2019. The bank's profit before tax stood at Rs 223.79 crore in Q3 December 2020, rising 19.6% year on year from Rs 187.09 crore in Q3 December 2019. Total tax expense rose by 38.2% to Rs 88.41 crore in Q3 December 2020 over Q3 December 2019.

Sunteck Realty rose 2.87%. The real estate developer said it saw a robust growth in pre-sales for Q3 December 2020 at Rs 349 crore. The company's pre-sales have grown by 75% quarter on quarter (QoQ) and increased 7% year on year (YoY) in Q3 December 2020. Collections grew at 79% QoQ and surged by 52% YoY to Rs 252 crore in Q3 December 2020.

IndiaMART InterMESH gained 2.83%. The e-commerce company said that its board will meet on 18 January 2020 to consider raising funds via the equity route. The board will also consider Q3 results on the same day.

Tata Motors rallied 8.04% after the company's foreign arm, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), marked the end of 2020 with a second successive quarter-on-quarter recovery in sales, despite the continuing impact of COVID-19. Retail sales for the quarter ending 31 December 2020 stood at 1.28 lakh vehicles, registering a 13.1% growth over 1.13 lakh vehicles sold in the preceding quarter, but down 9% on the same period last year.

Force Motors rose 3.01%. The company's board has approved raising up to Rs 500 crore via NCDs.

Burger King India slipped 1.40%. According to NSE bulk deal data, Eastspring Investments India Consumer Equity Open on Monday (11 January 2021), offloaded 27,55,323 equity shares (representing 0.72% stake) of Burger King India at average price of Rs 154.92.

Talbros Automotive Components surged 6.57%. Marelli Talbros Chassis Systems, the 50% joint venture company of Talbros Automotive Components has received multi-year order from a large European car manufacturer. The order is for supplying BIW (body in white design) parts. The order value is estimated at approximately Rs 92 crore over the life of the contract.

Steel Strips Wheels (SSWL) added 1.84% after the company's net profit soared 4.57 times to Rs 28.75 crore in Q3 FY21 from Rs 6.29 crore in Q3 FY20. Revenue from operations during the quarter increased by 52.66% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 524.54 crore in Q3 FY21.

Mahindra Lifespace Developers rose 2% after the company signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with State Bank of India. As part of the agreement, which includes various co-promotional activities and outreach initiatives, customers and employees of SBI and Mahindra Lifespaces will be able to avail the benefits of faster home loan processing and approvals, and special discounts and schemes.

Domestic equity benchmarks jumped to end near the day's high on Monday, supported by rally in IT and auto shares. Steel stocks tumbled after Union Minister Nitin Gadkari reportedly hinted at presence of cartel in the cement & steel industry.

The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, jumped 486.81 points or 1% to 49,269.32. The Nifty 50 index gained 137.50 points or 0.96% to 14,484.75. Both the indices attained record closing high levels.

The Sensex hit a record high of 49,303.79 and the Nifty hit a record high of 14,498.20 in late trade today. Positive Asian cues and robust FII inflows boosted sentiment. The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, surged 8.57% to 22.38.

HCL Technologies (up 6.09%), Infosys (up 4.90%), HDFC (up 3.70%), Maruti Suzuki India (up 2.75%) and HDFC Bank (up 1.32%) were major index movers.

The broader market underperformed the benchmarks. The BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.08% and the BSE Small-Cap index lost 0.17%.

Sellers outnumbered buyers. On the BSE, 1470 shares rose and 1682 shares fell. A total of 147 shares were unchanged.

The Nifty Financial Services Index (FINNIFTY) F&O contracts started trading on the NSE from today. The FINNIFTY index rose 0.61% to 15,605.10. It is a diversified index of banks, insurance companies, NBFCs, etc. compared with the Bank Nifty index which includes only banks stocks. NSE has waived transaction charges for 6 months.

COVID-19:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 9,02,79,510 with 19,34,786 deaths. India reported 2,22,526 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,51,160 deaths while 1,00,92,909 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

India kickstarts the world's biggest inoculation drive, PM Narendra Modi will hold a virtual meeting with chief ministers of all states and union territories on Monday and review the preparedness for COVID-19 vaccine administration across the nation.

In India's vaccination drive, set to start on 16 January 2021, priority will be given to about 3 crore frontline workers, followed by around 27 crore people above the age of 50 and others with co-morbidities. The country has also conducted two dry runs to understand the best way to administer vaccine shots and plug loopholes in logistics and training.

Economy:

Assocham on Sunday (10 January) said that India's economy is showing decisive signs of a 'V-shaped' recovery in 2021 with the return of consumer confidence, robust financial markets, an uptick in manufacturing and exporters braving it out in the global market with never-say-die spirit. The industry chamber further added that it expects immense accruals of economic benefits from the COVID-19 vaccination programme about to be rolled out.

Numbers to Watch:

The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper rose to 5.924% as compared with 5.892% at close in the previous trading session.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 73.4025, compared with its close of 73.2450 during the previous trading session.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for March 2021 settlement fell 83 cents at $55.16 a barrel. The contract rose $1.61, or 2.96% to settle at $55.99 a barrel in the previous trading session.

Foreign Markets:

European stocks declined on Monday. The investors focused on the alarming surge in coronavirus cases globally as countries race to vaccinate their elderly, the most vulnerable members of society, and healthcare workers against COVID-19 as fast as they can.

Over the weekend, the U.K.'s Queen Elizabeth and her husband Philip, both in their nineties, received vaccinations against COVID-19, the Buckingham Palace said.

Most Asian stocks ended higher on Monday. Markets in Japan were closed on Monday for a holiday. Shares in South Korea's auto sector surged again on Monday following reports that Hyundai Motor and Apple are set to sign a partnership deal on autonomous electric cars.

China's producer price index fell 0.4% in December as compared to a year earlier, according to the country's Bureau of Statistics. Meanwhile, China's consumer price index rose 0.2% year-on-year in December.

