Key equity barometers ended near the flatline after a volatile session on Friday. The Nifty ended a tad above the 12,350 level. Sentiment was dented after the Supreme Court dismissed review petitions filed by telcos in the AGR case.

The barometer BSE S&P Sensex rose 12.81 points or 0.03% to 41,945.37, as per the provisional closing data. The Nifty 50 index lost 3.15 points or 0.03% to 12,352.35, as per the provisional closing data.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.54% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.42%.

The market breadth favored the buyers. On the BSE, 1324 shares rose and 1217 shares fell. A total of 175 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 21 stocks advanced while 28 stocks declined and 1 stock was unchanged.

Buzzing Index:

The S&P BSE Telecom index rose 1.44% at 1,142.53. Vodafone Idea (down 25.70%) and Bharti Infratel (down 11.20%) slumped. Reliance Industries, which owns Reliance Jio, was up 2.78% and Bharti Airtel rose 5.19%.

The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed pleas filed by Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea to review its earlier judgment that had asked telecom operators to pay their outstanding dues to the government. The review petitions were filed to seek relief on interest and penalty payments in connection to the verdict on AGR. The deadline for telecom companies to meet the license fee dues as per the apex court's AGR judgement is 23 January 2020.

According to reports, Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel are likely to file curative petitions, besides applying to the court for more time to make the payments, a combined Rs 89,000 crore for the two.

Supreme Court in October 2019 had ruled in favor of the government on the AGR issue. AGR is the basis on which DoT calculates levies payable by operators. Telecom operators are liable to pay around 3-5% and 8% of the AGR as spectrum usage charges and licence fees, respectively, to DoT.

Telcos argued that AGR should comprise revenue from telecom services, but DoT insisting that AGR should include all revenue earned by an operator, including that from non-core telecom operations.

Q3 2019 Results:

Rallis India advanced 12.77% to 217.75 after consolidated net profit surged 176.52% to Rs 38.05 crore on 27.85% rise in net sales to Rs 533.60 crore in Q3 December 2019 as against Q3 December 2018. Consolidated profit before tax climbed 146.05% to Rs 48.30 crore in Q3 December 2019 over Rs 19.63 crore in Q3 December 2019. The result was announced after trading hours yesterday, 16 January 2020.

Hathway Cable & Datacom slipped 0.23% to Rs 22 after the company announced stellar Q3 2019 result after market hours yesterday, 16 January 2020. On consolidated basis, the company reported a net profit of Rs 67.24 crore in Q3 December 2019 as against a net loss of Rs 57.9 crore in Q3 December 2018. Net sales rose 12.3% to Rs 450.82 on YoY basis.

Shares of Cyient advanced 0.59% to Rs 454.75. The IT firm reported a 10.35% rise in its consolidated net profit to Rs 107.60 crore in Q3 December 2019. Revenue from operations declined 4.57% to Rs 1,105.90 crore in Q3 December 2019 as against Q2 September 2019.

Karnataka Bank declined 4.59% to Rs 74.85 after net profit fell 12.3% to Rs 123.14 crore on 11.4% rise in total income to Rs 2,023.68 crore in Q3 December 2019 over Q3 December 2018. Gross non-performing assets (NPAs) stood at Rs 2,777.46 crore as on 31 December 2019 as against Rs 2,594.27 crore as on 30 September 2019 and Rs 2,345.93 crore as on 31 December 2018.

South Indian Bank fell 1.45% to Rs 10.91 after the bank's profit before tax (PBT) stood at Rs 122.20 crore in Q3 December 2019, down by 5.2% from Rs 128.89 crore in Q3 December 2019. As the bank's provision for taxes fell by 29.7% to Rs 31.66 crore, its reported net profit recorded an increase of 8% to Rs 90.54 crore in Q3 December 2019 over Q3 December 2018. Gross non-performing assets (NPAs) stood at Rs 3243 crore as on 31 December 2019 as against Rs 3145 crore as on 30 September 2019 and Rs 2930 crore as on 31 December 2018.

Tata Metaliks lost 1.43% to Rs 652.30. On consolidated basis, the company's net profit rose 7.4% to Rs 21.73 crore on a 1.4% decline in net sales to Rs 321.48 crore in Q3 December 2019 over Q3 December 2018. Profit Before Tax (PBT) stood at Rs 29.40 crore in Q3 2019 as against Rs 28.16 crore in Q3 2018, registering a rise of 4.4% YoY basis.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Piramal Enterprises (PEL) surged 5.18% to Rs 1627.05. The company said its wholly-owned subsidiary, PEL DRG Dutch HoldCo BV, will sell its healthcare insights and analytics business to NYSE-listed Clarivate Analytics Plc for $950 million. The deal includes $900 million on closing and $50 million to be received at the end of 12 months thereon. The transaction is subject to shareholder approval and is expected to be completed by end of next month, PEL said in a release.

Jay Shree Tea & Industries surged 6.41% to Rs 57.30 after the company decided to sell stake in two of its tea estates in Africa. The company has entered into a definitive agreement with Grand Lacs Trading SA, Belgium, to sale stake in Mata and Gisakura tea estates in Rwanda. The sale is expected to be completed by 14 February 2020.

Metropolis Healthcare gained 0.25% to Rs 1,633.15 on purchasing 51% stake of Shraddha Diagnostic Centre for Rs 9.36 crore. Shraddha Diagnostic Centre is a Mumbai-based pathological and diagnostic services provider. The deal is expected to get completed within a period of 3 months. With this acquisition, Metropolis Healthcare plans to strengthen its presence in the state of Gujarat, India. The disclosure was made after trading hours yesterday, 16 January 2020.

Foreign Markets:

Shares in Europe and Asia edged higher on Friday after Wall Street posted more records, with strong corporate earnings and upbeat US economic data adding to optimism after China and the US signed a partial trade deal.

In US, stocks rallied again on Thursday, with all three benchmark indexes closing at new records, following the signing of a trade truce between the US and China on Wednesday and Senate approval of a new trade deal between the US, Mexico and Canada on Thursday.

Key equity market barometers ended with minor gains after a see-saw session on Thursday. Trading was volatile on account of weekly index options expiry on the NSE. Investors booked some profits after the US and China signed a preliminary trade agreement, expectations for which had driven global equities to record highs.

The barometer BSE S&P Sensex rose 53.41 points or 0.13% to 41,926.14, as per the provisional closing data. The Nifty 50 index gained 10.75 points or 0.09% to 12,354.05, as per the provisional closing data.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.77% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.74%.

The market breadth favored the buyers. On the BSE, 1475 shares rose and 1071 shares fell. A total of 167 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 20 stocks advanced while 29 stocks declined and 1 stock was unchanged.

Economy:

India's trade deficit narrowed 22.3% to $11.25 billion in December 2019 from $14.49 billion in the same month a year ago. Imports fell 8.8% year-on-year to $38.61 billion, the 7th straight drop. Exports fell 1.8% year-on-year to $27.36 billion, the 5th straight annual fall.

In April-December, the trade deficit narrowed sharply to $118.10 billion from $148.23 billion the same period in the previous fiscal year, the Ministry of Commerce & Industry said in a statement on Wednesday, 15 January 2020.

Q3 Earnings:

Karnataka Bank (up 0.96%), Hathway Cable & Datacom (up 0.92%), Tata Metaliks (down 0.29%), Cyient (down 0.99%), 5Paisa Capital (down 1.34%), Aditya Birla Money (down 2.15%) and Rallis India (down 2.27%) are some of the companies that will announce their Q3 2019 results today.

Den Networks advanced 0.36% to Rs 55.50. The cable TV and broadband service provider reported a net profit of Rs 19.36 crore in Q3 December 2019 as against a net loss of Rs 32.38 crore in Q3 December 2018. The company reported a 3.1% rise in net sales to Rs 318.08 crore on YoY basis.

Sterlite Technologies fell 4.76% to Rs 125. The company reported a 63.85% decline in net profit to Rs 52.63 crore in the quarter ended December 2019 as against Rs 145.60 crore during the previous quarter ended December 2018. Company's net sales declined 9.9% to Rs 1202.66 crore in the quarter ended December 2019 as against Rs 1334.87 crore during the previous quarter ended December 2018.

Reliance Industrial Infrastructure slipped 0.98% to Rs 438.25. On consolidated basis, the company's net profit rose 12.8% to Rs 2.46 crore in Q3 December 2019 as against Q3 December 2018. Net sales fell 5.7% to Rs 19.98 crore on YoY basis.

Tinplate Company of India rose 2.62% to Rs 158.50. On standalone basis, net profit surged 198.9% to Rs 46.45 crore in Q3 December 2019 as against Rs 15.54 in Q3 December 2018. Profit before tax (PBT) stood at Rs 29.45 crore in Q3 December 2019 as against Rs 26.65 crore in Q3 December 2018, rising by 10.5%. Net sales fell 14.1% to Rs 494.69 crore in Q3 December 2019 from Rs 576.19 crore in Q3 December 2018.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Granules India surged 6.05% to Rs 145.55. The company's board will meet on 21 January 2020 to consider a proposal for buyback of equity shares.

Asian Paints fell 0.39% to Rs 1834.55 after the Competition Commission of India (CCI) ordered a probe against the company for unfair business practices. CCI ordered a probe against Asian Paints allegedly hindering the entry of JSW Paints by virtue of its dominance in the market for manufacture and sale of decorative paints. The order came after JSW Paints filed a complaint alleging that Asian Paints threatened various dealers in Karnataka, Telangana and Tamil Nadu from dealing with JSW Paints.

Alphageo (India) hit 10% upper circuit at Rs 201.45. The company has bagged two orders worth Rs 112 crore from ONGC.

Wockhardt jumped 5.11% to Rs 272.30. Indian drug regulator, DCGI, has approved Wockhardt's two new antibiotics, EMROK (IV) and EMROK 0 (Oral), for acute bacterial skin and skin structure Infections including diabetic foot infections and concurrent bacteraemia based on the Phase 3 study involving 500 patients in 40 centres across India. The new drug will target superbug like Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), which is a leading cause of rising antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The statement was released during market hours today, 16 January 2020.

Camlin Fine Sciences was locked in a lower circuit of 5% at Rs 78.95 after the company said its manufacturing unit in Tarapur received closure notice from Maharashtra Pollution Control Board. The closure will be enforced within 72 hours from receipt of the closure direction on 15 January 2020. The direction was issued on account of certain alleged irregularities by the company in complying with Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB)'s terms and conditions.

Foreign Markets:

Most European shares declined while most Asian markets ended higher on Thursday. President Donald Trump signed an initial phase one trade deal with China on Wednesday that will roll back some of the tariffs on one another's goods and increase Chinese purchases of U.S. products. Investors were still concerned as many of the key structural issues at the crust of the trade conflict remain unresolved as the two sides enter phase two.

In US, stock indexes closed higher on Wednesday afternoon, though the major benchmarks ended the day well off session highs, after President Donald Trump signed the first phase of a trade pact with China, marking a truce in the dispute over import tariffs which has unsettled markets world-wide and slower economic growth.

All three major benchmarks set record intraday highs, while the Dow and S&P 500 ended the session at record closing levels.

In economic data, US wholesale inflation rose 0.1% in December, according to the Labor Department's producer-price index. Year over year, producer prices rose just 1.3%, roughly half the rate in 2018.

Key barometers snapped four-day rising streak on Wednesday, as weakness in other Asian stocks triggered profit selling in the domestic market. Asian stock markets came under selling pressure after US Treasury Secretary said that the United States would continue tariffs on Chinese goods until the completion of a second phase of a US-China trade agreement.

The barometer BSE S&P Sensex fell 56.47 points or 0.13% to 41,896.16, as per the provisional closing data. The Nifty 50 index lost 21.95 points or 0.18% to 12,340.35, as per the provisional closing data.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.68% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 1.04%.

The market breadth favored the buyers. On the BSE, 1456 shares rose and 1058 shares fell. A total of 181 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 26 stocks advanced while 23 stocks declined and 1 stock was unchanged.

Economy:

The government will release India's trade data for December 2019 at 18:00 IST today, 15 Wednesday 2019.

India's trade deficit narrowed to $12.12 billion in November 2019 from $17.58 billion in the same month a year ago, as imports slumped 12.71% to $38.11 billion. Exports fell 0.34% to $25.98 billion.

Q3 Earnings:

Den Networks (up 3.58%), Sterlite Technologies (up 0.73%), Reliance Industrial Infrastructure (down 1.15%) and Tinplate Company (down 2.20%) will announce Q3 earnings today.

Mindtree jumped 2.66% to Rs 886.70. On consolidated basis, the IT firm reported 45.93% rise in net profit to Rs 197 crore on 3.42% increase in revenue to Rs 2,000.10 crore in Q3 December 2019 over Q2 September 2019. Digital business grew by 13.5% y-o-y.

Wipro fell 3.52% to Rs 248.10. On consolidated basis, the IT major reported 3.79% decline in net profit to Rs 2,455.90 crore on 2.28% increase in revenue to Rs 15,470.50 crore in Q3 December 2019 over Q2 September 2019. IT services segment revenue rose 3.03% to Rs 15,100.60 crore crore in Q3 December 2019 over Q2 September 2019. In dollar terms, IT services segment revenue was at $2,094.8 million, a sequential growth of 2.2%.

The company expects revenue from IT services business to be in the range of $2,095 million to $2,137 million. This translates to a sequential growth of 0.0% to 2.0%.

Tata Steel BSL added 0.16% to Rs 32 after the company reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 501.50 crore in Q3 December 2019 as against a net loss of Rs 239.67 crore in Q3 December 2018. Net sales rose 1.82 to Rs 4736.78 crore in Q3 December 2019 from Rs 4652.16 crore recorded in Q3 December 2018. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 14 January 2020.

