Market Ahead, November 19: All you need to know before the opening bell

After scaling fresh record peaks for the three straight sessions, the domestic equity market is expected to see a negative start on Thursday, as indicated by SGX Nifty. At 07:25 AM, the Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) were trading 67.5 points, or 0.52 per cent lower at 12,895.80 levels. Further, weak global cues are also expected to dent investor sentiment.
 

In the overnight trade, US stocks lost substantial ground at the close of a see-saw session as investors weighed encouraging vaccine developments against surging Covid-19 infections and lockdowns.
 

Asian stocks followed Wall Street’s sharp selloff on Thursday as concerns about rising coronavirus infections and new shutdowns in major US cities hosed down earlier investor enthusiasm about Covid-19 vaccine developments. Oil prices, too, slipped in the early trade.
 

Meanwhile, final results from Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine trial showed its shot had a 95 per cent success rate and two months of safety data, paving the way for the drugmaker to apply for an emergency US authorisation within days, it said on Wednesday.

Pfizer said it expected the US FDA vaccine advisory committee to review and discuss the data in a public meeting that will likely be held in December.
 

Back home, India has reported nearly 38,617 fresh Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours. Delhi recorded 6,396 fresh Covid-19 cases taking the infection tally in the national capital to over 495,000 on Tuesday.
 

On the macro front, manufacturing made up 27.5 per cent of India’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2019, lowest in two decades, showing the share of the sector continues to shrink in the economy despite the government’s Make-in-India push. This makes India one of the least industrialised countries in Asia with the exception of Pakistan, Nepal, and Myanmar.
 

In the corporate news, IT services firm Wipro on Wednesday said it has fixed December 11 as the record date for its up to Rs 9,500 crore share buyback programme while India's largest IT services firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on Wednesday said its shareholders have approved its up to Rs 16,000 crore share buyback plan.