In US, Wall Street scaled new highs on Friday as hopes of more stimulus from Washington were bolstered after U.S. President-elect Joe Biden said his economic package will be in the trillions of dollars.

In economic data, the US economy shed jobs for the first time in eight months in December. Nonfarm payrolls decreased by 140,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department said on Friday. Data for November was revised up to show 336,000 jobs added instead of 245,000 as previously reported.

Buzzing Indian Segment:

Shares of four steel companies declined after Union Minister Nitin Gadkari reportedly said that there is a cartel in cement & steel industries, and cement manufacturers are exploiting the situation in the real estate sector, as prices of the two commodities rise.

Every steel company has its own iron ore mines & there has been no increase in labour & power costs but they are increasing rates. It is difficult for me to understand (the reason behind it), the minister reportedly said.

SAIL (down 2.99%), Tata Steel (down 2.45%), JSW Steel (down 0.98%) and Jindal Steel & Power (down 0.34%) edged lower.

Tata Steel's Indian crude steel production rose 2.90% to 4.60 million tons (MT) in Q3 December 2020 (3QFY21) from 4.47 MT in Q3 December 2019 (3QFY20). On a sequential basis, the crude steel production has improved marginally from 4.59 MT in Q2 September 2020 (2QFY21).

Tata Steel India saw strong sales momentum in 3QFY21, however, sales volumes were constrained by lower opening inventory post very strong sales in 2QFY21. As a result, deliveries were 4.66 MT in 3QFY21, lower by 8% as compared to 5.05 MT in Q2 FY21 and lower by 4% from 4.85 MT in 3QFY20.

During the quarter, despite planned maintenance shutdowns, the company was able to ramp-up steel production at Tata Steel Europe by 22% QoQ and 4%YoY to 2.61 MT. This was aimed at replenishing inventory ahead of improving market condition and seasonally better Q4 March 2021 (4QFY21).

While Q3 FY21 steel sales volume declined by 7% QoQ and 10% YoY to 2.11 MT, due to lower opening inventories and COVID-19 impact at beginning of the quarter, the mix of deliveries saw further improvements in the Automotive and Engineering sectors.

Earning Impact:

Index major and IT bellwether TCS gained 1.75%. The company reported 16.4% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 8,701 crore on a 4.7% increase in revenue to Rs 42,015 crore in Q3 December 2020 (Q3 FY21) over Q2 September 2020 (Q2 FY21). The company's September quarter net profit had a post-tax one-time impact of Rs 958 crore due to provision for ongoing litigation with EPIC.

The company's consolidated net profit has grown by 7.2% and revenue has risen by 5.4% in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20.

TCS said that constant currency revenue for Q3 FY21 rose 4.1% quarter-on-quarter and 0.4% year-on-year. The IT major's operating margin stood at 26.6% in Q3FY21 compared with 26.2% in Q2FY21. Net margin stood at 20.7% in Q3FY21.

TCS said that all its verticals showed good sequential growth, led by Manufacturing (+7.1%), BFSI (+2%), Life Sciences and Healthcare (+5.2%), Communications & Media (+5.5%) and Retail and CPG (+3.1%). On a year on year, constant currency basis, Life Sciences and Healthcare continued to grow in double digits at 18.2%. BFSI (+2.4%) and Technology & Services (+2.4%) also moved into positive territory.

The IT firm continued to witness a strong rebound in growth and transformation services as customers seek to operationalize new models. Growth in the quarter was led by Cloud Services, Analytics & Insights, Cognitive Business Operations, IoT and Quality Engineering & Transformation Platform Services.

As on 31 December 2020, the company has applied for 5,634 patents, including 134 applied during the quarter, and has been granted 1,713 patents. The company's net cash from operations in Q3 FY21 was Rs 11,952 crore.

Avenue Supermarts added 0.41%. The company's consolidated net profit surged 16.4% to Rs 446.97 crore on a 10.8% rise in net sales to Rs 7542 crore in Q3 December 2020 over Q3 December 2019.

EBITDA for Q3 December 2020 stood at Rs 689 crore, rising 15.4% from Rs 597 crore posted in the corresponding quarter of last year. EBITDA margin improved to 9.1% in Q3 December 2020 from 8.8% in Q3 December 2019.

Commenting on the performance of the company, Neville Noronha, CEO & MD of Avenue Supermarts, said: “The quarter has seen further improvement in our business and financial metrics. Our overall sales and sales mix is now trending very close to our usual times except for specific customer consumption changes post Covid-19. Apparel, laundry, footwear, travel and such relevant out of home usage categories are taking more time to recover. Agile OPEX management along with a good surge in festival shopping allowed us to deliver a significantly better quarter than the previous two quarters.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Narayana Hrudayalaya added 3.94%. The hospital chain has discontinued operations of the Heart Centre operated in the premises of IQ City Hospital in Durgapur, West Bengal under an agreement with IQ City Foundation (formerly known as SPS Synergy Foundation).

KEC International gained 0.62%. The company has secured new orders of Rs 1,024 crore across its various businesses.

Vedanta fell 1.62%. The company said its promoters has made voluntary open offer for the acquisition of up to 371,750,500 equity shares representing 10% of the fully diluted voting share capital of the company from the public shareholders. The offer is made at a price of Rs 160 per equity share.

Apollo Micro Systems surged 13.81%. The company announced that it bagged a Rs 49.86 crore order from Bharat Electronics, a Defence Public Sector Undertaking with a repeat order clause, for maximum of 120% of the units originally ordered.

Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) lost 0.89%. BHEL on Monday (11 January) announced that it has secured an order for a steam and power plant from National Aluminium Company (NALCO). The order is valued at Rs 450 crore and is a part of NALCO's 5th Stream Alumina Refinery Expansion Project at Damanjodi, Odisha.