Larsen & Toubro Infotech advanced 2.49% to Rs 1925 after its consolidated net profit rose 4.6% to Rs 376.70 crore on 9.4% increase in revenue to Rs 2811.10 crore in Q3 December 2019 over Q2 September 2019. On year-on-year (YoY) basis, consolidated net profit inched up 0.32% while revenue expanded 13.68%.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Shares of Canara Bank rose 1.21% to Rs 218.05 while those of Can Fin Homes fell 2.95% to Rs 375. Canara Bank called-off the proposed divestment of its entire 30% stake in its housing finance subsidiary, Can Fin Homes, which was under progress.

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) slipped 0.17% to Rs 1323.75. The company said it won 'large' orders from various business across the country. L&T classifies large orders between value of Rs 2500 crore and Rs 5000 crore.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries rose 0.55% to Rs 448.25. The drug major and Rockwell Medical entered into a licensing agreement for commercializing Triferic, a proprietary iron replacement and haemoglobin maintenance drug, for treating anaemia in hemodialysis patients in India.

Capacite Infraprojects gained 1.24% to Rs 196.35. The construction company has received order from integrated unit (P.W ) division for a contract value of Rs 407.16 crore for construction of multi-storey super specialty hospital building at Sir J J Hospital Campus on EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) mode at Byculla in Mumbai.

Foreign Markets:

Most European shares were trading lower while Asian stocks fell across the board on Wednesday as investors awaited the signing of an initial US-China trade deal, with sentiment somewhat dented by comments from the US Treasury Secretary.

The United States will maintain tariffs on Chinese goods until the completion of a second phase of a U.S.-China trade agreement, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Tuesday, a day before the two sides are to sign an interim deal. If the president gets a Phase 2 in place quickly, he'll consider releasing tariffs as part of Phase 2, Mnuchin reportedly said.

Trump is slated to sign the Phase 1 trade agreement with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He at the White House on Wednesday at 22:00 IST (1630 GMT). All aspects of the Phase 1 trade deal with China would be made public on Wednesday, except a confidential annex that will detail US products and services to be purchased by China.

In US, stocks posted a mixed finish on Tuesday as doubts about the extent of import tariff reductions in a trade deal with China saw equities retreat from fresh intraday records for the benchmark indexes.

Key benchmark indices crawled higher on Tuesday. Gains were capped as surge in domestic inflation numbers dashed hopes of further monetary easing by the central bank. The broader market, however, ended firm amid positive global cues. The Nifty 50 index ended above 12,350 level.

The barometer BSE S&P Sensex rose 89.24 points or 0.21% to 41,948.93, as per the provisional closing data. The Nifty 50 index gained 32.75 points or 0.27% to 12,362.30, as per the provisional closing data.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.75% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.71%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth favored the buyers. On the BSE, 1463 shares rose and 1039 shares fell. A total of 157 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 37 stocks advanced while 13 stocks declined.

Economy:

India's inflation, based on monthly Wholesale Price Index (WPI), increased by 2.59% year-on-year in December 2019, accelerating from 0.58% in November and 3.46% in December 2018. It was the highest wholesale inflation rate since May 2019, amid a faster rise in cost of vegetables, while crude oil prices remained firm.

Meanwhile, the all-India general CPI inflation jumped to 7.35% in December 2019, compared with 5.54% in November 2019. The inflation accelerated for the fifth straight month, remaining the highest rate since July 2016. Main upward pressure came from cost of food and beverages (12.16%), namely cereals (4.36%), milk (4.22%), vegetables (60.5%), fruits (4.55%) and pulses (15.44%). The food price index alone jumped to 14.12%, the highest since November 2013.

The corresponding provisional inflation rate for rural area was 7.26% and urban area 7.46% in December 2019 as against 5.27% and 5.76% in November 2019.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Private Bank index slipped 0.50% to 17,722.70, underperforming the benchmark Nifty Bank index which ended 0.35% lower at 32,064.65.

Yes Bank (down 8.91%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 0.9%), RBL Bank (down 0.57%) and ICICI Bank (down 0.15%) declined.

Axis Bank (up 1.38%), Federal Bank (up 1.17%), City Union Bank (up 0.82%) and HDFC Bank (up 0.23%) advanced.

Indusind Bank fell 4.05% to Rs 1478. On standalone basis, the bank posted a net profit of Rs 1300.2 crore in Q3 December 2019 as against a net profit of Rs 985.03 crore, recording a rise of 32%. Net interest income which is the difference between interest earned and interest expended, jumped 34.35% YoY and stood at Rs 3074 crore in the December 2019 quarter.

Bandhan Bank advanced 0.85% to Rs 518. The bank recorded 120% jump in net profit to Rs 731.03 crore in Q3 December 2019 over Q3 December 2018. Net Interest Income (NII) grew 37.10% to Rs 1,541 crore during the period under review. The numbers cannot be compared as the Q3 results include figures of Gruh Finance, which merged with the bank on 17 October 2019.

Stocks in focus:

TV18 Broadcast surged 16.50% to Rs 28.95. The company's consolidated net profit fell 8.96% to Rs 122 crore on a 3.39% fall in revenue from operations to Rs 1425 in Q3 December 2019 over Q3 December 2018.

Delta Corp fell 3.48% to Rs 199.45. On consolidated basis, net profit rose 9% to Rs 55.07 crore in Q3 December 2019 as against Rs 50.53 crore in Q3 December 2018. Net sales remained muted and stood at Rs 205.13 crore on YoY basis.

IRCTC gained 3.88% to Rs 975.30. The Ministry of Railways has given its approval to IRCTC to operate 82901/82902 Ahmedabad-Mumbai Central Tejas Express for six days a week. This train will have its inaugural run on 17 January 2020 and will start its commercial run from 19 January 2020.

Deepak Fertilisers & Petrochemicals jumped 4.79% to Rs 114.90 after the firm divested one of its plots of industrial land in Dahej, Gujarat for Rs 99.20 crore. It is part of its strategy to divest non-core assets.

Foreign Markets:

Most shares in Europe and Asia edged higher on Tuesday as investors await China's trade data ahead of a long-anticipated phase one deal signing with the US on Wednesday, 15 January. Optimism also rose as the US removed China from a list of currency manipulators.

China's trade surplus with the United States narrowed last year, official data showed Tuesday. China's surplus came in at around $295.8 billion in 2019, down 8.5% from the previous year's record $323.3 billion, according to customs data. In December, its surplus with the US was around $23.2 billion, down from $24.6 billion the month before.

Back in Europe, the UK economy unexpectedly shrank in the month before the general election, contracting by 0.3%. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said on Monday that the month-on-month decline in GDP — the sharpest in seven months — was driven by falls in both the services and production sectors. Compared to the same month in 2018, the UK economy grew by 0.6% in November, the slowest growth since the spring of 2012, the ONS noted.

In US, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit all-time high on Monday, as investors awaited the planned signing of a “phase one” US-China trade deal on 15 January 2020 and prepared for fourth-quarter earnings season to move into full swing.

The U.S. Treasury Department on Monday dropped its designation of China as a currency manipulator, an apparent gesture of good will as a Chinese delegation led by Vice Premier Liu He arrived ahead of the signing of the partial trade accord. The deal comes after more than 18 months of tit-for-tat tariff hikes between the world's two largest economies.

Key benchmark indices ended near the day's high after stellar rally on Monday, supported by positive global shares. Easing crude oil prices and strengthening rupee also boosted sentiment. IT major Infosys was the biggest contributor to index gains. The stock got a boost after encouraging Q3 numbers.

The barometer BSE S&P Sensex rose 259.97 points or 0.62% to 41,859.69, as per the provisional closing data. The Nifty 50 index gained 72.80 points or 0.59% to 12,329.60, as per the provisional closing data.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.87% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.95%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth favored the buyers. On the BSE, 1545 shares rose and 984 shares fell. A total of 182 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 36 stocks advanced while 14 stocks declined.

Macroeconomic data:

India's industrial output (IIP) grew 1.8% in November against a contraction of 3.8% in October, according to the data released by the government. Manufacturing output, which accounts for more than three-fourths of the entire index, grew 2.7% in November, against a contraction of 2.1% in October. Mining production grew 1.7% against a fall of 8% a month ago.

The growth of primary products fell 0.3% against a fall of 6% last month. Production of capital goods in November saw contraction of 8.6% against a fall of 21.9% in October. Consumer durables fell 1.5% in November against a fall of 18% last month. Electricity production fell 5% against a contraction of 12.2% in October.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty IT index rose 1.66% to 16,225.10, extending gains for second straight session. The index has risen 1.88% in two sessions.

Oracle Financial Services Software (up 3.6%), Wipro (up 1.33%), MindTree (up 1.23%), Tech Mahindra (up 1.2%), HCL Technologies (up 1.12%) and MphasiS (up 0.3%) advanced.

TCS (down 1.1%), Hexaware Technologies (down 0.79%) and Persistent Systems (down 0.4%) declined.

Infosys surged 4.92% to Rs 774.60. On a consolidated basis, net profit rose 10.9% to Rs 4,457 crore on 2% increase in revenues to Rs 23,092 crore in Q3 December 2019 over Q2 September 2019.

The company increased FY20 revenue guidance. The revised guidance is 10.0%-10.5% in constant currency higher than 9-10% estimated earlier. It maintained FY20 operating margin guidance range of 21%-23%.

Infosys said that its audit committee has found no evidence of financial impropriety or executive misconduct, giving a clean chit to CEO Salil Parekh and CFO Nilanjan Roy who were accused by anonymous whistleblowers of rigging the company's balance sheet.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Avenue Supermarts rose 2.09% to Rs 1916. On a consolidated basis, the company's net profit jumped 55.3% to Rs 384.04 crore in Q3 December 2019 compared with net profit of Rs 247.25 crore in Q3 December 2018. Profit after tax (PAT) margin improved to 5.6% in Q3 December 2019 from 4.5% in Q3 December 2018. Net sales rose 24.4% to Rs 6808.93 crore in Q3 December 2019 from Rs 5474.27 crore in Q3 December 2018.

Tata Steel advanced 1.74% to Rs 495. The company's wholly-owned Netherlands- based subsidiary, Tata Steel Netherlands Holdings BV (TSNBHV), said that it has executed agreementsfor the refinancing of its bank debt. TSNBHV has raised term loan facilities of euro 1.75 billion from 19 banks. The fresh arrangement will enable the standalone European business to have a more robust balance sheet.

Yes Bank slumped 5.92% to Rs 42.15. The private sector bank said that its board have approved raising of funds upto Rs 10,000 crore through a mix of equity and debt and decided not to proceed with the offer from Erwin Singh Braich-SPGP Holdings. The bank will hold extra-ordinary general meeting to obtain shareholders' approval for fund raising.

Adani Enterprises rose 2.61% to Rs 214.15 after Siemens AG said it will remain involved in a controversial Adani coal mining project in Australia. Germany's Siemens AG on 10 December 2019 signed the contract to supply signaling systems for a rail link between the Adani Carmichael coal mine and a port. The contract is worth about $20 million to Siemens.

Climate activists wanted Siemens to quit the mine project because emissions from coal-fired power plants contribute to global warming. Opposition has worsened in the wake of Australia's recent devastating bushfires.

Tata Elxsi jumped 4.96% to Rs 889.35 after the company reported a 51.43% jump in net profit to Rs 75.42 crore in Q3 December 2019 as against Rs 49.80 crore reported in Q2 September 2019. Revenue from operations rose 9.75% to Rs 423.43 crore on QoQ basis.

Tata Chemicals rose 2.22% to Rs 704.90 while Tata Global Beverages added 3.38% to trade at Rs 352.85. Both the stocks have hit their respective 52-week highs in intraday trade today.

The National company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Mumbai Bench, vide its order dated 10 January 2020 had sanctioned the Scheme of Arrangement between Tata Chemicals and Tata Global Beverages and their respective shareholders and creditors for the demerger of the consumer products business consisting of the business of sourcing, packaging, marketing, distribution and sales of vacuum evaporated edible common salt for human consumption, spices, protein foods and certain other food and other products from Tata Chemical to Tata Global Beverages.

In May last year, Tata Group had decided to demerge consumer business of Tata Chemicals and merge it with Tata Global Beverages. Tata Global Beverages will be renamed as Tata Consumer Products. The management said the combination of the two consumer-focused businesses will benefit both sets of shareholders who will be able to participate in a larger business poised to grow their share of the foods & beverages market with a broader exposure to the attractive and fast growing FMCG sector.

Edelweiss Financial Services gained 3.02% to Rs 109.20 after chairman Rashesh Shah clarified that the company has no links or transactions with Capstone Forex and all allegations regarding the violation of FEMA guidelines are false. As per the company's filing, Rashesh Shah said that he was unable to meet the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) in person. The company, however, sent a senior authorised representative to attend the ED with the requisite information.

Media reports suggested that Sanjay Nathalal Shah, a chartered accountant and an independent director of Edelweiss Group had been accussed of having connections with Capstone Forex. Shah further clarified that he has no association with the Edelweiss Group.

Foreign Markets:

Most shares in Europe and Asia advanced ahead of US-China trade deal that will be signed this week on 15 January 2020.

This week Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese officials are due to sign the long-awaited phase one trade deal between both countries. The deal will involve some tariff relief, increased Chinese purchases of U.S. agricultural goods and changes to intellectual property and technology rules. Meanwhile, Washington and Beijing have agreed to hold semi-annual talks in targeting to resolve disputes and push for reforms.

In US, stocks ended lower on Friday, after the Dow briefly topped the 29,000 milestone, with investor euphoria over recent record highs deflated by data showing slower-than-expected US jobs and wage growth in December.

