The benchmark indices firmed up once again in afternoon trade. At 13:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 238.28 points or 0.55% at 43,876.26. The Nifty 50 index advanced 73.80 points or 0.58% at 12,854.05.
HDFC Bank (up 2.43%), HDFC (up 1.07%) and Larsen & Toubro (L&T) (up 3.04%) were the major market movers.
The broader market outperformed the benchmarks. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.89%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.67%.
Buyers outnumbered sellers. On the BSE, 1,375 shares rose and 1,238 shares fell. A total of 178 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 34 stocks advanced while 16 stocks declined.
Sentiment was also positive as Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) remained net buyer for the month of November 2020. FIIs bought a total of Rs 29,454.22 crore equity shares so far in November 2020.
COVID-19 Update:
Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 5,50,24,738 with 13,27,253 deaths. India reported 4,53,401 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,30,519 deaths while 82,90,370 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
Economy:
The annual rate of inflation based on Wholesale Price Index (WPI), stood at 1.48% (provisional) in October 2020 (over October 2019). The figure stood at 1.32% in September.
India's trade deficit narrowed to $8.71 billion in October 2020 from $11.75 billion a year ago as both exports and imports fell during the month. After recording positive growth in September, India's exports fell 5.12% from a year ago to $24.89 billion. Imports also fell 11.53% year-on-year to $33.6 billion in October 2020.
Gainers & Losers:
Tata Steel (up 7.43%), Tata Motors (up 5.68%), HDFC Life Insurance Company (up 4.24%) and State Bank of India (SBI) (up 3.79%) were top gainers in Nifty 50 index.
Hero MotoCorp (down 2.22%), Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL) (down 2.14%), NTPC (down 2.04%), ONGC (down 1.93%) and HCL Technologies (down 1.47%) were major losers in Nifty 50 index.
Earnings Impact:
Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) dropped 3.66%. The government has reportedly received 'multiple' bids for buying out government's 53% stake in India's second-biggest fuel retailer BPCL. The government will not extend the deadline for private firms submitting initial bids. It had earlier extended the deadline for bids for BPCL, as the pandemic delayed the process that was initially expected to be completed by October.
General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re) fell 1.26%. GIC Re reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 228.40 crore in Q2 FY21 compared with net loss of Rs 652.60 crore in Q2 FY20. Total income during the quarter declined by 12.7% year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 12,053.23 crore.
Global scenario for insurance industry for the FY21 has shown weak trends due to COVID-19 situation for most classes while benefiting a few. Although COVID-19 influence remains on the insurance industry, severity of the impact is gradually reducing and the same is reflected in the results of the industry. As compared to Q1, there is a growth in business volume during Q2 FY21, the company said in a statement.
Stock in Spotlight:
Reliance Industries (RIL) rose 0.13%. The conglomerate announced that its subsidiary Reliance Retail Ventures (RRVL) has acquired equity shares of Urban Ladder Home Dor Solutions for a cash consideration of Rs 182.12 crore.
The said investment represents 96% holding in the equity share capital of UrbanLadder. RRVL has a further option of acquiring the balance stake, taking its shareholding to 100% of the equity share capital of UrbanLadder. RRVL said it proposes to make a further investment of up to Rs 75 crore, which is expected to be completed by December 2023.
Embassy REIT slipped 0.17%. The company announced today that it has agreed to purchase Embassy TechVillage assets (ETV) from affiliates of Embassy Sponsor, Blackstone Sponsor and other selling shareholders for a total consideration of Rs 9,782.4 crore ($1.3billion), subject to unitholder and regulatory approvals.
The acquisition comprises 6.1 million square feet (msf) of completed area, 3.1 msf of under-construction area, of which 36% is pre-leased to JP Morgan, and two proposed 518-keys Hilton hotels within the overall ETV campus. Embassy REIT is exercising its right under the ROFO agreement to acquire the asset.
The REIT proposes to fund this Rs 9800 crore ($1.3 billion) acquisition by issuing equity of Rs 6,000 crore ($812 million) through a combination of an institutional placement of Rs 3,700 crore ($500 million), and by way of a preferential issue of units to third-party selling shareholders of Rs 2300 crore ($312 million). The proposed placement of units is expected to increase the REIT's public float, enhance its liquidity, and serve as a catalyst for the REIT's potential inclusion into additional benchmark global equity indices. The REIT also plans to refinance existing ETV debt facilities of up to Rs 3,600 crore ($492 million) through a combination of equity and issuance of new coupon bearing debt.
Global Markets:
Most shares in Europe and Asia advanced on Tuesday amid a backdrop of more positive coronavirus vaccine news from Moderna on Monday.
The US stock market surged to a new record on Monday, 16 November 2020, as investors risk sentiments underpinned after a second set of upbeat results from a potential Covid-19 vaccine from Moderna.
At the close of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index advanced 1.6%, The S&P 500 index increased 1.16% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index rose by 0.8%.
Moderna said in a statement that the first interim analysis of Phase 3 trial results showed its vaccine candidate was 94.5% effective against coronavirus. The drug maker expects to have roughly 20 million doses of its vaccine ready to ship in the United States by the end of this year. The company is on track to manufacture 500 million to 1 billion doses globally in 2021. Pfizer told last week that it expects to have 50 million vaccine doses globally this year, and 1.3 billion in 2021.
Last week, Pfizer said that a vaccine it developed with German drugmaker BioNTech was more than 90% effective against COVID-19. There are dozens more potential vaccines in development, and the promising test results from Moderna and Pfizer suggest that vaccines may be an effective way to fight the coronavirus. Both vaccines require two doses to be administered.
On the U.S. economic front, a report released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York showed New York manufacturing activity unexpectedly expanded at a slower rate in the month of November. The New York Fed said its general business conditions index fell to 6.3 in November from 10.5 in October.
Separately, a report on consumer sentiment from the University of Michigan revealed worries bubbling up about the coronavirus resurgence, falling to 77 in November from a previous reading of 81.8.
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