State-run ONGC added 1.89% to Rs 102.55. The committee for allotment of securities approved the allotment of 15,000 NCDs (Series IV) of face value of Rs 10,00,000 each, aggregating Rs 1,500 crore to identified persons at the interest rate of 4.50% per annum payable annually.

The equity market ended with robust gains on Friday, mirroring strong global cues. Barring the Nifty Metal index and the Nifty PSU Bank index, all the sectoral indices on the NSE closed in the green. The S&P BSE Sensex, jumped 689.19 points or 1.43% at 48,782.51. The Nifty 50 index rallied 209.9 points or 1.48% at 14,347.55. Both the indices attained record closing high levels.

Global shares were upbeat amid hopes for an economic recovery later in the year. Traders bet that a new Democratic-controlled U.S. government would lead to heavy spending and borrowing to support the country's economic recovery. US President-elect Joe Biden is expected to move quickly to gain passage of $2,000 stimulus checks, along with expanded unemployment benefits, aid to state and local governments and additional relief for small businesses.

The Sensex hit a record high of 48,854.34 while the Nifty scaled a fresh all time high of 14,367.30 in late trade today.

Maruti Suzuki India (up 5.94%), Reliance Industries (up 1.15%) and HDFC Bank (up 1.09%) were major market movers.

Buying was broad based. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 1.01% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.72%.

Buyers outpaced sellers. On the BSE, 1763 shares rose and 1350 shares fell. A total of 154 shares were unchanged.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 8,80,51,477 with 18,98,655 deaths. India reported 2,25,449 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,50,570 deaths while 1,00,37,398 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Nearly a week after the government suspended the flights to and from the United Kingdom amid concerns over the new coronavirus strain, the two countries resumed normal flight operation from Friday.

According to reports, the first flight carrying 256 passengers arrived in the national capital from London today. The resumption of the normal flight operations comes nearly a week after the government suspended services between India and UK on December 23 over the new and more contagious strain of the virus.

Economy:

The central government on Thursday projected that the country's economy will contract by 7.7% in the current fiscal year 2020-21, as per the first advance estimates of gross domestic product released by the National Statistical Office. The agriculture sector estimate for FY 2021 stood at 3.4%. Also, mining estimate stood at -12.4% for FY21 against 3.1%(YoY) and nominal GDP estimate stood at -4.2%.

Numbers To Track:

In the foreign exchange market, the partially convertible rupee fell to 73.245 compared with its previous closing of 73.31.

The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper rose to 5.893% as compared to its previous close of 5.892%.

MCX Gold futures for 5 February 2021 settlement declined 1.36% to Rs 50,212.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, rose 0.14% to 89.95.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for March 2021 settlement rose 35 cents to $54.73 a barrel. The contract rose 0.15% to settle at $54.38 in the previous trading session.

Global Markets:

The Dow Jones Futures 30 were trading 100 points higher, indicating a positive start in US markets today.

Shares in Europe and Asia advanced on Friday as global investors anticipate that a Democratic-controlled U.S. government will lead to greater fiscal support.

In Asia, shares of South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor soared following reports of a deal between the firm and Cupertino-based tech giant Apple on developing electric vehicles and batteries.

The US stocks rose to all-time highs on Thursday as the U.S. Congress confirmed the election of Joe Biden as president early Thursday, a day after supporters of Donald Trump invaded the U.S. Capitol. Thursday marked the Nasdaq's first-ever close above 13,000. It was also the first time the Dow and S&P 500 ended a session above 31,000 and 3,800, respectively.

Traders continued to focus on the possibility for additional fiscal aid after the Democratic party secured a slim majority in the Senate, giving it control of both congressional chambers.

Sentiment on Wall Street also got a boost after the Institute for Supply Management said its index for nonmanufacturing activity in the U.S. rose to 57.2 in December from 55.9 in November.

Buzzing Indian Segment:

Tech Mahindra (up 5.35%), Larsen & Toubro Infotech (up 5.28%), Wipro (up 5.22%), Infosys (up 3.91%), HCL Technologies (up 3.28%), Mindtree (up 3.11%), Coforge (up 2.23%) and Info Edge (India) (up 1.69%) advanced.

IT bellwether Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) was up 2.97%. The company will announce Q3 quarterly results today.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Biocon advanced 2.43% after the pharmaceutical major announced that the board of its subsidiary Biocon Biologics has approved a primary equity investment by Abu Dhabi based ADQ (ADQ), one of the region's largest holding companies. As per the terms of the proposed agreement, ADQ will invest Rs 555 crore for a 1.80% minority stake in the biosimilar business, valuing Biocon Biologics at a post money valuation of about $4.17 billion. Post the completion of this transaction, Biocon will hold 89.89% stake in Biocon Biologics on a fully diluted basis. Established in Abu Dhabi in 2018, ADQ is one of the region's largest holding companies with direct and indirect investments in more than 90 companies locally and internationally.

ONGC gained 2.81% after the state-run corporation announced that it has approved the offer and issuance of up to 15,000 non-convertible debentures (NCDs) of face value of Rs 10 lakh at par aggregating to a total issue size of up to Rs 1,500 crore.

Strides Pharma Science fell 3.10%. The drug company said that Aditya Puri has joined the Strides Group as an advisor and also as a director of its associate company, Stelis Biopharma. Stelis Biopharma is a vertically integrated biopharmaceutical company. The company offers end-to-end state-of-the-art CDMO services across all phases of pre-clinical and clinical development and commercial supply of biologics.

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) advanced 3.51% after the company announced price increase for its personal & commercial range of vehicles from 8 January 2021. The prices of its range of personal and commercial vehicles will increase by around 1.9%, resulting in an increase of Rs 4,500-Rs 40,000, depending on the model and variant.

