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Capital Market
Last Updated : Dec 04 2020 | 2:04 PM IST

Benchmark indices traded with decent gains in afternoon trade. Barring the Nifty PSU Bank index, all the sectoral indices on the NSE were positive. FMCG stocks were in demand.

At 13:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, jumped 272.45 points or 0.61% at 44,905.10. The Nifty 50 index gained 66.50 points or 0.51% at 13,200.40.

The Sensex hit a record high of 45,033.19 and the Nifty hit a record high of 13,250.30 in morning trade today.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.17%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index lost 0.10%.

Sellers outnumbered buyers. On the BSE, 1,365 shares rose and 1,371 shares fell. A total of 195 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 33 stocks advanced while 17 stocks declined.

Gainers & Losers:

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Ultratech Cement (up 3.20%), Hindustan Unilever (up 2.76%), Bharti Airtel (up 2.73%), Hindalco Industries (up 2.71%) and Adani Ports & SEZ (up 2.58%) were major gainers in Nifty 50 index.

Reliance Industries (down 1.05%), JSW Steel (down 1.04%), Coal India (down 0.79%), NTPC (down 0.76%) and Bajaj Finserv (down 0.71%) were major losers in Nifty 50 index.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 3,637.42 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net sellers to the tune of Rs 1,439.74 crore in the Indian equity market on 3 December 2020, provisional data showed.

PM Modi Holds All-Party Meeting:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday held an all-party meeting with the floor leaders of all political parties of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha to discuss the COVID-19 situation in the country and vaccine development.

PM Modi said that experts believe wait for a coronavirus vaccine will not be long, it may be ready in a few weeks. He added that the country will begin the Covid-19 vaccination programme after experts give nod. On price of Covid-19 vaccine, PM Modi said that the Central Government is in talks with the state governments over the price of vaccine and decision regarding it will be taken keeping public health as topmost priority.

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 6,52,20,856 with 15,06,250 deaths.

India reported 4,16,082 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,39,188 deaths while 90,16,289 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

RBI MPC Meet Outcome:

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept the policy repo rate unchanged at 4% while maintaining its 'accommodative' stance after the conclusion of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting today, 4 December 2020.

The RBI governor said inflation is likely to remain elevated with some relief in the winter months. "CPI inflation is seen at 6.8 percent for Q3FY21 and projected CPI inflation is at 5.8 percent for Q4FY21. For H1FY22, projected CPI inflation is seen at 5.2-4.6 percent with risks broadly balanced," he added.

The governor said the recovery in rural demand is expected to strengthen further, while urban demand is also gaining momentum. Consumers remain optimistic about the outlook and business sentiment of manufacturing firms is gradually improving. Fiscal stimulus is increasingly moving beyond being supportive of consumption and liquidity to supporting growth-generating investment.

On the other hand, private investment is still slack and capacity utilization has not fully recovered. While exports are on an uneven recovery, the prospects have brightened with the progress on the vaccines.

"Taking these factors into consideration, real GDP growth is projected at (-) 7.5% in 2020-21: (+) 0.1% in Q3:2020- 21 and (+) 0.7% in Q4:2020-21; and 21.9% to 6.5% in H1:2021- 22, with risks broadly balanced," he said in a statement.

Economy:

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday reportedly said that the Indian economy, severely affected by the coronavirus pandemic, is gradually recovering. The economy recovered faster than expected in the September quarter as a pick-up in manufacturing helped GDP clock a lower contraction of 7.5% and held out hopes for further improvement on better consumer demand.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Panacea Biotec tumbled 8.02% after Serum Institute of India sold 3.09 lakh equity shares (or 0.50% equity) of the biotechnology firm at Rs 243.32 per share via bulk deal on the NSE on Thursday, 3 December 2020.

HDFC Life Insurance Company fell 0.54%. As per the bulk deal data on the BSE, Standard Life (Mauritius Holdings) 2006 sold 2,77,72,684 equity shares or 1.37% stake of HDFC Life Insurance Company at an average price of Rs 619.15 per share on Thursday (3 December 2020).

Cadila Healthcare gained 1.66% after the company received approval from DCGI to commence Phase III clinical trials with Pegylated Interferon alpha-2b in India. The drug major on Friday (4 December 2020) announced that it received an approval from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) to start the Phase 3 clinical trial in CoVID-19 patients with its biological therapy, Pegylated Interferon alpha-2b, 'PegiHep'. The trials which will commence in December will be conducted on 250 patients across 20-25 centres in India.

Orient Cement rose 0.51%. On Thursday (3 December 2020) said it will acquire 26% stake in AMPSolar Systems for Rs 4.5 crore. Orient Cement said that it has entered into a share purchase, subscription and shareholder's agreement with AMPSolar Technology and AMPSolar Systems on 3 December 2020 for acquisition of 26% stake in the share capital of AMPSolar Systems for putting up the solar power plant with capacity of 13.5 MW, under captive scheme. The acquisition is expected to be completed by 6 months.

Global Markets:

US Dow Jones index futures were up 17 points, indicating a strong opening in the US market today.

Overseas, European stocks opened higher while most Asian stocks traded in the green on Friday as investors monitor prospects of a U.S. stimulus package and a last-minute Brexit trade deal.

Back in Europe, representatives from the U.K. and EU talked on Thursday in the hope of securing a trade deal before the 31 December deadline. However, the media reported that Britain is accusing France of making new demands at the last second, diminishing the chances of a deal being agreed by the end of the week.

Hong Kong shares of Chinese chipmaker SMIC and oil producer CNOOC declined after the Pentagon announced that the two firms were added to a blacklist of alleged Chinese military companies.

In the US, the Nasdaq Composite Index closed at a record high on Thursday, lifted by Tesla Inc, while the S&P 500 fell after a report that Pfizer Inc had slashed the target for the rollout of its COVID-19 vaccine. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 86 points, supported by a jump in Boeing shares.

Investors awaited a key November jobs report to gauge the pace of labor market recovery in the face of a worsening pandemic. The latest weekly jobless claims hit a pandemic-era low, the Labor Department reported Thursday. First-time claims for unemployment benefits totaled 712,000 last week, compared with 787,000 a week earlier. Still, the claims remained well above the pre-pandemic record.

Investors closely monitored progress toward a stimulus deal as lawmakers make a strong push to break a stalemate over how to boost an economy that continues to be hurt by the pandemic.

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First Published: Dec 04 2020 | 1:30 PM IST

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