The US Labor Department said the US economy added 145,000 new jobs in December less than the 266,000 gain in the prior month. The unemployment rate, meanwhile, held near a 50-year low at 3.5%.

Key domestic indices ended the volatile trading session with modest gains on Friday. The market sentiment was upbeat amid positive global cues. The Nifty pared gains after hitting a record high of 12,311.20 in early afternoon trade.

The barometer BSE S&P Sensex rose 150.09 points or 0.36% to 41,602.44, as per the provisional closing data. The Nifty 50 index gained 40.9 points or 0.33% to 12,256.80, as per the provisional closing data.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.84% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.94%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1414 shares rose and 1139 shares fell. A total of 176 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 31 stocks advanced while 9 stocks declined.

Buzzing Segment:

Shares of Tata Group companies advanced after the Supreme Court (SC) on Friday stayed NCLAT order reinstating Cyrus Mistry as executive chairman of Tata Sons. SC on Friday, 10 January 2020, stayed the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) decision to restore Cyrus Mistry as executive chairman of the Tata Group. SC noted that it looked at the judicial attitude with which the NCLAT made the 18 December order and found that it is sorely lacking.

SC asked Mistry and Shapoorji Pallonji group including Sterling Investment and Cyrus Investment to file a reply to the Tata group's appeal in four weeks.

NCLAT on 18 December 2019 ruled in favour of Cyrus Mistry on petition challenging his removal as Chairman of Tata Sons. The tribunal restored Mistry as the Executive Chairman of Tata Group, holding the appointment of N Chandrasekaran as executive chairman illegal.

Tata Global Beverages (up 3.82%), Rallis India (up 3.19%), Tata Power (up 2.55%), Tata Chemicals (up 2.04%), Tata Coffee (up 1.81%), Tata Motors (up 1.61%), Tata Steel Long Products (up 1.49%), Voltas (up 0.58%), Tinplate Company of India (up 0.53%), Tata Metaliks (up 0.49%) and Tata Steel (up 0.34%) advanced.

Q3 Earnings:

GTPL Hathway was up 2.28% after the company announced robust Q3 earnings. On consolidated basis, the company reported a 78.2% jump in net profit to Rs 33.06 crore on a 114.3% jump in net sales to Rs 673.97 crore in Q3 December 2019 over Q3 December 2018.

Emami Paper was locked in an upper circuit of 10% at Rs 89.5 after the company announced a stellar Q3 December 2019 result. On standalone basis, net profit jumped 222.9% to Rs 18.50 crore on a 7.4% rise in net sales to Rs 400.08 crore in Q3 December 2019 over Q3 December 2019.

IT bellwether Infosys was up 1.3% ahead of its Q3 December 2019 results later today. The firm announced that its audit committee found no evidence of financial impropriety or executive misconduct.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) was up 0.1%. HDFC said it completed the acquisition of 50.80% shares of Apollo Hospitals Group in Apollo Munich Health Insurance Company for Rs 1,485 crore. It also acquired 0.36% stake in Apollo Hospitals held by employees for Rs 10.67 crore. Apollo Munich has been renamed to HDFC ERGO Health Insurance, which will operate as a subsidiary of HDFC.

Delta Corp rose 2.71% after the company said its subsidiary received a license for operating a casino at the Marriot Hotel in Nepal. The operations of the casino are expected to commence soon, the company said in a statement after market hours yesterday, 9 January 2019.

Yes Bank fell 5.07% after the media reported that Uttam Prakash Agarwal resigned as an independant director of the bank. Uttam Prakash Agarwal was appointed as an independent director on the board of Yes Bank with effect from 14 November 2018 for a period of 5 years. The media reported that the early resignation was due to corporate governance concerns at the bank.

Sterlite Technologies (STL) rose 2.49%. Sterlite Global Venture (Mauritius) a wholly owned subsidiary of STL, has entered into definitive agreements to acquire 12.8% stake (on issued and outstanding basis) in ASOCS, a vRAN technology company based out of Israel.

Tata Steel rose 0.79%. The steel major announced its operational update for Q3 December 2019 before market hours today, 10 January 2020. Tata Steel India's production volume rose 1.83% to 4.46 million tons in Q3 December 2019 as against 4.38 million in Q3 December 2018. Production in Europe surged 6.84% to 2.5 million tons in same period. Sales Volume showed a significant improvement on YoY basis. Tata Steel India's sales jumped 24.42% to 4.84 million tonne in Q3 December 2019. Sales in Europe declined 1.7% to 2.31 million tons on the back of overall slowdown and seasonal weakness.

Foreign Markets:

Shares in Europe were almost flat while Asian shares ended higher on Friday, following the easing of US-Iran tensions, and after US stocks shot to record highs.

In US, stocks swept to record highs once again on Thursday as investors focused on progress on the trade pact with China due to be signed next week and amid an easing of concerns about war in the Middle East.

China's Vice Premier Liu He, the head of the country's negotiating team in trade talks with the United States, will sign a Phase 1 deal in Washington, DC, next week, the commerce ministry said on Thursday. Liu will visit the US capital from January 13 to 15, said Gao Feng, a spokesman at the commerce ministry.

In economic data, the number of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits fell in early 2020 for the fourth week in a row, putting new jobless claims back near the lowest level in about 50 years. Initial jobless claims declined by 9,000 to 214,000 in the seven days ended 4 Jan 2020.

The domestic stock market ended with robust gains on Thursday, supported by strong global cues, reversal in crude oil prices and a sharp rebound in rupee. Global stock markets advanced as the United States and Iran backed away from the brink of conflict in the Middle East while investors reversed their safety plays.

The barometer BSE S&P Sensex rose 635.46 points or 1.56% to 41,453.20, as per the provisional closing data. The Nifty 50 index gained 190.55 points or 1.58% to 12,215.90, as per the provisional closing data.

The rally was wide spread. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 1.42% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 1.45%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1810 shares rose and 762 shares fell. A total of 188 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 43 stocks advanced while 7 stocks declined.

Economy:

Growth in India is projected to decelerate to 5% in FY2019/20 amid enduring financial sector issue, the World Bank noted in a latest update. Economic activity was constrained by insufficient credit availability, as well as by subdued private consumption.

In India, activity slowed substantially in 2019, with the deceleration most pronounced in the manufacturing and agriculture sectors, whereas government-related services subsectors received significant support from public spending. GDP growth decelerated to 5% and 4.5% in the April-June and July-September quarters of 2019, respectively—the lowest readings since 2013.

Sharp slowdowns in household consumption and investment offset the rise in government spending. High-frequency data suggest that activity continued to be weak for the rest of 2019.

Buzzing Sectors:

Shares of public sector oil marketing companies (PSU OMCs), aviation firms and paint makers advanced after a reversal in crude oil prices.

Among PSU OMCs, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (up 4.43%), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (up 2.29%) and Indian Oil Corporation (up 2.17%) rose. Lower crude oil prices could reduce under-recoveries of public sector oil marketing companies (PSU OMCs) on domestic sale of LPG and kerosene at controlled prices. The government has already freed pricing of petrol and diesel.

Among the paint makers, Shalimar Paints (up 2.72%), Berger Paints India (up 2.67%), Asian Paints (up 2.45%), Asahi Songwon Colors (up 1.16%) and Akzo Nobel India (up 0.46%) advanced. Lower crude oil prices decrease input costs for paint companies, which use crude derivatives.

Among aviation companies, Spicejet (up 7.20%) and InterGlobe Aviation (up 3.77%) edged higher. Lower crude oil prices support aviation firms as jet fuel prices are directly linked to international crude oil prices. Jet fuel typically constitute over 40% of airlines' operating costs.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for March 2020 settlement was up 25 cents at $65.69 a barrel. Brent Crude for March 2020 settlement lost 4.2% and settled at $65.44 a barrel in previous session.

Crude oil prices slumped as comments from US President Donald Trump calmed tensions and diverted a potential war with Iran. Trump also confirmed earlier reports that there were no American casualties as a result of Iran's missile strikes on Iraqi military bases housing US troops.

Earlier this week, Brent crude oil climbed above $70 a barrel after Iran launched air strikes at U.S. forces in Iraq in retribution for the U.S. killing of Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Emami Paper Mills (up 10%) and GTPL Hathway (up 1.63%) will announce their Q3 December 2019 results today.

Sunteck Realty jumped 6.76% to Rs 452.40 after the company said it tied up with State Bank of India (SBI) for a finance scheme. The real estate developer announced that it has signed an memorandum of understanding with SBI, which is the first step towards boosting the residential housing sector under SBI's Sapna Aapka - Bharosa SBI Ka scheme with bank guarantee to home buyers under the builder finance scheme.

Shares of Cipla and Glenmark Pharmaceuticals rose by 1.08% to 1.79% on reports that both these companies received regulatory approval for increasing price of two of their respiratory products. According to the media report, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority's (NPPA) has allowed Cipla and Glenmark to enhance pricing of two of their respiratory (inhaler) products on grounds that these were 訴nnovative' from the other similar products available in the market.

In a meeting in December, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority's (NPPA) expert committee reportedly decided to allow Cipla's Synchrobreathe Inhaler Device a separate price other than the ceiling price already recommended by the regulator.

Bharti Airtel rose 0.33% to Rs 460.45 after the company launched qualified institutional placement to raise Rs 14,400 crore at an indicative floor price of Rs 452.09 per share. It also announced the issue of foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) of an aggregate amount of upto $1 billion at a floor price of Rs 452.09.

On 5 December 2019, Bharti Airtel had informed about its plans to raise $2 billion via qualified institutional placement of shares and an additional $1 billion via foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs).

Indiabulls Housing Finance added 3.55% to Rs 320.95. The company has made an offer to all debenture holders for pre-mature redemption of its NCDs maturing in January 2020.

Aster DM Healthcare rose 2.75% to Rs 164.60. The company said that its board approved a buyback of up to 57,14,285 equity shares, or 1.13% equity, at Rs 210. The buyback size shall not exceed Rs 120 crore.

Foreign Markets:

Shares in Europe and Asia edged higher on Thursday on the back of easing US-Iran tensions.

US stocks posted gains, with the Nasdaq notching a new record close, after remarks by President Trump suggested the US and Iran were refraining from further military action following attacks on US bases overnight, in retaliation for last week's killing of Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani by American forces.

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Tehran “appears to be standing down” following missile strikes on Iraq airbases housing U.S. troops in retaliation to the killing of Iran's top military general, Qasem Soleimani.

Trump added Washington would “immediately impose additional punishing economic sanctions on the Iranian regime” and called on U.S. allies including Britain, Germany and France to withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and work to form a new agreement.

Key benchmark indices endured a volatile session and ended with small losses on Wednesday. The sentiment was negative after Iran fired more than a dozen missiles at two US military targets inside Iraq in response to the United States' killing of senior Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani last week.

The barometer BSE S&P Sensex fell 51.73 points or 0.13% to 40,817.74, as per the provisional closing data. The Nifty 50 index fell 27.60 points or 0.23% to 12,025.35, as per the provisional closing data.

The broader market recouped all losses in late trade. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.23% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.06%.

The market breadth turned positive in the last hour of the session. On the BSE, 1008 shares rose and 1433 shares fell. A total of 188 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 21 stocks advanced while 29 stocks declined.

Economy:

The National Statistical Office on Tuesday forecast India's GDP growth to be 5% in 2019-20, slower than the previous year's 6.8% and in line with the RBI estimate. Real GVA growth is estimated 4.9% in 2019-20 as against 6.6% in 2018-19.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty IT index rose 0.44% to 15,964.40, outperforming all other sectoral indices on the NSE.

Oracle Financial Services Software (up 2.81%), TCS (up 2.21%), MindTree (up 0.48%), Persistent Systems (up 0.29%) and HCL Technologies (up 0.2%) advanced.

Tech Mahindra (down 0.92%), MphasiS (down 0.51%), Wipro (down 0.24%) and Hexaware Technologies (down 0.13%) declined.

Infosys was down 1.34%. The company will announce Q3 results on Friday, 10 January 2020.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Car major Maruti Suzuki India slipped 0.58% to Rs 7032.95. The company's total production rose 7.88% to 1.15 lakh units in December 2019 from 1.07 lakh units in December 2018.

Mahindra & Mahindra lost 0.55% to Rs 523.75. CARE Ratings has reaffirmed M&M's long term rating on bank loan facilities at AAA with stable outlook. The short-term rating was reaffirmed at A1+. The ratings factors the company's its dominant market position in the Indian tractor industry and Light commercial vehicles (LCV) segment.

Yes Bank gained 2% to trade at Rs 46 after the bank said its board will meet on 10 January 2020 to consider fund raising. Meanwhile, Yes Bank is banned from trading in NSE's F&O segment after the security crossed 95% of market wide position limit.

Tata Steel shed 0.36% lower at Rs 473.95. The steel major announced that its arm TS Alloy has received a letter of intent for grant of mining lease by Odisha Government for the chromite mine. The mining lease given is for 50 years.

Shares of Goa Carbon hit 5% upper circuit at Rs 230.4 after the company reported its December 2019 production numbers. Production of Calcined Production Coke surged 76.69% higher to 11,111.800 MT in December 2019 as against 6289 MT in December 2018. Production declined 28% sequentially in December 2019 as against November 2019.

NCL Industries fell 3.34% to Rs 95.55. The company's cement production fell by 23% to 423,199 MT in Q3 December 2019 from 552,019 MT in Q3 December 2018. Cement dispatches declined by 22% to 430,861 MT in Q3 December 2019 as compared to 552,395 MT in Q3 December 2018.