NALCO fell 0.52%. The Ministry of Coal announced Rs 30,000 crore expansion plan for the company. Out of this proposed investment, the company will spend over Rs 7,000 crore on the fifth stream refinery, Pottangi bauxite mines, bauxite transportation system from south block & Utkal D & E coal mines. Remaining Rs 22,000 crore will be spent on smelter and captive power plant (CPP) expansions, which also include expansion of the company's smelter plant at Angul district in Odisha with construction of a 1400 MW feeder CPP.

Himatsingka Seide jumped 5.84% after the company entered into a new licensing agreement with Disney to expand its global brand portfolio in the home textile space. The license will give Himatsingka the rights to design, develop, manufacture and distribute a broad range of home textile products inspired by Disney's vast archives and characters from all its franchises including Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Lucas.

Bharat Rasayan spurted 8.16% after the company said that its board will consider share buyback on Tuesday, 12 January 2021.

The main equity indices closed mildly lower on Thursday. Metal and realty shares jumped while FMCG, IT and pharma shares corrected. The S&P BSE Sensex, fell 80.74 points or 0.17% at 48,093.32. The Nifty 50 index fell 8.90 points or 0.06% at 14,137.35.

Hindustan Unilever (down 1.97%), Infosys (down 1.53%), ITC (down 1.31%) and ICICI Bank (down 1.02%) were top drags.

The broader market rallied. The BSE Mid-Cap index rose 1.05% and the BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.85%.

Buyers outpaced sellers. On the BSE, 1969 shares rose and 1108 shares fell. A total of 150 shares were unchanged.

COVID-19:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 8,71,97,387 with 18,83,914 deaths. India reported 2,28,083 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,50,336 deaths while 1,00,16,859 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Total coronavirus (COVID-19) recoveries in India crossed the 1-crore mark with over 1.50 lakh deaths on Thursday.

Economy:

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) reported that currency in circulation contracted by 0.3% on the week to stand at Rs 27.70 lakh crore as on 1 January 2021. The central bank stated further that the overall reserve money rose by 0.2% on the week to Rs 33.22 lakh crore. Currency in circulation rose around 22.1% on a year ago basis compared to 11.8% growth at the same time last year. In the current fiscal, the currency in circulation has expanded by 13.2% so far while the reserve money has increased by 9.7%.

Sebi to allow new players to set up stock exchanges:

The markets regulator, Securities Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on 6 January 2021 proposed to ease ownership norms for entities that plan to start new stock exchanges in India, a move that may allow entry of foreign exchanges and lower the trading costs for investors.

The Sebi has floated a discussion paper on review of ownership and governance norms to facilitate new entrants to set up stock exchanges and depositories, otherwise called as market infrastructure institutions (MIIs). As per the key proposals, a resident promoter setting up an MII may hold up to 100% shareholding, which will be brought down to not more than (either 51% or 26%) in 10 years.

A foreign promoter from Financial Action Task Force member jurisdictions setting up an MII may hold up to 49% shareholding, which shall be brought down to not more than (either 26% or 15%) in 10 years.

Currently, NSE, BSE and Metropolitan Stock Exchange are the three nationwide bourses in India, with NSE being the largest in terms of trade volumes both in cash and derivatives segments.

Numbers to Watch:

The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper fell to 5.891% as compared with 5.894% at close in the previous trading session.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 73.31, compared with its close of 73.11 during the previous trading session.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for March 2021 settlement rose 20 cents at $54.50 a barrel. The contract rose 70 cents, or 1.31% to settle at $54.30 a barrel in the previous trading session.

Foreign Markets:

The Dow Jones Futures 30 were up 72 points, indicating a decent start in US markets today.

Shares in Europe and Asia advanced on Thursday following a projected win for Democrats in the U.S. Senate following dramatic scenes when pro-Trump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol building.

In Europe, the COVID-19 pandemic remains a key concern. The U.K. reported more than 60,000 new daily cases on Wednesday and a further 1,000 deaths of people with the virus.

In US, the Dow and the S&P 500 ended higher, soaring to all-time highs on Wednesday, as investors piled into financial and industrial stocks on bets a Democratic sweep in Georgia would lead to more fiscal stimulus and infrastructure spending.

Pro-Trump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol and caused Congress to suspend proceedings to confirm the election of Joe Biden as president. The Capitol was finally secured late Wednesday afternoon, and Congress resumed the process of counting electoral votes and confirming President-elect Joe Biden's victory.

Buzzing Indian Segment:

The Nifty Realty index rose 1.35% to 322.90. The index has risen 2.07% in two days.

Real estate developers were in demand after the Maharashtra government on 6 January 2021 approved the proposal to cut the premium on real estate projects by half till 31 December 2021. Developers availing of the scheme would have to pay full stamp duty and registration charges on behalf of home buyers. The move will help in expediting project completion and the realty industry would witness new launches.

Indiabulls Real Estate (up 12.76%), Brigade Enterprises (up 3.4%), Sunteck Realty (up 2.65%), DLF (up 1.37%), Oberoi Realty (up 0.93%), Prestige Estates Projects (up 0.61%) and Omaxe (up 0.5%) climbed.

Sobha rose 7.83%. The realty firm reported its best ever quarterly sales volume in Q3 December 2020 without any major launch during the quarter. During Q3 FY21, Sobha achieved total sales volume of 11,33,574 square feet of super built-up area valued at Rs 888 crore, with a total average realization of Rs 7,830 per square feet. Sales volume, total sales value are up by 27% and 29% respectively as compared to Q2 FY21.

Stocks in Spotlight:

L&T added 1.92% after the company's subsidiary L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering won a 'large' offshore contract from ONGC for their new living quarter and revamp at NQ Complex. The contract involves engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning of a new living quarter platform of 120 men capacity, bridge (with intermediate support) to existing 'NQO Complex' and major revamping / replacement of existing process systems / facilities at `NQ Complex' in ONGC's Mumbai High Asset on the West Coast of India.

Dixon Technologies (India) jumped 9.39% after the company entered into an agreement with Imagine Marketing (boAt) for manufacturing of twin wireless speakers. Dixon will be manufacturing the products from its facility in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.

