Key barometers came off day's low in afternoon trade. At 13:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, fell 62.28 points or 0.13% at 46,828.06. The Nifty 50 index slipped 39.10 points or 0.28% at 13,701.60.
Shares witnessed profit selling after a five-day rising streak during which the Sensex added 2.02% while the Nifty gained 1.95%.
The broader market underperformed the benchmark indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.44%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index lost 0.32%.
Sellers outpaced buyers. On the BSE, 1,072 shares rose and 1,790 shares fell. A total of 146 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 25 stocks advanced while 25 stocks declined.
Derivatives:
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, shed 0.13% to 19.13. The Nifty December 2020 futures were trading at 13,726.80, at a premium of 25.05 points compared with the spot at 13,701.75.
The Nifty option chain for 31 December 2020 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 22.11 lakh contracts at the 13,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 47.25 lakh contracts was seen at 13,000 strike price.
COVID-19 Update:
Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 7,49,58,938 with 16,62,228 deaths. India reported 3,13,831 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,44,789 deaths while 95,20,827 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
Meanwhile, Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDF) CEO Kirill Dmitriev said that Russia has been testing the first samples of Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine that were produced in India. 300 million doses will be produced by India in 2021.
Gainers & Losers:
Infosys (up 2.49%), HCL Technologies (up 2.14%), Bajaj Auto (up 2.08%), Dr Reddy's Laboratories (up 1.95%) and TCS (up 1.80%) were major gainers in Nifty 50 index.
IndusInd Bank (down 3.36%), ONGC (down 2.81%), HDFC Bank (down 2.06%), HDFC (down 1.79%) and Coal India (down 1.53%) were major losers in Nifty 50 index.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) fell 0.42%. The company's board approved acquisition of 36.62% stake in Bharat Oman Refineries (BORL) from OQ S.A.O.C. The board has also approved the proposal to approach Government of Madhya Pradesh for acquiring 2,69,00,000 warrants held by the Government in Bharat Oman Refineries.
Bank of Baroda dropped 2.20%. The state-run bank on Thursday (17 December 2020) announced appointment of Ian De Souza as chief financial officer. Mr De Souza will replace Subrat Kumar.
Trent rose 0.03%. Arisaig India Fund sold 2.05% stake held in Trent on 27 November 2020. Post transaction, Arisaig India Fund's shareholding in Trent has reduced to 5.54% from 7.59% earlier. The deal took place in open market on 27 November 2020.
Sagar Cements slipped 1.68%. HDFC mutual fund reduced its stake in the cement maker by 2.05% on 15 December 2020. Post transaction, HDFC mutual fund's shareholding in Sagar Cements has reduced to 4.61% from 6.66% earlier.
Global Markets:
European markets opened lower on Friday. Britain and the European Union struck a pessimistic tone in trade talks on Thursday, with a spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson saying it was "very likely" that there would be no agreement unless the bloc changed its position "substantially".
Both sides have reportedly called on the other to shift position to try to safeguard almost a trillion dollars' worth of trade from tariffs and quotas when a so-called transition period ends on 31 December 2020.
On Thursday, the Bank of England kept its main lending rate at 0.1%, having earlier cut twice from 0.75% since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020, and retained its target stock of asset purchases at 895 billion ($1.2 trillion).
Most Asian stocks edged lower on Friday. The Bank of Japan on Friday announced a six-month extension of its special program aimed at easing corporate financing pressures amid the coronavirus pandemic. Meanwhile, the yield target on the 10-year Japan government bond was set at around 0% while the short-term interest target was set to -0.1%.
The Japanese central bank also said it will "conduct an assessment for further effective and sustainable monetary easing" as it looks to support the economy and achieve its ever elusive inflation target, with the findings likely to be out in March.
The US stocks finished firmly positive on Thursday, 17 December 2020, with the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite, the S&P 500, and Dow Jones Industrial Average all finishing near record territory after data showing a slowdown in the US labour market stoked investor bets that US Congressional leaders will clinch a $900 billion stimulus deal.
US initial jobless claims rose to 885,000 in the week ended December 12th, an increase of 23,000 from the previous week's revised level of 862,000, the Labor Department reported on Thursday. With the unexpected increase, jobless claims climbed to their highest level since hitting 893,000 in the week ended September 5th.
The lawmakers signaled progress toward an agreement on a new relief package. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., agreed that the two sides are "close to an agreement" but cautioned that it's "not a done deal yet."
On the vaccine front, US experts were set to meet to decide whether to recommend approval of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine, potentially paving the way for a second vaccine early next week after the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
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