Foreign Markets:

Stocks in Europe and Asia edged lower on Wednesday after the Middle East tensions flared following Iran's attack on military facilities in Iraq hosting American troops.

Tehran retaliated to Washington's killing of its top military commander late Tuesday, launching more than a dozen ballistic missiles targeted at US military forces in Iraq.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohamad Javad Zarif tweeted we do not seek escalation or war, but will defend ourselves against any aggression.

All is well! President Donald Trump tweeted, adding that an assessment of casualties was taking place.

Back in Europe, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen Wednesday, where he is due to tell her that the U.K. will not extend its transition out of the EU beyond December 2020.

US stock market ended slightly lower Tuesday, as concerns about the possibility of war in the Middle East overshadowed favourable US economic data.

In economic data, the US ISM service sector index rose to a four-month high of 55 in December, according to the Institute for Supply Management. The US Commerce Department also reportedly said the trade deficit narrowed in November to a 3-year low, but factory orders fell 0.7% in November.

Domestic shares bounced back on Tuesday, supported by positive global markets. The Nifty, however, failed to close above its 20 days simple moving average (DMA) placed at 12140.44.

Investors kept an eye on the geopolitical developments following Washington's targeted killing of Iran's top military commander Qasem Soleimani in Iraq. After falling for the past two sessions amid a flight to safety, the markets around the globe took a sigh of relief and resume uptrend as Monday passed with no new escalation in tensions.

The barometer BSE S&P Sensex rose 192.84 points or 0.47% to 40,869.47, as per the provisional closing data. The Nifty 50 index advanced 59.90 points or 0.50% to 12,052.95, as per the provisional closing data.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.65% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.99%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1553 shares rose and 927 shares fell. A total of 184 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 33 stocks advanced while 17 stocks declined.

The government will release the first advance estimates of the GDP for FY20 today at 5.30 pm. India's GDP slowed to 4.5% in Q2 September 2019. The figure stood at 5% in Q1 June 2019. The first advance estimates will take into account the figures available for the first nine months of the current fiscal.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index rose 0.82% to 2,788.45. The index fell 3.63% in the previous two sessions.

Hindalco Industries (up 3.68%), Jindal Steel & Power (up 2.36%), JSW Steel (up 1.56%), National Aluminium Company (up 0.8%), NMDC (up 0.67%), Steel Authority of India (up 0.64%), Tata Steel (up 0.44%) and Vedanta (up 0.42%) advanced.

Hindustan Copper (down 0.81%) and Hindustan Zinc (down 0.12%) declined.

Stocks in Spotlight:

HDFC Bank rose 1.47% to Rs 1259.40. The bank's advances grew by 20% to Rs 9.34 lakh crore as of 31 December 2019 as compared to Rs 7.81 lakh crore as of December 31, 2018. Lender's advances stood at Rs 8.97 lakh crore as of September 30, 2019.

Deposits for HDFC Bank stood at Rs 10.67 lakh crore as of 31 December 2019 growing by 25% compared to Rs 8.52 lakh crore as of 31 December 2018. In September 2019, deposits stood at Rs 10.21 lakh crore. Current and saving account (CASA) ratio stood at around 39.5% as of 31 December 2019, as compared to 40.7% as of 31 December 2018 and 39.3% as of 30 September 2019.

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) advanced 0.35% to Rs 526.05 after reporting 22.54% rise in production at 33,888 units in December 2019 as against 27,653 units during the same month last year.

G.M.Breweries fell 4.26% to Rs 391.10. On standalone basis, the company reported a 16.34% decline in net profit to Rs 13.98 crore in Q3 December 2019 over Q3 December 2018. Total revenue from operations declined 3.89% to Rs 119.74 crore in Q3 December 2019 as against Rs 124.58 crore in Q3 December 2018.

ITI surged 13.37% to Rs 103.90 after the company announced a stellar Q3 December 2019 earnings after market hours yesterday. The telecommunications equipment manufacturer reported 1139% jump in its consolidated net profit to Rs 168.25 crore on a 47% jump in net sales to Rs 827.95 crore in Q3 December 2019 over Q3 December 2018.

The bump in the net profit was aided by 107.9% rise in the company's other income to Rs 150.87 crore received from the government for meeting the company's PF liabilities towards its employees and also account of 'write-back' of liablities which in the opinion of the company is no longer required..

Mishra Dhatu Nigam rose 1.70% to Rs 155.40 after the company dispatched its first consignment of ultra high strength steel for ignitor box and cobalt alloy for throat sitting rings for indigenous manned mission of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) 'Gaganyaan'.

PI Industries fell 0.69% to Rs 1409.50. The chemical manufacturer said a factory accident that happened in one section of a Multi-Product Plants (MPP) at Jambusar fine chemicals manufacturing site in Gujarat. This accident unfortunately resulted in two fatalities and nine others are injured. The accident did not result in any fire or hazardous emissions but was limited to one MPP and has not affected operations of the other MPPs at the site.

Foreign Markets:

Shares in Europe and Asia edged higher on Tuesday amid an easing of concerns over geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.

US stocks staged a U-turn on Monday to close at session highs, as investors brushed aside concerns about escalating tensions in the Middle East.

In economic data, the IHS Markit purchasing managers index for the US services sector came in at 52.8 in December, versus 51.6 in November, indicating continued expansion.

Key domestic equity market slumped on Monday, as tensions in the Middle East dragged global shares lower. Investors fled riskier assets like equities in favor of safer alternatives like gold and bonds. Meanwhile, Brent crude oil climbed above $70 a barrel, stoking fears of inflationary pressures. The Nifty slipped below its 50 days simple moving average (DMA) placed at 12,013.46, reporting its worst fall since 3 September 2019.

The barometer BSE S&P Sensex tanked 787.98 points or 1.90% to 40,676.63, as per the provisional closing data. The Nifty 50 index slumped 233.60 points or 1.91% to 11,993.05, as per the provisional closing data.

The broader market tumbled. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 2.31% while the BSE Small-Cap index lost 1.96%.

On BSE, 608 shares advanced while 1939 shares declined as bears took over the control of D-Street. A total of 182 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 4 stocks advanced and 46 stocks declined while 2 shares remained unchanged.

Economy:

The IHS Markit India Services PMI rose to a five month high of 53.3 in December 2019 from 52.7 a month earlier. The Composite PMI Output Index was up to 53.7 in December from 52.7 in November, reflecting stronger rates of expansion in both the manufacturing and service sectors.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty PSU Bank index slumped 4.31% to 2,415.40 amid profit booking after recent rally triggered by the central bank's operation twist.

Canara Bank (down 6.38%), Punjab National Bank (down 5.38%), Syndicate Bank (down 5.37%), Bank of Baroda (down 4.96%), State Bank of India (down 4.19%), IDBI Bank (down 4.17%), Corporation Bank (down 3.59%), Bank of India (down 3.47%), Union Bank of India (down 3.11%), Indian Bank (down 2.82%), Andhra Bank (down 2.69%), Punjab & Sind Bank (down 2.65%), Bank of Maharashtra (down 2.64%), Allahabad Bank (down 2.12%), United Bank of India (down 2.02%), Central Bank of India (down 1.65%) and UCO Bank (down 0.3%) declined.

Indian Overseas Bank surged 4.23% to Rs 11.58. The state-run lender said it has received capital infusion of Rs 4,360 crore from the government. IOB said it has received the amount as contribution of the government in preferential allotment of equity shares during the financial year 2019-20 as government's investment.

Shares of public sector banks were in demand recently after the Reserve Bank of India on 19 December 2019 decided to conduct simultaneous purchase and sale of government securities under Open Market Operations (OMO) for Rs 10,000 crore each on 23 December 2019. Since then, the country's central bank has undertaken two more tranches of the special OMOs, taking the total count to three.

This simultaneously buying long-end bonds and selling short-end bonds leads to a flattening of the yield curve. The falling yields and rising bond prices are credit positive for state-run banks as mark-to-market (MTM) profit from the government bonds' increases in their investment portfolios.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone shed 0.69% at Rs 380.05. The company said it will acquire 75% stake of Krishnapatnam Port Company (KPCL) from the existing shareholders. The investment is in line with the company's strategy to increase its footprint in Andhra Pradesh. KPCL handled 54 MMT in FY2019. Acquisition value of KPCL is approximately Rs 13,500 crore. The purchase consideration will be funded through internal accruals.

Bajaj Finance fell 4.71% to Rs 3995. In its Q3 business update, the company said that customer franchise as of 31 December 2019 rose 23.93% and stood at approximately 40.4 MM as compared to 32.6 MM in the same period last year. The company acquired 2.5 MM new customers in December 2019. New loans booked rose 13.24% to 7.7 MM on YoY basis. The Assets under management (AUM) stood at approximately Rs 145,200 crore as of 31 December 2019 as compared to Rs 107,507 crore as of 31 December 2018, a rise of 35.06%.

Titan Company rose 1.80% to Rs 1160 after the company's jewellery division witnessed revenue growth of 11% in Q3 December 2019, meeting its revised expectations for the quarter. The retail growth was actually much better at 15%. While the industry witnessed reasonable growth in the festive season, the company has done better which is evident in the market share gains.

The general economic slowdown in the economy leading to poor consumer sentiment and lower walk ins has been a concern for the last few quarters. The company experienced different consumer responses in each of its divisions. Retail sales in jewellery were better than expected at the beginning of the quarter, possibly due to a good wedding season and reasonable inelasticity of wedding jewellery, but growth in Watches and Eyewear were difficult to come by. Sales in all divisions in the second half of December was also impacted to some extent due to forced store closures due to the protests in the North East and in many other parts of the country, Titan Company said.

Force Motors jumped 8.21% to Rs 1184.90 after the company announced robust sales numbers for the month of December 2019. Total domestic sales rose by 30.01% to 2,517 units in December 2019 from 1,936 units in November 2019. The figure was also up by 52.55% YoY from 1,650 units in December 2018.

Tata Motors fell 3.06% to Rs 185.20. Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) total December U.S. sales reached 13,801 units, slightly down from December 2018. For the calendar year, Jaguar Land Rover achieved 125,787 units, up 3% compared to the previous record of 122,626 units in 2018 and establishing a new all-time U.S. sales record for the combined brands.

Bharat Forge, which manufactures class 8 trucks, lost 1.43% to Rs 479.60. Preliminary North America Class 8 net orders in December 2019 were 20,000 units, up 14% from November and down just 6.5% from year-ago December, as the industry transitions to much easier year-over-year comparisons.

Biocon fell 4.42% to Rs 287.75. The company informed that the Board of its subsidiary Biocon Biologics India has approved a primary equity investment by True North. As per the terms of the proposed agreement, True North will invest Rs 536.25 crore that will eventually translate to a 2.44% minority stake in the biosimilars business post all restructuring, including the filed merger of Biocon Research with Biocon Biologics.

ITI fell 3.48% to Rs 91.50, ahead of Q3 number scheduled for release today.

Foreign Markets:

Trading in the futures market indicated that the Dow Jones may slide 141.50 points at opening bell on Monday.

Shares in Europe and Asia fell across the board on Monday as geopolitical tensions flared up after a U.S. airstrike killed Iran's top military commander. The Iranian regime said Sunday that it would no longer abide by uranium enrichment limits established in the 2015 nuclear deal, which the U.S. unilaterally withdrew from in 2018.

On Sunday President Trump reportedly threatened to impose sanctions on Iraq, the second largest producer among the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), if US troops were forced to withdraw from the country. Baghdad earlier called on American and other foreign troops to leave Iraq.

Trump also said that the United States will retaliate against Iran if Tehran were to strike back after the killing, the reports said.

Brent Crude oil prices jumped 3% on Monday, rising for second straight sessions, on concerns that potential conflict between the U.S. and Iran could disrupt energy production in the region.

The domestic stock market declined on Friday, mirroring a global sell-off as geopolitical tensions spiked after U.S. airstrikes in Iraq killed a top Iranian military commander. The middle-east tensions sent Brent Crude Futures soaring, which further spoiled investors sentiment at D-Street.

The barometer index, the BSE Sensex, rose 162.03 points or 0.39% to 41,464.61, as per the provisional closing data. The Nifty 50 index rose 55.55 points or 0.45% to 12,226.65, as per the provisional closing data.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index slipped 0.45% while the BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.03%.

On BSE, 1248 shares advanced while 1279 shares declined. A total of 187 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 12 stocks advanced and 36 stocks declined while 2 shares remained unchanged.

Buzzing Sectors:

The Nifty IT index rose 1.35% to 15,922.15, outperforming all the sectoral indices. HCL Technologies (up 2%), TCS (up 2%), Infosys (up 1.52%), Tech Mahindra (up 1.2%), Wipro (up 1.11%), MindTree (up 0.34%) and Oracle Financial Services Software (up 0.06%) advanced.

Persistent Systems (down 2.86%), MphasiS (down 1.22%) and Hexaware Technologies (down 0.43%) declined.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was trading at 71.7475, compared with its previous closing low of 71.3825.

A weak rupee boosts revenues of IT firms in rupee terms as the sector derives a lion's share of revenue from exports.

Stocks in Spotlight:

HDFC slipped 0.45% to Rs 2455. The Corporation sold individual loans worth Rs 21,066 crore in calendar year 2019 and assigned home loans amounting to Rs 4,258 crore to HDFC Bank in the December quarter. It had assigned loans worth Rs 6,959 crore to the bank in the same period last year. It also pocketed Rs 9,020 crore on equity sale of Bandhan Bank after it was allotted shares of the lender due to its merger with Gruh Finance. HDFC was allotted 9.89% in Bandhan Bank against the 38% stake it held in Gruh.