Lupin rose 2.14%. The drug major announced that it has received approval for its Sulfamethoxazole and Trimethoprim Oral Suspension USP from the USFDA. The drug is a generic equivalent of Bactrim Oral Suspension of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Inc. It is indicated for the treatment and prevention of a wide variety of bacterial infections (such as middle ear, urine, respiratory, and intestinal infections), and certain type of pneumonia (pneumocystis-type). The product (RLD: Bactrim) had estimated annual sales of approximately $19 million in the U.S. (IQVIA MAT September 2020).

NMDC advanced 3.94% after the state-owned miner increased lump ore prices by 9.61% and prices of fines were hiked by 4.33% on 6 January 2021.

NCL Industries soared 5.01% after the company said its cement production increased 50% to 6,32,746 metric tonnes (MT) in Q3 FY21 from 4,23,199 in Q3 FY20. Sequentially, the cement production rose 2.89% in Q3 FY21 from 6,14,975 MT in Q2 FY21.

Bandhan Bank gained 2.39% after the bank's total deposits jumped 30% to Rs 71,188 crore in Q3 FY21 as against Rs 54,908 crore in Q3 FY20. Sequentially, the bank's deposits have risen by 8% in Q3 FY21 from Rs 66,128 crore in Q2 FY21. The bank's loans & advances at the end of the December 2020 quarter stood at Rs 80,255 crore, up by 23% from Rs 65,456 crore in the same period last year. The loan book of the private lender has increased by 5% sequentially compared with Rs 76,615 at the end of the September 2020 quarter.

Ramco Systems rose 1.50% after the company announced that it will implement its Aviation M&E MRO Suite v5.8 for U.S.-based Construction Helicopters Inc.

The BSE Sensex ended with modest losses on Wednesday, snapping its ten-day rising streak. The Nifty closed below the 14,200 mark. Buying was seen in metal, realty and banks stocks while FMCG and IT shares tumbled.

The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, dropped 263.72 points or 0.54% at 48,174.06. The Nifty 50 index slipped 53.25 points or 0.38% at 14,146.25.

ITC (down 2.86%), Reliance Industries (down 2.64%), TCS (down 1.27%), Infosys (down 0.92%) and Hindustan Unilever (down 1.34%) dragged.

Profit selling emerged after the Sensex hit a record high of 48,616.66 while the Nifty hit a fresh all time high of 14,244.15 in early trade today. The Sensex jumped 6.33% in the past ten trading sessions.

The broader market was mixed. The BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.39% and the BSE Small-Cap index lost 0.14%.

The market breadth was almost even. On the BSE, 1,526 shares rose and 1,585 shares fell. A total of 122 shares were unchanged.

COVID-19:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 8,64,12,620 with 18,69,153 deaths. India reported 2,27,546 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,50,114 deaths while 99,97,272 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Balram Bhargava, chief of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), on Tuesday, said that Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine has been cleared in the clinical trial mode, which means consent of participants has to be taken. He was responding to the questions being raised on the clearance given to Covaxin.

Meanwhile, the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) on Sunday approved AstraZeneca's vaccine Covishield, manufactured by the Serum Institute, and Covaxin for restricted emergency use in the country, paving the way for a massive inoculation drive.

Economy:

The seasonally adjusted India Services Business Activity Index came at 52.3 in December 2020. The index highlighted output growth for the third month in a row, however falling from 53.7 in November, the latest figure pointed to the slowest pace of expansion over the aforementioned sequence.

Meanwhile, the Word Bank on Tuesday said that India's economy is estimated to contract by 9.6% in the fiscal year 2020-21, reflecting a sharp drop in household spending and private investment, and the growth is expected to recover to 5.4% in 2021.

Numbers to Watch:

The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper rose to 5.895% as compared with 5.850% at close in the previous trading session.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 73.11, compared with its close of 73.1750 during the previous trading session.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for March 2021 settlement rose 90 cents at $54.50 a barrel. The contract rose $2.51, or 4.91% to settle at $53.60 a barrel in the previous trading session.

Foreign Markets:

European stocks advanced on Wednesday. The coronavirus pandemic and U.S. political developments remain a key focus for investors. European investors are looking ahead of the latest COVID-19 developments, with England entering a third national lockdown on Tuesday and Germany on Tuesday extending its own lockdown until 31 January 2021.

Asian markets ended mixed as investors anxiously awaited results of U.S. runoff elections that would determine the legislative balance of power in the world's largest economy.

A private survey showed services sector activity in China expanding at a slower pace in December, with the Caixin/Markit services Purchasing Managers' Index coming in at 56.3. That compared against November's reading of 57.8.

US stocks ended higher on Tuesday in choppy trading, ahead of the outcome of the Senate runoff elections in the battleground state of Georgia, which will determine the balance of power in Washington.

Investors looked ahead to two key elections in Georgia, which will determine whether Republicans can hold on to control in the Senate. Many fear that increased tax rates and more progressive policies could weigh on the market if Democrats gain control of the Senate. However, such an outcome could create an opportunity for a bigger and faster spending package.

In U.S. economic data, the Institute for Supply Management said its manufacturing index rose to 60.7 in December — its highest level since August 2018 — from 57.5 in November.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Bajaj Finance slipped 1.82%. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday (5 January 2021) imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 2.50 crore on Bajaj Finance for using coercive methods of recovery from its borrowers, and violation of general guidelines and one specific direction issued by the regulator.

BEML fell 0.08% after the company received orders from Ministry of Defence for supply of High Mobility vehicles, at an approximate value of Rs 758 crore.

Container Corporation of India (CONCOR) jumped 4.51% after the company said it is exploring the possibility of merging its subsidiaries CONCOR AIR (CAL), SIDCUL CONCOR Infra Company (SCICL) and Punjab Logistics Infrastructure (PUL) with itself.