Hero MotoCorp advanced 0.21% to Rs 2434.30. The automaker said it sold 424,845 units of two-wheelers in December 2019, as compared to 453,985 units in the corresponding month of the previous year (December 2018), a decline of 6.42%.

TVS Motor Company fell 1.41% to Rs 452.40. The scrip extended its losing streak to second session post dismal December sales. The company's total sales tumbled 14.67% YoY to 2,31,571 units in December 2019. Domestic sales slumped 25.09% to 1,57,244 units in December 2019 from 2,09,906 units in December 2018.

ONGC rose 0.08% to Rs 128.10. The state-run oil major on Thursday bagged all the seven oil and gas blocks offered in the latest bid round. These seven blocks are adding exploration acreage of 18,510 square kilometres spread over three sedimentary basins of India and have a resource potential of approximately 33 billion barrels of oil and oil equivalent gas.

IIFL Securities was locked in an upper circuit of 5% at Rs 47.15 after a well-known investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala bought 27.85 lakh shares of IIFL Securities on Thursday at an average price of Rs 42.83 per share, according to BSE bulk deal data. The total value of the purchase is about Rs 12 crore.

Info Edge (India) rose 1.31% to Rs 2565. The company has entered into an agreement to sell its stake in Applect Learning Systems (Meritnation) to Aakash Education Services. Taking into consideration the independent valuation report, the sale value of the investment is determined as about Rs 50 crore.

Shree Cement slips 0.41% to Rs 21134.30. CARE Ratings reaffirmed its rating on the company's various debt instruments. The credit rating agency reaffirmed its rating of 'CARE A1+' on the company's commercial paper worth Rs 600 crore and the short term bank facilities worth Rs 800 crore while the long term bank facilities worth Rs 1100 crore was reaffirmed at 'CARE AAA; Stable'.

Cords Cable Industries surged 8.30% to Rs 46.95. The company received approval from a Japanese engineering consultancy & contracting major for future supplies. This approval enables the company to participate in future bids for supplying qualified products to the said engineering consultancy & contracting major.

RITES advanced 2.81% to Rs 308.90. The company said it has secured a major work of project Management Consultancy from the Government of Bangladesh amounting to $ 14.01 Million (Rs 99.94 crore) in relation to 4 laning of National Highway in Bangladesh. RITES is a lead partner in the JV arrangement and will receive $ 10.88 Million (Rs 77.57 crore) out of the total consultancy fee of $ 14.01 Million (Rs 99.94 crore). Amount is inclusive of taxes.

State owned telecom service provider MTNL was locked in an upper circuit of 5% at Rs 9.9 after the media reported that MTNL has started the process to monetize assets worth Rs 23,000 crore. The move aims to turn the debt ridden company into a profitable company.

Economy:

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday announced its third round of simultaneous purchase and sale of government securities through special open market operations (OMOs) for Rs 10,000 crore each on 6 January 2020.

Foreign Markets:

Shares in Europe and Asia edged lower after Iranian Major-General Qassim Soleimani, head of Tehran's elite Quds Force, was killed early on Friday by a U.S. airstrike on his convoy at Baghdad airport. The United States urged its U.S. citizens to leave Iraq immediately after Iran vowed harsh retaliation in the wake of the targeted killing.

Brent crude hit $69.16 a barrel, its highest since 17 September, before easing to $68.94, up $2.69.

Key market barometers extended Wednesday's gains and ended near the day's high on Thursday. The Nifty ended above 12,250 mark. Good manufacturing PMI data for December lifted investors' sentiment.

The barometer index, the BSE Sensex, rose 331.85 points or 0.80% to 41,637.87, as per the provisional closing data. The Nifty 50 index rose 100.45 points or 0.82% to 12,282.95, as per the provisional closing data.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index advanced 1.21% while the BSE Small-Cap index gained 1.43%.

The market breadth was strong. On BSE, 1727 shares advanced while 765 shares declined. A total of 169 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 23 stocks advanced and 27 stocks declined.

Macros:

The headline seasonally adjusted IHS Markit India Manufacturing PMI rose to 52.7 in December, from 51.2 in November. The number pointed to the joint-strongest improvement in the health of the sector for ten months. However, owing to a weak performance in October and November, the average quarterly reading for Q3 FY19/20 was the lowest since the three months to September 2017.

Factories benefited from a rebound in demand, and responded by scaling up production to the greatest extent since May. There were also renewed increases in input purchasing and employment during December. However, the degree of optimism signalled at the end of 2019 was the weakest in just under three years, reflecting concerns over market conditions, which could restrict job creation and investment in the early part of 2020. At the same time, price indicators showed accelerated rates of inflation for both input costs and output charges. The latter reflected a combination of improved pricing power, given the favourable demand environment, and efforts to protect margins from cost rises, Pollyanna de Lima, principal economist at IHS Markit, said.

Buzzing Sector:

The Nifty Metal index advanced 2.68% to 2,871, outperforming other sectoral indices on the NSE.

Hindustan Copper (up 19.93%), NALCO (up 6.24%), Tata Steel (up 3.57%), Vedanta (up 3.33%), JSW Steel (up 3.11%), Hindalco Industries (up 2.87%), NMDC (up 2.26%) and Hindustan Zinc (up 1.9%) advanced.

Steel Authority of India (SAIL) advanced 10.61% to Rs 47.45 after the steel-maker said that it has achieved the highest ever sales in a month during December 2019. With sales of 1.68 million tonnes in December 2019, the company clocked a growth of 47% over corresponding period last year (CPLY), the company said in a press release. Incidentally, SAIL posted a jump of 36% y-o-y in sales during November and the company is consistently maintaining the growth momentum in sales, it said.

Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL) surged 4.48% to Rs 173.75. The company reported 22% rise in steel & related products production to 1.61 million tonnes in Q3 FY20, compared to 1.32 million tonnes in the corresponding period last year.

MOIL jumped 6.51% to Rs 155.50 after the company revised the prices of different grades of manganese ore and other products, effective from 1 January 2020.

Stocks in Spotlight:

TVS Motor Company declined 1.88% to Rs 459.95. The company registered 14.76% declined in total sales to 2.31 lakh units in December 2019 as against sales of 2.71 units in the month of December 2018.

Bajaj Auto slipped 0.93% to Rs 3117.80 after the company reported 16.66% decline in total auto sales to 3.36 lakh units in December 2019 from 4.03 lakh units in November 2019. The total auto sales, however, fell marginally by 3% from 3.46 lakh units in December 2018.

Ashok Leyland rose 3.52% to Rs 83.90 after the company reported 9.76% jump in total vehicle sales to 11,168 units in December 2019 from 10,175 units in November 2019. Total sales dropped 28% last month from 15,490 units in December 2018. Domestic vehicle sales slumped 29% to 10,378 units in December 2019 from 14,718 units in December 2018.

Eicher Motors slipped 2.11% to Rs 21606.25. The company's total commercial vehicles (CV) sales declined 19.1% to 5,042 units in December 2019 from 6,236 units in December 2018. Total two-wheeler sales fell 13% to 50,416 units in December 2019 as against 58,278 units in December 2018.

Tata Motors rose 4.88% to Rs 193.40 after reporting 14.05% jump in total auto sales to 46,903 units in December 2019 compared with 41,124 units in November 2019. Total auto sales, however, fell 13.84% last month from 54,439 units in December 2018. Total domestic sales declined 12% to 44,254 units in December 2019 as compared to 50,440 units in December 2018. Passenger vehicles segment saw sales decline 10% to 12,785 units while the commercial vehicles sales witnessed 15% fall to 34,082 units in December 2019 over December 2018.

Coal India fell 0.47% lower at Rs 210.90. The company's total coal production in December 2019 was 58.02 million tonnes as compared to 54.14 million tonnes in December 2018, recording a rise of 7.2%. The coal offtake recorded a 1.9% rise to 53.63 million tonnes in December 2019 as against 52.61 million in December 2018.

Foreign Markets:

European markets continued to trade higher while Asian markets ended mostly higher buoyed by Beijing easing monetary policy to support slowing growth.

China's central bank on Wednesday said that it would cut the amount of cash that banks must hold as reserves, releasing around 800 billion yuan in funds effective 6 January 2020.

A private survey released on Thursday showed China's manufacturing activity expanded in the month of December. The Markit/Caixin Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for manufacturing came in at 51.5, compared to 51.8 in November.

In US, markets were closed on account of the New Year holiday on Wednesday.

The domestic stock market started the new year on a positive note after US President Donald Trump said that Phase 1 of the trade deal with China would be signed on 15 January. Meanwhile, the Indian government's Rs 102 lakh crore infrastructure push to realise $5 trillion GDP goal also boosted sentiment.

The Nifty ended below 12,200 mark. Gains in the HDFC twins and IT major Infosys offset losses in IndusInd Bank, Reliance Industries and Titan Company. Trading activity remained thin amid New Year holiday in major global stock markets.

The barometer index, the BSE Sensex, rose 52.28 points or 0.13% to 41,306.02, as per the provisional closing data. The Nifty 50 index rose 21.25 points or 0.17% to 12,189.70, as per the provisional closing data.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index advanced 0.21% while the BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.64%.

The market breadth was positive. On BSE, 1359 shares advanced while 1065 shares declined. A total of 197 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 23 stocks advanced and 27 stocks declined.

Economy:

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday unveiled Rs 102 lakh crore of infrastructure projects that will be implemented in the next five years as part of the government's spending push in the infrastructure sector. The projects identified are in sectors such as power, railways, urban irrigation, mobility, education and health.

Meanwhile, India's current account deficit (CAD) shrank sharply in the September quarter to $6.3 billion or 0.9% of the gross domestic product (GDP) from 2% in the preceding quarter and 2.9% in the year-ago quarter. The contraction in the CAD was primarily on account of a lower trade deficit at $38.1 billion as compared with $50 billion a year ago.

India's fiscal deficit hit 114.8% of 2019-20 budget estimate at Rs 8.07 lakh crore at the end of November, according to the data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA). The country's fiscal deficit stood at Rs 7.17 lakh crore in the same period of the previous fiscal.

The fiscal deficit rose on the back of higher spending and lower revenue collection. The government has received nearly Rs 10 lakh crore, which is 48.6% of the annual target, while it incurred an expenditure of Rs 18 lakh crore, which is 65.3% of the annual target.

India's eight infrastructure sectors shrank for the fourth straight month in November at 1.5%, though the magnitude of contraction slowed from 5.8% in October. The Eight Core Industries comprise 40.27% of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).

Stocks in spotlight:

HDFC (up 0.84%), Infosys (up 0.70%) and HDFC Bank (up 0.60%) were the top contributors while Indusind Bank (down 1.69%) and Reliance Industries (down 0.29%) were the top drags.

Adani Green Energy hit 5% upper circuit at Rs 174.80. The Adani Group company said its step down subsidiary, Adani Renewable Energy (GJ), has commissioned its 75 MW Wind Power Project having Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company (MSEDCL) at Rs 2.85/kWh for a period of 25 years. Commercial sale of power from the Project to MSEDCL is expected to commence w.e.f. 1 January 2020.

Sterling and Wilson Solar rose 2.86% to Rs 331.35. The company's promoters — Shapoorji Pallonji and Company (SPCL) and Khurshed Daruvala — have repaid Rs 1,000 crore they owed to the firm. The promoters now have to clear a balance of Rs 1,644 crore, which they intend to settle in a staggered manner by 30 September 2020.

Skipper slumped 4.31% to Rs 48.90. The company said that CARE Ratings had downgraded long term rating on the company's bank facilities to BBB+ with a stable outlook, from A with a negative outlook. The revision in the ratings is on account of deterioration in the financial performance of the company in FY19 and H1 FY20 on account of weak operational performance.

Titan Company fell 2.87% to Rs 1153.50. CRISIL upgraded the company's Long Term Rating to CRISIL AAA from CRISIL AA+. Short Term Ratings were reaffirmed at CRISIL A1+. CRISIL maintained a stable outlook with an expectation that the company will improve over the medium term on account of dominant market position in jewellery retail segment, aided by healthy store additions and strong financial profile. In addition, watch segment is expected to witness healthy growth while sustaining the improvement in profitability.

Premier Explosives rose 0.1% at Rs 150.35. The company received a rate contract for supply of bulk loading explosives from Jaiprakash Power Ventures. The contract is for one year with an expected value of Rs 15.44 crore.

Maruti Suzuki India was trading 0.47% lower at Rs 7332.40. The car major reported 11.5% decline in total auto sales to 1.33 lakh units in December 2019 compared with 1.50 lakh units in November 2018. Total sales, however, rose 3.9% last month compared with 1.28 lakh units in December 2018. Total domestic sales rose 3.5% to 1.25 lakh units while total exports sales jumped 10.2% to 7,561 units in December 2019 over December 2018.

Yes Bank slipped 0.11% to Rs 46.90. CARE downgraded the rating on infrastructure bonds to A/Negative {from A+ (Credit Watch with Developing implications) and Negative outlook assigned. The outlook for the ratings is Negative considering the uncertainty related to equity raising, which is critical for the bank to maintain adequate capital buffers over the minimum regulatory requirement as well as fund future growth of the bank.

Praj Industries jumped 2.49% after CRISIL reaffirmed its rating on company's long term facility at CRISIL AA with a stable outlook. The short term facility was reaffirmed at CRISIL A1+. The disclosure was made after market hours on Tuesday, 31 December 2019.

For securing these bonds, the promoters of Prince Pipes and Fittings had on 30 March 2019 pledged certain equity shares in their capacity as first holders or second holders of such equity shares, aggregating 35% of the equity share capital of the company on a fully diluted basis.

CARE Ratings surged 5.65% to Rs 676.45 after the company on Tuesday said the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has concluded its adjudication proceedings. Sebi on 26 December 2019 slapped Rs 25 lakh penalty on CARE Ratings pertaining to assigning of rating to various non-convertible debentures (NCDs) of IL&FS (Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services). CARE said that it was reviewing the adjudication order and considering the appropriate course of action.

M&M rose 0.93% to Rs 535.30. The auto maker informed that its total automotive sales fell 1% to 39,230 units in December 2019, compared with 39,755 units in December 2018. The auto sales are also down by 4.86% from 41,235 units recorded in November 2019.

M&M's tractor segment reported 3% rise in total tractor sales as it sold 17,990 units in December 2019 as compared to 17,404 units in December 2018. On a monthly basis, the total tractor sales have fallen 14.46% from 21,032 in November 2019.

Escorts fell 3.54% to Rs 607.20. The company recorded 10.5% decline in total tractor sales to 4,114 units in December 2019 from 4,598 units in December 2018.

Meanwhile, Escorts informed that Girish Behari Mathur resigned from the company's board effective from 31 December 2019.

SML Isuzu slipped 0.53% to Rs 559.55 after the company said its total sales tumbled 32.8% to 549 units in December 2019 over 817 units in December 2018. Sequentially, total sales rose 5.37% in December 2019 from 521 units in November 2019.

Foreign Markets:

Markets in Asia and Europe were closed on account of the New Year holiday. China's central bank on Wednesday announced a decision to cut the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) for financial institutions by 50 basis points from 6 January, to support the development of the real economy.

Wall Street's major indexes edged higher on Tuesday on a renewed rally fuelled by trade optimism. US market remains shut on Wednesday for the New Year holiday.

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Phase 1 of trade deal with China would be signed on 15 January at the White House. Trump tweeted that he would sign the deal with “high level representatives of China” and that he would later travel to Beijing to begin talks on the next phase.

The Phase 1 deal, struck earlier this month, is expected to reduce tariffs and boost Chinese purchases of American farm, energy and manufactured goods while addressing some disputes over intellectual property.

In U.S. economic news, the October Case-Shiller home price index showed home prices rising by 3.3% in 20 major metropolitan areas across the U.S., up from a 3.2% rise in September.

Key equity market barometers declined in a lackluster session on Tuesday. Selling pressure in the last hour of trade dragged the benchmark indices near the day's low. Trading activity remained thin amid the holiday season in major global markets. Premium valuation in largecaps and lack of fresh triggers influenced investors to lock profits.

The barometer index, the BSE Sensex, fell 282.17 points or 0.68% to 41,275.83, as per the provisional closing data. The Nifty 50 index fell 79.55 points or 0.65% to 12,176.30, as per the provisional closing data.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.03% while the BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.37%.

The market breadth was positive. On BSE, 1359 shares advanced while 1205 shares declined. A total of 195 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 11 stocks advanced and 39 stocks declined.

Economy:

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled Rs 102 lakh crore plan for National Infrastructure Projects (NIP) to help make India a $5 trillion economy by 2025. Nearly Rs 25 lakh crore energy projects lined up under NIP; nearly Rs 20 lakh crore road and nearly Rs 14 lakh crore railway projects lined up under NIP; private sector to share a 22-25% of NIP investments, Centre and states the rest.

Buzzing Index:

Despite weak sentiment, the Nifty Metal index managed to end 0.24% higher at 2,803.15.

Among the sectoral constituents, NMDC (up 1.62%), Hindustan Zinc (up 0.41%), Hindustan Copper (up 0.26%) and Jindal Steel & Power (up 0.03%) advanced.

Vedanta (down 1.3%), Hindalco Industries (down 0.85%), Steel Authority of India (down 0.7%), Tata Steel (down 0.56%), JSW Steel (down 0.46%) and National Aluminium Company (down 0.46%) declined.

Stocks in Spotlight:

United Spirits rose 1.30% to Rs 600. The beverage maker said CRISIL has revised its outlook on the long term bank facilities and non convertible debentures of United Spirits (USL) to 'Positive' from 'Stable' while reaffirmed the rating at 'CRISIL AA+'. The short term rating and commercial paper has been reaffirmed at 'CRISIL A1+'. The outlook revision reflects the expectation of improvement in USL's credit profile, commensurate with better cash accrual and leverage over the medium term.

PTC India Financial services advanced 3.81% to Rs 57.20. The company informed that it has received sanction of fresh long term loan of Rs 500 crore for a period of ten years at interest rate of 8.50% per annum for onward lending to infrastructure projects and other operational requirements.

Shares of Kalpataru Power Transmission rose 1.94% to Rs 409. The firm secured new orders of Rs 979 crore across various businesses.

Premier Explosives slipped 2.13% to Rs 147 after rating agency ICRA revised the company's long-term rating to 'A-' from 'A' earlier.

In an exchange filing made after market hours yesterday, the company informed that ICRA has revised the credit rating for line of credit (LOC) of the company, on long term at [ICRA] [A-] (Stable) from [ICRA] A (Stable) while the rating on short term was downgraded to [ICRA][A2+] from [lCRA] A1 earlier. The said rating is valid till 19 December 2020, the company added.

Axis Bank slipped 0.05% at Rs 753.85. The bank announced the appointment of Naveen Tahilyani as the group executive - head banking operations and transformation, to lead operations, technology, strategy and analytics (BIU) and of Amit Talgeri as the chief risk officer (CRO) of the Bank with effect from the first week January 2020.

IT major Infosys declined 0.20% to Rs 731.35. The IT major informed that it will declare its Q3 December 2019 results on 10 January 2019.

Foreign Markets:

European shares were trading mixed on Tuesday as financial markets see the last trading session of the year. Germany's DAX index was closed.

Asian shares ended mixed on Tuesday. Markets in Indonesia, Japan and South Korea were closed for a holiday.

China's official manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for December came in at 50.2. The 50 level in PMI readings separates expansion from contraction.

In US, markets retreated on Monday in the penultimate session of 2019, following a powerful stretch of returns, supported in the final few weeks by optimism over an initial trade pact with China.

On economic front, the November US trade deficit fell to a more than 27-month low, down 5.4%.

Contracts to buy previously-owned US homes rose in November, according to the National Association of Realtors.

The US November trade deficit fell to a more than 27-month low, down 5.4%, though 2019 is on track for the largest annual deficit in 11 years.

On the US-China trade front, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro reportedly said the pact was likely to be signed in the next week but that confirmation would come from President Donald Trump or U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. A media report said Chinese Vice Premier Liu He would travel to Washington later this week to sign the deal.

Key market barometers ended almost flat after a volatile trade on Monday. The barometer index, the BSE Sensex, fell 17.14 points or 0.04% to 41,558.00, as per the provisional closing data. The Nifty 50 index gained 14.80 points or 0.12% to 12,260.60, as per the provisional closing data.

After a rousing start, key benchmarks slipped into negative terrain in mid-morning trade. Indices hit fresh intraday low in afternoon trade. Barometers recovered from the day's low in mid-afternoon trade and ended almost flat.

The broader market was bullish. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.29% and the BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.75%.

The market breadth was positive. On BSE, 1449 shares advanced while 1121 shares declined. A total of 197 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 33 stocks advanced and 7 stocks declined.

Economy:

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released the 20th issue of the Financial Stability Report (FSR) on Friday, 27 December 2019. The report said India's financial system remains stable notwithstanding weakening domestic growth; the resilience of the banking sector has improved following recapitalisation of public sector banks (PSBs) by the government. Risks arising out of global/domestic economic uncertainties and geopolitical developments, however, persist.

Scheduled commercial banks' (SCBs) credit growth remained subdued at 8.7% year-on-year (y-o-y) in September 2019, though private sector banks (PVBs) registered double digit credit growth of 16.5%. SCBs' capital adequacy ratio improved significantly after the recapitalisation of public sector banks (PSBs) by the Government. SCBs' gross non-performing assets (GNPA) ratio remained unchanged at 9.3 per cent between March and September 2019. Provision Coverage Ratio (PCR) of all SCBs rose to 61.5% in September 2019 from 60.5% in March 2019 implying increased resilience of the banking sector.

Further, the report said that the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) continued to make steady progress in the resolution of stressed assets. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has taken initiatives for growth of InsurTech and strengthening insurers' corporate governance processes. The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) continued to bring more citizens under the pension net.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty auto index rose 1.51% to 8,329.50, advancing the most among the sectoral indices on the NSE.

Tata Motors (up 4.32%), TVS Motor Company (up 3.11%), Ashok Leyland (up 2.89%), Eicher Motors (up 2.63%), Hero MotoCorp (up 1.55%), Mahindra & Mahindra (up 1.46%), Escorts (up 1.13%), Maruti Suzuki India (up 1.01%) and Bajaj Auto (up 0.42%) advanced.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Bharti Airtel advanced 1.19% to Rs 460.70 after the media reported that the telecom major raised the minimum monthly recharge for prepaid users to Rs 45 with immediate effect from Sunday. According to media reports, it will be mandatory to recharge with a voucher of Rs 45 or above every 28 days to avail services. Prior to this Rs 45 plan, consumers could get an additional 28-day validity through a recharge of Rs 23 which included only incoming calls and messages.

JSW Steel rose 1.04% to Rs 271.60. The steel major said that its wholly-owned subsidiary, JSW Steel (Netherlands) B.V., entered into an agreement for selling 39% out of its 49% stake held in Geo Steel LLC, a joint venture (JV) based in Georgia, to its JV partner - Georgian Steel Group Holdings. Post the completion of the aforesaid sale, JSW Steel (Netherlands) B.V. will continue to hold 10% stake in Geo Steel LLC.

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) rose 0.77% to Rs 366.45. APSEZ said that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Adani Logistics (ALL), acquired 6,72,54,119 equity shares representing 40.25% stake of Snowman Logistics from Gateway Distriparks (GDL) at Rs 44 per equity share, aggregating to Rs 295.92 crore. The acquisition gives ALL platform to double its capacity in next 5 years.

Adani Logistics will also make an open offer for a maximum of 26% of the public shareholding in Snowman Logistics at Rs 44 per share.

Meanwhile, shares of Gateway Distriparks surged 10.84% to Rs 121.65 and those of Snowman Logistics rose 1.52% to Rs 43.30.

Shares of Prince Pipes and Fittings debuted at Rs 160, a discount of 10.11% to the initial public offer (IPO) price of Rs 178. The stock hit a high of Rs 177.95 and low of Rs 152.60. The stock provisionally ended at Rs 166.15, a 6.63% discount to IPO price.

The IPO of Prince Pipes and Fittings received bids for 4.37 crore shares, as against 1.97 crore shares on offer, as per the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) website data. The issue was subscribed 2.21 times. The issue opened for bidding on Wednesday, 18 December 2019 and it closed on Friday, 20 December 2019. The price band was fixed at Rs 177 to Rs 178 per share.

RITES rose 1.44% to Rs 289.65 after the board of directors approved investment of Rs 48 crore for acquiring a 24% in Indian Railways Station Development Corporation. The company declared an interim dividend of Rs 6 per share. The record date for the dividend is 10 January 2020.

Inox Wind rose 2.51% to Rs 34.70 after the company signed a term sheet for an EPC contract of 250 MW from Continuum Power Trading (TN).

Punjab & Sind Bank slumped 5.74% to Rs 21.35. CARE Ratings reaffirmed its rating on various debt instruments of the company but revised its rating outlook to negative from stable.

Foreign Markets:

European markets continued to trade lower while Asian stocks ended mostly lower on Monday as investors locked profits after strong gains last week.

US stocks drifted higher on Friday, setting up the major indexes for a strong end to the week. Investor sentiment was buoyed by reports of strong holiday sales and a report on Chinese industrial production, but some year-end tax related selling pressured the market late in the day.

As per reports, China's industrial firms grew at the fastest pace in eight months in November. Industrial profits in November rose 5.4% from a year earlier to 593.9 billion yuan ($84.93 billion), compared with a 9.9% drop in October.

As per reports, investors saw the Chinese data as a sign that a slowdown in the world's second-largest economy, amid a trade policy conflict with the U.S., may not produce as severe a downturn as feared.

China's central bank over the weekend said that it will use the loan prime rate as a new benchmark for pricing current floating-rate loans, which analysts say could lower borrowing costs and boost growth, media reports said.

Markets in Europe, Japan and South Korea will be closed tomorrow, on New Year's Eve. Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore will close early by around mid-day.

Key benchmarks snapped three-day losing run on Friday, amid positive global cues. Fund infusion by the government in some state-run banks also boosted sentiment. Buying was widespread with banks and realty stocks making the biggest up moves. Firmness in index pivotal Reliance Industries also supported the rally.

The Nifty registered a gap up opening and reclaimed 12,200 mark by the mid-morning trade. The index advanced further as the session progressed. Strong buying in last hour of the trade pushed the Nifty near 12,250 mark.

The barometer index, the BSE Sensex, rose 429.16 points or 1.04% to 41,592.92, as per the provisional closing data. The Nifty 50 index gained 119.25 points or 0.98% to 12,245.80, as per the provisional closing data.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid cap was up 0.88% and the BSE Small cap gained 0.83%.

The market breadth was positive. On BSE, 1512 shares advanced while 1032 shares declined. A total of 167 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 42 stocks advanced and 8 stocks declined.

Buzzing Index:

PSU banks advanced after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday said it will buy Rs 10,000 crore worth of the current benchmark 10-year bond on 30 December 2019 while selling four bonds maturing in 2020 for an equivalent amount. Simultaneously buying long-end bonds and selling short-end bonds should lead to a flattening of the yield curve.

The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper fell to 6.505%, compared with 6.576% in the previous trading session.