Godrej Consumer Products fell 1.93%. The FMCG major said that during the third quarter, demand trends in the categories across the key countries that the company operates in, remained stable. In India, the company expects to deliver a second consecutive quarter of close to low double-digit sales growth, driven by higher than mid-single digit volume growth. This is led by Soaps, which is expected to deliver strong mid-teen growth. Following a sharp recovery, Hair Colours is also expected to deliver mid-teen growth. Household Insecticides is expected to deliver close to high single-digit growth. The company continued the robust scale up of its personal and home hygiene category.

Hero MotoCorp rose 0.50%. Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India hiked stake in the company to 9.166% from 7.145% earlier. LIC purchased 40.36 lakh shares of the company (equivalent to 2.021% stake) between 19 May 2020 and 4 January 2021. Consequently, LIC's stake in the Hero MotoCorp has risen to 9.166% from 7.145% stake earlier.

ACC gained 1.80% after the cement manufacturer announced the successful commissioning of its new Grinding Unit (GU) at Sindri in Jharkhand effective 2 January 2021. The new facility will add an additional capacity of 1.4 MTPA cement to the existing 3 MTPA unit, taking the total capacity at Sindri to 4.4 MTPA.

Bharat Dynamics rose 2.87% after the company said it has bagged orders worth Rs 632.88 crore. The company has received Konkurs-M ATGM order along with launchers and test equipment.

Domestic indices ended with modest gains on Tuesday, led by strength in IT, banks and financial shares. Metal and realty stocks witnessed profit booking. The Nifty settled near the crucial 14,200 mark. Positive Asian cues and robust foreign inflows boosted sentiment.

The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, gained 260.98 points or 0.54% to 48,437.78. The Nifty 50 index added 66.60 points or 0.47% to 14,199.50. Both the indices attained record closing high levels.

The Sensex scaled a record high of 48,486.24 while the Nifty hit an all-time high of 14,215.60 in late trade today.

Axis Bank (up 6.31%), TCS (up 1.75%), ICICI Bank (up 1.02%) and HDFC Bank (up 0.71%) were the major market movers.

The broader market ended on a firm note. The BSE Mid-Cap index rose 1.38% and the BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.71%.

Buyers outpaced sellers. On the BSE, 1,781 shares rose and 1,288 shares fell. A total of 164 shares were unchanged.

COVID-19:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 8,56,75,442 with 18,53,344 deaths. India reported 2,31,036 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,49,850 deaths while 99,75,958 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

A total of 38 people have tested positive for the new UK variant of SARS-CoV-2 in India so far, the Union Health Ministry said on Monday. These include the 29 cases which were announced till Friday.

The new variant of coronavirus disease - B.1.1.7 - has been dubbed as highly infectious by scientists and medical experts as the UK government has confirmed that the infection rates have increased faster than expected in the affected areas.

Economy:

The Ministry of Finance has released the 10th weekly installment of Rs 6,000 crore to the states to meet the GST compensation shortfall. Now, more than 50% of the estimated GST compensation shortfall has been released to the States and UTs with the Legislative Assembly. The government had set up a special borrowing window in October 2020 to meet the estimated shortfall of Rs 1.10 lakh crore in revenue arising on account of implementation of GST. The borrowings are being done through this window by the Central Government on behalf of the States and UTs. The amount released this week was the 10th installment of such funds provided to the States. The amount has been borrowed this week at an interest rate of 4.1526%. So far, an amount of Rs 60,000 crore has been borrowed by the central government.

Numbers to Watch:

The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper fell to 5.850% as compared with 5.858% at close in the previous trading session.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 73.1750, compared with its close of 73.02 during the previous trading session.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for March 2021 settlement rose 17 cents at $51.26 a barrel. The contract fell 71 cents, or 1.37% to settle at $51.09 a barrel in the previous trading session.

Foreign Markets:

The Dow Jones Futures 30 were up 67 points, indicating a decent start in US markets today.

Asian shares closed higher while European shares were mixed. The sentiment was fragile as fears surrounding the coronavirus pandemic lingered.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson imposed a national lockdown on England to curb the spread of the new coronavirus variant. As part of the new restrictions, people can only leave their homes for essentials, work if they can't from home and exercise. Most schools will also move to remote learning, including universities.

Meanwhile, Germany is also expected to extend its own lockdown measures later on Tuesday. According to media reports, the current restrictions - which include the closure of schools, retailers and restaurants - are all set to continue until at least the end of January.

US stocks dropped on Monday, the first trading day of 2021, amid concerns about global coronavirus cases and the Georgia runoff elections. Investors are keeping eye on Tuesday's Senate runoffs in Georgia, which could have a big impact on incoming U.S. President Joe Biden's economic policies.

Buzzing Indian Segment:

The Nifty IT index was up 2.62% to 25,769.15. The index has risen 6.26% in three sessions.

Info Edge (India) (up 14.47%), Larsen & Toubro Infotech (up 7.92%), Mphasis (up 3.99%), Wipro (up 2.3%), Mindtree (up 1.53%), HCL Technologies (up 1.23%), Coforge (up 1.18%), Infosys (up 0.16%) and Tech Mahindra (up 0.06%) jumped.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) surged 2.78% after the company said its individual loan business continued to see improvements during the quarter ended 31 December 2020. Disbursement growth over the corresponding quarter of the previous year was 26%. For the nine months ended 31 December 2020, individual loan disbursements stood at 86% of the levels in the corresponding period of the previous year. The corporation assigned loans to HDFC Bank amounting to Rs 7,076 crore compared to Rs 4,258 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Individual loans sold in the preceding 12 months amounted to Rs 16,956 crore as against Rs 21,066 crore in the previous year.