Earlier this week, RBI had conducted a similar open market operation (OMO) and purchased securities worth Rs 10,000 crore and sold securities worth Rs 6,825 crore.

The falling yields and rising bond prices are credit positive for state-run banks as mark-to-market (MTM) profit from the government bonds' increases in their investment portfolios.

The Nifty PSU Bank index surged 2.97% at 2,569.65. Punjab & Sind Bank (up 11.19%), Corporation Bank (up 6.86%), Bank of Baroda (up 5.45%), Punjab National Bank (up 4.14%), Syndicate Bank (up 3.33%), Bank of Maharashtra (up 3.29%), Oriental Bank of Commerce (up 3.2%), Union Bank of India (up 2.11%), Canara Bank (up 1.57%) and Bank of India (up 1.34%) were top gainers in PSU segment.

Indian Overseas Bank surged 6.48% while UCO Bank advanced 1.79%. The Government of India announced infusion of fresh capital to the tune of Rs 4360 crore in Indian Overseas Bank and Rs 2142 crore in UCO Bank.

Allahabad Bank surged 8.17% after the state-owned bank said it will get a fresh capital infusion of Rs 2,153 crore from the government in the current financial year.

Stocks in Spotlight:

ONGC was trading 0.39% higher at Rs 128.55. The state-run firm has reportedly received environment clearance (EC) for carrying out onshore exploration, development and production of oil and gas in 100 locations in non-forest area of Assam, that would entail an investment of Rs 3,500 crore.

CARE Ratings was up 2.69% while ICRA gained 0.3%. Sebi imposed a fine of Rs 25 lakh each on credit ratings agencies pertaining to ratings of various debentures of IL&FS. After examining the role of credit rating agencies Sebi noted that credit rating agency failed in assigning rating to various NCDs of IL&FS. Sebi also noted that the default in IL&FS has occurred due to lethargic indifference, needless procrastination and laxity on the part of credit rating agencies. Sebi further said that credit rating agencies should have anticipated the mounting credit risks, the stressed balance sheet position of the issuer and placed the ratings accordingly to alert the market in advance regarding the deteriorating financial profile of the issuer.

Gujarat Gas rose 0.87%. Gujarat Gas (GGL) said CRISIL has upgraded long term rating on company's bank loan facilities of Rs 2,350 crore to AA+/Stable from AA/Positive. The upgrade reflects CRISIL's expectations of an improvement in GGL's credit profile over the medium term. Sustainable improvement in cash accruals is expected to improve GGL's financial risk profile notwithstanding the sizeable capital expenditure programme.

Hindustan Aeronautics fell 0.35%. Hindustan Aeronautics said CARE Rating has downgraded its rating on the bank facilities of the company worth Rs 7300 crore to AA+ from AAA.

H.G. Infra Engineering jumped 6.26%. H.G. Infra Engineering said it has been declared L-1 bidder by the National Highways Authority of India for the construction of proposed Rewari Bypass (NH-1) as Feeder Route in Rewari district in the state of Haryana (Design length - 14.40 km) on Hybrid Annuity Mode amounting to Rs 522.02 crore.

Shares of Page Industries were trading 6.17% higher. The company announced that ICRA has reaffirmed long term ratings of the company to ICRA AA with a stable outlook. The credit rating agency also reaffirmed short term rating at ICRA A1+ with a stable outlook.

Foreign Markets:

Shares in Europe and Asia advanced as investor optimism was boosted by hopes that US-China trade deal would soon be signed.

In US, stocks powered higher again on Thursday, helped by reports of record year-end retail sales. Traders returned from their Christmas and Boxing Day break to digest reports from Beijing that it was in close contact with Washington about an initial trade agreement, shortly after US President Donald Trump reportedly talked about signing ceremony for the recently struck Phase 1 trade deal.

On economic front, the number of people filing for US unemployment benefits slid for a second straight week.

The benchmark indices ended lower for third consecutive session on Thursday, dragged by heavyweights like Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, Larsen and Toubro and Bharti Airtel. Trading was volatile as December F&O contracts expired today.

Investors locked profits in frontline stocks after a recent rally, which propelled key barometers to record high levels. An improving outlook on the global economy and optimism surrounding US-China trade deal had sent domestic equities to an all-time high last week.

The barometer index, the BSE Sensex, fell 297.50 points or 0.72% to 41,163.76, as per the provisional closing data. The Nifty 50 index lost 88 points or 0.72% to 12,126.55, as per the provisional closing data.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.13% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.38%. The broader markets managed to outperform the benchmark indices.

The market breadth was positive. On BSE, 1326 shares advanced while 1194 shares declined. A total of 175 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 17 stocks advanced and 33 stocks declined.

Buzzing Sector:

Auto ancillary stocks were in demand. Rane Engine Valve (up 19.99%), Rane (Madras) (up 19.98%), Rane Brake Lining (up 17.74%), Rane Holdings (up 18.75%), Sterling Tools (up 12.60%), Z.F Steering Gear (up 11.94%), Lumax Auto Technologies (up 8.94%), Minda Corporation (up 6.32%), Mahindra CIE Automotive (up 5.76%), GNA Axles (up 4.24%), Automotive Axles (up 3.72%), Munjal Showa (up 1.05%), Steel Strip Wheels (up 0.67%), Subros (up 0.31%) and Minda Industries (up 0.23%) advanced.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Bharti Infratel rose 0.22% to Rs 255.85. The company on Tuesday (24 December) said it has not received government approvals for its merger with Indus Towers, by the 24 December 2019 deadline, and hence it has extended the deadline for closing the deal to 24 February 2020.

Yes Bank declined 4.98% to Rs 48.65 after a foreign brokerage reportedly cut its target price on the stock to Rs 46 from Rs 50 earlier. The brokerage also slashed the FY20 and FY21 profit estimate for the lender by 4-5%.

On Tuesday, Brickwork Ratings downgraded its ratings on Yes Bank's lower tier II bonds, from BWR AA- to BWR A, and of upper tier II bonds, hybrid tier I bonds and innovative perpetual debt instruments from BWR A+ to BWR A-. The outlook to continue as negative.

Bharti Airtel slipped 2.04% to Rs 448. The company said Airtel Africa intends to raise about $37.5 million through a public issue of its local business, Airtel Malawi. The price for the IPO has been set at Malawian Kwacha (MK) 12.69 ($0.021) per ordinary share.

Dishman Carbogen Amcis hit 10% upper circuit at Rs 79.30, snapping its six-day losing streak. The stock tanked 42.78% in six trading days from its previous closing high of Rs 126 on 16 December 2019.

The income tax (I-T) officials visited the company's offices and manufacturing sites on 19 December 2019 in connection with search under Section 142 of the Income-Tax Act. The company extended full co-operation to the officials during the search and provided all the information sought. The search operation concluded on 25 December 2019.

Eveready Industries India surged 6.58% to Rs 57.50 after Delhi High Court allowed the firm to go ahead with the sale of its property in Hyderabad. In August 2019, Eveready Industries concluded an agreement with Nuland Technologies, for sale of its land in Hyderabad for a consideration of Rs 100 crore.

SML Isuzu jumped 7.89% to Rs 592. ICRA has revised the long term rating from [ICRA AA] (Stable) to [ICRA AA-] (Negative) and reaffirmed the short term rating of the company at [ICRA A1+]. The rating agency cited slowdown in the commercial vehicle (CV) industry, which is likely to persist in the near-term given the slowing economic growth, surplus capacity in the trucking system and credit crunch as the reason for the said rating.

MOIL rose 0.39% to Rs 142. The Rs 308-crore buyback offer from MOIL opened for subscription today and will end on 8 January 2019. The PSU major is offering Rs 152 a share to buy back about 2.03 crore shares, representing 7.87% of the equity capital, from all the existing shareholders on a proportionate basis through the tender offer route.

Dai-Ichi Karkaria hit 5% upper circuit at Rs 291.80. The company has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU), for sale of its land parcel of its undertaking situated in Pune. The deal is valued at Rs 158.25 crore. The unit was closed on 25 Jan 2019. The firm has shifted its operations to Dahej, Gujarat.

NTPC rose 1.09% to Rs 116.40. As per reports, the company is planning to add 10GW of solar energy generation capacity by 2022, which entails an investment of around Rs 50,000 crore, to be funded mainly by green bond.

Shares of Hexaware Technologies (down 3.15%), Tata Elxsi (down 3.55%) and Union Bank of India (down 6.94%) will be excluded from futures and options trading from tomorrow.

Foreign Markets:

Asian markets ended mostly higher on Thursday, a day after Christmas. Major markets across the region — including Hong Kong, South Korea and Australia — were closed on Wednesday for Christmas.

European stocks markets were closed on account of 'Boxing Day', a secular holiday traditionally celebrated on 26 December, the day after Christmas Day.

In US, stocks ended nearly flat on Tuesday in a shortened trading session before closing for Christmas Day. US markets will reopen on Thursday.

Investors have been encouraged by plans for an interim US-Chinese trade deal despite having seen few details.

Key equity barometers ended lower for second consecutive session on Tuesday, as investors locked in some of the recent gains in thin trading ahead of the Christmas holiday on Wednesday. Significant selling in the last hour of trade pushed the Nifty below 12,250 level.

An improving outlook on the global economy and optimism surrounding US-China trade deal had sent domestic equities to an all-time high last week.

The barometer index, the BSE Sensex, fell 181.40 points or 0.44% to 41,461.26, as per the provisional closing data. The Nifty 50 index lost 51.05 points or 0.42% to 12,211.70, as per the provisional closing data.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.02% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.02%.

The market breadth was negative. On BSE, 1138 shares advanced while 1339 shares declined. A total of 176 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 24 stocks advanced and 26 stocks declined.

Domestic stock markets will remain closed on Wednesday, 25 December 2019, on account of Christmas.

Politics:

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s political troubles deepened with the party losing control of the mineral-rich eastern state of Jharkhand just months after losing the crucial state of Maharashtra.

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha's (JMM) legislature party will reportedly elect its leader at a meeting in Ranchi on Tuesday. JMM fought the election in alliance with Congress and Lalu Prasad's Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD) to win a comfortable majority with 47 seats.

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha's (JMM) won 30 seats, Congress 16 and RJD one seat in the election. BJP, which went solo, won 25 seats.

Legislative Assembly elections were held in Jharkhand from 30 November to 20 December 2019 to elect the 81 members of Legislative Assembly. The election results were declared on Monday.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index rose 0.52% to 2,720.35, outperforming other sectoral indices on the NSE.

National Aluminium Company (up 4.13%), Jindal Steel & Power (up 2.03%), JSW Steel (up 1.25%), NMDC (up 0.73%), Vedanta (up 0.44%), Steel Authority of India (up 0.37%), Hindustan Zinc (up 0.21%) and Tata Steel (up 0.21%) advanced. Hindustan Copper was down 1.8%.

Stocks in Spotlight:

NIIT Technologies rose 1.17% to Rs 1596.35. The company said its board approved buy-back of up to 19,56,290 fully paid equity shares at a price of up to Rs 1,725 per share aggregating up to Rs 337 crore. The number of securities proposed to be bought back represents 3.1% of the existing paid up equity share capital of the company.

Hindalco Industries gained 0.67% to Rs 216.35. The aluminum and copper manufacturing company said its Muri refinery in Jharkhand restarted production of Alumina after receiving consent to operate from Jharkhand State Pollution Control. On 10 April 2019 the company had informed that operations of Alumina plant were suspended due to the spillage in the red mud cake storage area. Going forward, the company may not need to import Alumina.

GE T&T India rose 2.22% to Rs 147.50. GE T&T India said it has executed an agreement to sell its undertaking at Naini, Allahabad to Shirdi Sai Electricals. This will result in optimising the utilisation level of the transformer manufacturing factories in the company and consolidation of company's transformer manufacturing related operations in India.

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) rose 3.07% to Rs 891.05 after the railway company revised tariff structure on standard meals on static units on Indian Railways. IRCTC has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Hotel and Restaurant Association of Northern India (HRANI) on Monday, 23 December 2019 for listing the of HRANI member hotels and their room rate inventory for sales on IRCTC portal. The disclosure made after trading hours yesterday, 23 December 2019.

Lemon Tree Hotel rose 2.91% to Rs 63.55. The hotel chain company informed that it has signed a license agreement for a 55 room upcoming Hotel at Hill Cart Road in Darjeeling under the company's brand Lemon Tree Hotel. The hotel will add to the portfolio of hotels in West Bengal which include operating hotels in Kolkata and Siliguri. The Hotel shall be operated through its subsidiary and management arm, Carnation Hotels.

Sterling Tools (STL) hit an upper circuit limit of 20% at Rs 215 after the company entered into a joint venture (JV) agreement with China's Jiangsu Gtake Electric Company (GTAKE) to provide the Indian electric vehicle OEM's with best-in-class motor control units (MCUs). In the proposed joint venture company (JVC), STL will hold 51% stake while the remainder 44% stake will be held by GTAKE. The joint venture company would be a subsidiary of STL and will commence production by Q1 FY2021.

IFCI surged 7.96% to Rs 6.78 after the company said it sold its entire 2.44% stake in NSE. IFCI in an exchange filing during market hours said that it has divested its entire stake in National Stock Exchange (NSE), comprising of 1.20 crore equity shares, or 2.44% equity. The company said it has realized approximately Rs 805.60 crore, representing about 82% of the total committed amount. Process for receipt of approval for remaining quantity is underway, it added.

Solara Active Pharma Sciences rose 2.85% to Rs 451.45. The active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturer on 23 December 2019 said the Mumbai bench of NCLT on December 20 had pronounced an order sanctioning the scheme of merger between Strides Chemicals (SCPL), Solara Active Pharma Sciences and their respective shareholders. The appointed date for the merger is September 1, 2018, it added.