Bajaj Finance fell 1.83%. The NBFC disclosed that its assets under management (AUM) stood at approximately Rs 143,700 crore as of 31 December 2020, a tad lower than Rs 145,092 crore as of 31 December 2019. The company's AUM in Q3 FY21 grew by approximately Rs 7,700 crore as compared to Rs 9,559 crore in Q3 FY20. Bajaj Finance's customer franchise as of 31 December 2020 stood at 46.3 million compared with 40.4 million as of 31 December 2019. The company acquired 2.2 million new customers in Q3 FY21 as against 2.5 million in Q3 FY20. The company's liquidity position remains very strong, Bajaj Finance said in a statement. The company continues to remain well capitalized with capital adequacy ratio (CRAR) of approximately 28% as of 31 December 2020.

IndusInd Bank gained 2.68%. The private lender said its deposits increased 11% to Rs 2,39,600 crore in Q3 December 2020 from Rs 2,16,713 crore in Q3 December 2019. The bank's net advances stood at Rs 2,07,691 crore in Q3 FY21, a tad higher compared with Rs 2,07,413 crore in the same period last year. CASA ratio was at 40.5% as on 30 December 2020 as against 42.4% as on 30 December 2019 and 40.4% as on 30 September 2020.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries fell 0.18%. The drug major announced that it has initiated Phase 2 clinical trial for SCD-044 in patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. The study will enroll approximately 240 subjects and topline results are expected in 2022.

National Fertilizers (NFL) jumped 6.59% after the company said that it achieved highest ever production of 9.99 lakh MT urea in the third quarter during FY 2020-21. The company successfully maintained its operations during constraints posed by COVID-19, it added.

IIFL Securities rallied 4.17% after the company said its insurance unit, IIFL Insurance Brokers, received permission from Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA) for undertaking insurance e-commerce activities (i.e. online sale and service of insurance policies) in India through Insurance Self Networking Platform (ISNP).

Tata Power added 2.40% after the company partnered with SIDBI to launch affordable and collateral-free financing for rooftop solar for MSMEs consumers. The financing scheme is exclusively for MSME customers of Tata Power for both off-grid and on-grid connections.

KNR Construction gained 1.51% after the infrastructure company received orders worth of Rs 603.63 crore from Project Director, Highways (FAC), Chennai Kanyakumari Industrial Corridor Project, Chennai.

MOIL rose 0.27% after the state-run corporation announced resources base of 7.65 million tonnes of manganese established in Gujarat under MoU with GMDC.

Domestic equity benchmarks closed with strong gains on Monday. Metal and IT stocks were in demand while banks stocks lagged. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, gained 307.82 points or 0.64% to 48,176.80. The Nifty 50 index rallied 114.40 points or 0.82% to 14,132.90. Both the indices attained record closing high levels.

The Sensex scaled a record high of 48,220.47 while the Nifty hit an all-time high of 14,147.95 in late trade today. Positive global cues and developments surrounding COVID-19 vaccine cheered investors.

TCS (up 3.79%), HCL Technologies (up 3.05%), Infosys (up 2.23%) and Hindustan Unilever (up 1.64%) were major market movers.

The broader market rallied. The BSE Mid-Cap index rose 1.42% and the BSE Small-Cap index gained 1.37%.

Buyers outpaced sellers. On the BSE, 2100 shares rose and 988 shares fell. A total of 166 shares were unchanged.

COVID-19:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 8,51,23,361 with 18,43,143 deaths. India reported 2,43,953 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,49,649 deaths while 99,46,867 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Meanwhile, the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) on January 3 reportedly granted restricted emergency use authorisation for the Serum Institute of India (SII)'s 'Covishield' and Bharat Biotech's 'Covaxin' vaccines against COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. The 'Covishield' vaccine, developed by University of Oxford and pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, is being produced in the country by the Serum Institute. Bharat Biotech has developed 'Covaxin' - India's first indigenous vaccine against COVID-19.

Economy:

The seasonally adjusted IHS Markit India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) was at 56.4 in December, a tick higher than November's reading of 56.3 and above the critical 50.0 threshold for the fifth straight month.

Commenting on the latest survey results, Pollyanna De Lima, Economics Associate Director at IHS Markit said, The latest PMI results for the Indian manufacturing sector continued to point to an economy on the mend, as a supportive demand environment and firms' efforts to rebuild safety stocks underpinned another sharp rise in production. It's important to emphasise the broad-based nature of the recovery, with marked expansions in both sales and output noted across each of the three monitored sub-sectors.

Once again, the survey brought the bad news of falling employment. However, the trend for jobs is at least moving in the right direction as the rate of contraction softened to the weakest in the current nine-month period of reduction. The latest available official data pointed to a 3.5% annual increase in manufacturing production during October, when the PMI Output Index had strengthened considerably. In the two months since, growth lost some momentum and we are likely to see the official results showing a similar pattern.

Numbers to Watch:

The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper fell to 5.859% as compared with 5.898% at close in the previous trading session.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 73.02, compared with its close of 73.115 during the previous trading session.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for March 2021 settlement rose 75 cents at $52.55 a barrel. The contract rose 17 cents, or 0.33% to settle at $51.80 a barrel in the previous trading session.

Foreign Markets:

The Dow Jones Futures 30 were trading 169 points higher, indicating a strong start in US markets today.

European shares advanced on Monday. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to be the main focus for European markets, especially after U.K.'s separation from the EU was completed on New Year's Eve.

The U.K. is set to start rolling out the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, marking another step in the global battle against the pandemic. However, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Sunday that more restrictions were likely on the way as COVID-19 cases keep rising.

Asian stocks rose on Monday as the first trading day of 2021 kicked off. A private survey released Monday showed Chinese manufacturing activity expanding in December, with the Caixin/Markit manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for the month coming in at 53.0. That compared against November's reading of 54.9. The 50-level in PMI readings separates expansion from contraction.

The final au Jibun Bank Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to a seasonally adjusted 50.0 in December from the previous month's 49.0 and a preliminary 49.7 reading. Investors are cautiously watching runoff elections in Georgia for two U.S. Senate seats on Tuesday that will determine which party controls the Senate.