In September 2018, the company's board had approved the amalgamation of the company's wholly-owned subsidiary Strides Chemicals with the company by way of a scheme of amalgamation.

Foreign Markets:

Overseas, the Europen markets were trading mixed while the Asian stocks ended mixed on Tuesday ahead of the Christmas holiday on Wednesday.

In US, stocks recorded closing records on Monday as investors focused on a report that China will cut import tariffs for frozen pork, pharmaceuticals and some high-tech components starting 1 January 2020. The S&P and Nasdaq both hit new intraday highs Monday morning.

Investors cheered the news that China will cut import tariffs on a wide range of goods. China's finance ministry announced starting January 1, it will lower import tariffs on over 850 products ranging from frozen pork to some types of semiconductors. China is making efforts to boost imports amid a slowing economy and a trade war with the U.S.

Key benchmark indices snapped four-day rising streak on Monday. The trading sentiment took a hit as the ruling BJP appeared to be set for second place in a tight contest for Jharkhand Assembly election. The Nifty 50 index slipped below 12,250 level.

The barometer index, the BSE Sensex, fell 38.88 points or 0.09% to 41,642.66, as per the provisional closing data. The Nifty 50 index lost 5.65 points or 0.05% to 12,266.15, as per the provisional closing data.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.09% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index lost 0.07%.

The market breadth was positive. On BSE, 1121 shares advanced while 1394 shares declined. A total of 206 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 28 stocks advanced and 22 stocks declined.

Politics:

Jharkhand Assembly election results will be declared today. BJP government went solo this time. The opposition alliance of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), the Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) seems to be having an edge in the 81-member Assembly.

While the BJP is ahead on 24 seats, JMM is leading in 29 seats. Congress is ahead on 14 seats and RJD is leading in 3 seats. The majority mark for winning the election is 41 seats.

Legislative Assembly elections were held in Jharkhand from 30 November to 20 December 2019 to elect the 81 members of Legislative Assembly.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty PSU index fell 1.31% to 2,537.15 on profit booking after a stellar rally in the previous session. The index surged 2.28% to end at 2570.90 on Friday.

UCO Bank (down 2.42%), Indian Bank (down 2.33%), United Bank of India (down 1.92%), Union Bank of India (down 1.77%), Canara Bank (down 1.72%), Punjab National Bank (down 1.7%), Syndicate Bank (down 1.68%), Central Bank of India (down 1.63%), State Bank of India (down 1.6%), Corporation Bank (down 1.38%), Punjab & Sind Bank (down 1.04%), Bank of Baroda (down 0.99%), Andhra Bank (down 0.57%) and Bank of India (down 0.57%) declined.

The rally in PSU bank stocks was induced by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) conducting a special open market operation—simultaneously buying long-tenor bonds and selling short-tenor government bonds—dubbed 'Operation Twist' by the market.

The simultaneous sale and purchase operation has a two-pronged objective: Lowering the steep term premium at the longer end of the yield curve despite the RBI's accommodative monetary policy, and surplus systemic liquidity and correcting yields at the shorter end.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Shares of Titan Company, UltraTech Cement and Nestle India were in the limelight ahead of their entry in the BSE Sensex post market hours today, 23 December 2019.

As a part of rejig, Titan Company (up 0.95%), UltraTech Cement (down 0.84%), Nestle India (down 1.71%) will be added to BSE Sensex whereas Tata Motors (up 0.03%), Tata Motors DVR (up 1.31%), Vedanta (up 2.46%), Yes Bank (down 3.21%) will be deleted from the BSE Sensex. Any change in index weights can result in portfolio churns for major funds. The BSE will also rejig 14 other indices. However, there will be no change in the S&P BSE Bankex.

KEC International rose 1.74% to Rs 303.75. The company said it has secured new orders of Rs 1,520 crore across its various businesses.

Reliance Industries (RIL) fell 1.78% to Rs 1571 on reports that the government has sought to block RIL selling a 20% stake in its oil and chemical business to Saudi Aramco. According to the report, the Delhi High Court on Friday (20 December) asked RIL and British Gas to disclose their assets after the Centre sought to restrain them from disposing of the same. In an application filed in September, the government had sought curbs citing the failure of the two companies to honour their payment under a $4.5 billion international arbitral award in the Panna-Mukta and Tapti production sharing contracts.

In August, RIL announced its plans to sell 20% stake in its refining and petrochemicals business for $15 billion to Saudi Aramco. The deal, which values the oil-to-chemicals (O2C) business at $75 billion, is part of a plan to make RIL a zero-debt company in the next 18 months.

Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL) fell 0.16% to Rs 185.80. The firm said it acquired Meerut-Simbhavali Transmission as a special purpose vehicle to establish transmission system in Uttar Pradesh.

Emami rose 1.23% to Rs 304.80 after media house reported that UltraTech Cement has emerged as the front-runner to buy the cement business of Emami Group in an all-cash deal worth Rs 6,500-7,000 crore.

BASF India surged 5.48% to Rs 1009.20 after the company's German parent signed a purchase agreement with an affiliate of Lone Star, a global private equity player, for acquisition of BASF's construction chemicals business. The purchase price on a cash and debt free basis is 3.17 billion euros. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2020, subject to regulatory approvals.

Ramco Systems jumped 4.66% to Rs 148.25. Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company (HAECO Group), announced it will continue to work with Ramco Systems to bring the global software specialist's advanced Aviation solutions to four more business units in Hong Kong, Xiamen and Jinjiang, the company said in a filing to the exchanges.

HAECO's partnership with Ramco began last year when HAECO ITM, a HAECO Group company which provides inventory technical management solutions, adopted Ramco's Aviation Suite.

Foreign Markets:

Markets in Europe traded mostly lower while Asian markets ended mostly higher amid greater optimism for U.S.-China relations.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said he had “a very good talk” with China's leader Xi Jinping about the so-called phase one trade deal they struck in mid-December. That indicated more progress has been made after they reached the initial agreement.

The president said in a tweet that China has started “large scale” purchases of U.S. agricultural products, and a formal deal signing is being arranged. On Saturday, he said both countries would “very shortly” sign the deal.

In other positive trade developments, China on Monday said it will lower import tariffs on over 850 products from Jan.1, including frozen pork, as well as some information technology products starting July 1.

In US, stock indexes set records highs on Friday, after encouraging US economic data and optimism about international trade deals.

On economic front, the Commerce Department's third estimate of third-quarter GDP, published on Friday, left growth unchanged 2.1%, with strong consumer spending offset by weaker business investment in inventories.

In other US economic data, Americans increased spending in November at the fastest rate in four months.

Wall Street sentiment also remains supported by progress on international trade policy, after the US House passed the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) bill to replace North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on Thursday and the US and China agreed on a partial deal last Friday.

Key benchmark indices advanced for the fourth straight session on Friday. The indices sharply pared gains and ended near the flat line as profit booking emerged at record high levels. PSU banks and metal stocks were in demand.

The barometer index, the BSE Sensex, rose 7.62 points or 0.02% to 41,681.54, as per the provisional closing data. The Nifty 50 index gained 12.10 points or 0.10% to 12,271.80, as per the provisional closing data.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.15% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 0.03%.

The market breadth was positive. On BSE, 1269 shares advanced while 1247 shares declined. A total of 168 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 29 stocks advanced and 21 stocks declined.

Economy:

Fitch Ratings has affirmed India's Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at 'BBB-' with a stable outlook. Fitch expects growth to slow to 4.6% in the financial year ending March 2020 (FY20), from 6.8% in FY19, which is still higher than the 'BBB' median of 2.8%.

The ratings agency expects growth to gradually recover to 5.6% in FY21 and 6.5% in FY22 with support from easing monetary and fiscal policy and structural measures that may also support growth over the medium term.

Our outlook on India's GDP growth is still solid against that of peers, even though growth has decelerated significantly over the past few quarters, due mainly to domestic factors, in particular a squeeze in credit availability from non-banking financial companies (NBFC) and deterioration in business and consumer confidence, Fitch said.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday (19 December) said it will simultaneously buy and sale government securities worth Rs 10,000 crore each on 23 December under its open market operations (OMO), a move aimed at managing the yields. RBI said it will buy Rs 10,000 crore of 6.45% government bonds maturing in 2029 and simultaneously sell Rs 10,000 crore of short-term bonds maturing in 2020.

Further, the minutes of the last meeting of RBI's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) were released on Thursday (19 December). RBI's MPC at its last meeting on 5 December 2019 decided to keep the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) unchanged at 5.15%. Consequently, the reverse repo rate under the LAF remained unchanged at 4.90%, and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the bank rate at 5.40%.

According to the minutes, the RBI remains concerned about the slower pace of rate cut transmission in the economy while the sudden spurt in food inflation, though seasonal, seems to have put policy makers at the central bank on alert.

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said that the impact of recent counter-cyclical measures taken by the government was starting to play out, while stressing that it was imperative that monetary and fiscal policies should work in close coordination. The MPC, which decides on the benchmark policy rate of RBI, comprises six members, three from the central bank and three others appointed by the central government.

Buzzing Index:

Shares of public sector banks rose after bond yields tumbled following RBI's OMO announcement. The Nifty PSU Bank index rose 2.28% to 2,570.90.

Corporation Bank (up 5.15%), Union Bank of India (up 4.04%), Syndicate Bank (up 3.48%), Canara Bank (up 3.14%), State Bank of India (up 2.91%), Indian Bank (up 2.52%), Andhra Bank (up 2.33%), Bank of Maharashtra (up 2.16%), Bank of Baroda (up 2.13%), United Bank of India (up 1.95%), UCO Bank (up 1.54%), Punjab National Bank (up 1.49%), Punjab & Sind Bank (up 1.32%), Allahabad Bank (up 1.07%) and IDBI Bank (up 0.54%) advanced. Central Bank of India (down 0.54%) and Bank of India (down 2.31%) declined.

The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper fell to 6.6% at 15:34 IST compared with 6.746% in the previous trading session.

PSU banks have a high exposure in government bonds. Falling bond yields could boost their treasury gains.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Reliance Industries in an exchange filing announced that the company is transferring the Panna-Mukta fields back to ONGC after operating it for 25 years. The Panna-Mukta and Tapti (PMT) was a joint venture between Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Reliance Industries (RIL) and BG Exploration & Production India (BGEPIL), each holding 40%, 30% and 30% participating interest respectively.

The Production Sharing Contracts (PSC) for the Panna-Mukta and Tapti fields will expire on December 21, 2019 and thus RIL will hand over oil and gas fields back to the Government of India's nominee i.e. ONGC.

Shares of RIL were trading 0.37% lower at Rs 1599.15 while ONGC was down 0.4% at Rs 125.1.

Titan Company surged 3.97% to Rs 1205.70. The company said Titan Global Retail LLC, Dubai, has been incorporated as a subsidiary company of Titan Holdings International FZCO, Dubai, which in turn is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company. Titan Global will be mainly engaged in carrying out business activities and retail trade for carrying out business activities, in the industry in which Titan Company operates.

Mahindra & Mahindra slipped 1.13% to Rs 529. The company's board approved transition of Anand Mahindra's role to non-executive chairman and re-designated Pawan Kumar Goenka as managing director and chief executive officer with effect from April 1, 2020.

Lemon Tree Hotels advanced 3.24% to Rs 62.10. The company informed that it has opened its first international hotel in Dubai under the company's brand Lemon Tree Hotel. The hotel, owned by Al Waleed Real Estate LLC, is located on Al Wasl Road, less than a kilometre from Sheikh Zayed Road and Jumeirah Open Beach, and is the first branded midscale hotel in the area. The hotel features 114 well-appointed rooms, complemented by a multi-cuisine restaurant.

Dishman Carbogen Amcis slumped 8.54% to Rs 106.50 after the company said search inquires were conducted by IT Authorities at the company's premises. In a exchange filing made post trading hours yesterday, company said that the officials of the Income-Tax Department have visited the company's head offices and manufacturing sites in connection with search under Section 142 of the Income-Tax Act on 19 December 2019 and search enquiry is continuing.

Ratnamani Metals & Tubes rose 0.98% to Rs 1015. The company announced that it has received two major orders in Carbon Steel division. Domestic order of Rs 124 crore for supply of coated CS pipes for an oil & gas pipeline project to be completed between April to September, 2020. Export order of $14.30 Million (equivalent to approx. Rs 100 crore) for supply of bare CS Pipes to be completed between May to June, 2020.

Cadila Healthcare rose 2.01% to Rs 266.80. The company in an exchange filing during market hours said that the US drug regulator inspected the company's topical manufacturing facility located in Ahmedabad from 16 to 20 December 2019. The inspection ended with no Form 483 observations.

Foreign Markets:

European markets continued to trade higher while Asian markets ended mixed on Friday. China on Friday left its new lending benchmark - the loan prime rate - unchanged, as expected, after it kept rates of medium-term loans steady earlier this month.

In US, all three benchmark stock indexes scored record highs again on Thursday, unfazed by President Donald Trump's impeachment, while finding support from the US-China trade deal, the passage of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) trade deal to replace North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) by the House, and improving economic data.

Compared to NAFTA, the new treaty aims to help US farmers, ranchers, manufacturers, workers and consumers by opening new markets to American goods and reducing the cost of household staples such as drugs and groceries.

On economic front, new applications for US jobless benefits fell during the week ended 14 December 2019, dipping 18,000 to a seasonally adjusted 234,000 after surging to 252,000, a two-year high, the week before.

Back in Europe, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Chief Executive Andrew Bailey has been named the new governor of the Bank of England, replacing the departing Mark Carney, media reports said.