Buzzing Indian Segment:

The Nifty Metal index surged 5.09% to 3,424.60. The index has jumped 7.36% in four sessions.

Tata Steel (up 8.37%), Hindalco Industries (up 6.9%), SAIL (up 6.85%), NALCO (up 6.65%), NMDC (up 5.8%), JSW Steel (up 3.58%), APL Apollo Tubes (up 2.97%), Ratnamani Metals & Tubes (up 2.87%), Welspun Corp (up 2.28%), MOIL (up 2.13%), Hindustan Zinc (up 2.07%), MIDHANI (up 1.33%) and Hindustan Copper (up 0.4%) advanced.

Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL) rallied 6.87% after the company recorded highest ever production and sales in December 2020. JSPL Steel operations reported their highest ever monthly production volumes with 7.27 lakh tonnes during December 2020, recording a 30.05% year-on-year (Y-o-Y) rise from 5.59 lakh tonnes in December 2019. On a month-on-month (M-o-M) basis, production soared 18.40% in December 2020 from 6.14 lakh tonnes in November 2020. On a Y-o-Y basis, sales surged 25.39% to 7.11 lakh tonnes in December 2020 compared with 5.67 lakh tonnes in December 2019. On M-o-M basis, sales jumped 25.84% in December 2020 from 5.65 lakh tonnes in November 2020.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Reliance Industries (RIL) rose 0.18%. RIL today (4 January 2021) sought urgent intervention of government authorities to stop the vandalism of Jio mobile towers by protesters agitating against the Centre's new farm laws. The petition for the same will be filed by the company's subsidiary Reliance Jio Infocomm (RJIL) in the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday (4 January 2021). These acts of violence have endangered the lives of thousands of its employees and caused damage and disruption to the vital communications infrastructure, sales and service outlets run by its subsidiaries in the two states,” the conglomerate said in a statement.

Alkyl Amines Chemicals surged 14.63% after the company said that its board will consider stock split on 2 February 2021.

Cadila Healthcare gained 1.60% after the drug major on Sunday said it has received DCGI approval to initiate Phase-III clinical trials of its COVID-19 vaccine, ZyCoV-D. The company announced that it will be starting Phase-III clinical trials of it plasmid DNA vaccine to prevent COVID-19, ZyCoV-D after having received permissions from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI). The firm will be initiating Phase-III clinical trial in around 30,000 volunteers. ZyCoV-D was found to be safe, well tolerated and immunogenic in the Phase I/II clinical trials, as per the company's disclosure filed on Sunday, 3 January 2021.

Adani Green Energy rose 1.44%. Adani Renewable Energy Holding Eight (AREHEightL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Adani Green Energy (AGEL) received LOA for 600 MW WindSolar Hybrid project. AREHEightL participated in a tender issued by the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) for setting up 1,200 MW ISTS-connected Wind-Solar Hybrid Power Project. The fixed tariff for this project capacity is Rs. 2.41/ kWh for a period of 25 years. The project is expected to be commissioned in 18 months from the effective date of PPA. With this project, total renewable energy project capacity of AGEL now stands at 14,795 MW, of which 2,950 MW projects are operational and 11,845 MW projects are under implementation.

Adani Ports & Special Economic Zones (APSEZ) fell 0.75%. The company handled cargo volume of 27.2 million metric tonnes (MMT) in December 2020 (including cargo volume of 3.5 million metric tonnes (MMT) of Krishnapatnam Port acquired in October 2020).The growth excluding Krishnapatnam Port Co. (KPCL) was 14% on month-on-month (M-o-M) basis and 28% on year-on-year (Y-o-Y) basis. In December 2020, Mundra port handled highest ever cargo volume of 15.24 million metric tonnes (MMT) registering a cargo volume growth of 44% on Y-o-Y basis. It also achieved highest container throughput of 5,86,952 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU)'s and continues to be the largest container port in the country.

Bajaj Auto added 1.12%. The two-wheeler maker's total sales rose 11% to 372,532 units in December 2020 from 336,055 units in December 2019. While total domestic sales declined by 9% to 139,606 units, total exports improved by 27% to 232,926 units in December 2020 over December 2019. During the month, the company's total two-wheeler sales increased by 19% year-on-year (YoY) to 338,584 units. In the commercial vehicles segment, Bajaj Auto sold 33,948 vehicles in December 2020, which is lower by 34% as compared to 51,253 vehicles sold in the same period last year.

BEML surged 3.45% after the company said that its promoter Government of India (GoI) has decided to divest 26% stake in the company through strategic disinvestment with transfer of management control. GoI has appointed SBI Capital Markets (SBICAP) as its Transaction Advisor to advise and manage the strategic disinvestment process,” the company said in a BSE filing made on Saturday (2 January 2021). BEML lastly said that the disinvestment process is to be implemented through open competitive bidding route.

CSB Bank gained 2.58% after the bank said that its total deposits increased 16.48% to Rs 17,752.97 crore in Q3 December 2020 from Rs 15,241.11 crore in Q3 December 2019. Of the total deposits, CASA was at Rs 5,392.96 crore (up 23.88% YoY) while the term deposits were at 12,360.01 crore (up 13.52% YoY) as on 31 December 2020. The bank's gross advances surged 22.64% to Rs 13,425.24 crore in Q3 December 2020 from Rs 10,947.28 crore in Q3 December 2019. Advances against gold & gold jewellery during the December 2020 quarter jumped by 60.36% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 5,633.75 crore.

Federal Bank jumped 3.67% after the bank's total deposits increased by 12% to Rs 1,61,670 crore in Q3 FY21 from Rs 1,44,592 crore in Q3 FY20. At the end of the December 2020 quarter, the private lender's customer deposits were at Rs 1,56,973 crore (up 13% YoY), interbank deposits were at Rs 2,849 crore (up 51% YoY) and certificates of deposit stood at Rs 1,848 crore (down 57% YoY).