At 11:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 94.7 points or 0.2% at 43,969.14. The Nifty 50 index rose 34.55 points or 0.27% at 12,893.80.
The Sensex hit a record high of 44,271.15 while the Nifty hit a record high of 12,962.10 in initial deals today.
The broader market outperformed the benchmark indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 1.22% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 1.29%.
The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1458 shares rose and 1022 shares fell. A total of 150 shares were unchanged.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 3,860.78 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net sellers to the tune of Rs 2,868.66 crore in the Indian equity market on 20 November, provisional data showed.
COVID-19 Update:
Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 58,570,555 with 13,86,596 deaths.
India reported 4,43,486 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 133,738 deaths while 85,62,409 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
Economy:
FICCI's latest quarterly survey on Manufacturing pointed towards recovery of manufacturing sector for Q2 (July-September 2020-21) as compared to previous quarter. The percentage of respondents reporting higher production in second quarter of 2020-21 has increased vis-a-vis the Q1 of 2020-21. The proportion of respondents reporting higher output during July-September 2020 rose to 24%, as compared to 10% in Q1 of 2020-21. The percentage of respondents expecting low or same production is 74% in Q2 2020-21 which was 90% in Q1 of 2020-21. The overall capacity utilization in manufacturing has witnessed a rise to 65% as compared to 61.5% in Q4 2019-20.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Pharma index rose 2.23% to 11,783.65. The index fell 2.08% in the past four sessions.
Divi's Laboratories (up 3.27%), Dr. Reddy's Lab (up 3.16%), Aurobindo Pharma (up 3.07%), Alkem Laboratories (up 2.69%), Cadila Healthcare (up 2.29%), Lupin (up 2.08%), Cipla (up 1.88%) and Sun Pharmaceutical Inds (up 1.48%) were top gainers in Nifty Pharma index.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL) rose 1.94% to Rs 241.20 after the company recorded a 13% year-on-year (YoY) growth in standalone steel production at 585,000 metric tons in October 2020 as against 518,000 metric tons in the same month last year. JSPL's standalone sales rose by 10% year on year in October 2020 to 600,000 metric tons (MT) as against 547,000 metric tons recorded in the previous year during the same period.
SREI Infrastructure Finance slumped 14.61% to Rs 5.73 after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) initiated a special audit of the company and its subsidiary. Selling pressure was also seen as SREI holds a 3.34% stake in the Lakshmi Vilas Bank, which has been put under a 30-day moratorium by RBI. Furthermore, Brickwork Ratings (BWR) had downgraded the long-term ratings of SREI Infrastructure Finance (SIFL) on the innovative perpetual debt instrument to 'BWR BB' from 'BWR BBB-'/Negative while placing the ratings under credit watch with negative implications. The credit ratings agency said that the rating downgrade was mainly driven by continued stress on asset quality, significant decline in profitability and stretched liquidity position of the company on account of low collections.
BEML gained 1.77% after the PSU Enterprise received variation order to contract 'MRS1' from DMRC, for additional 12 trainsets of 6 cars each (total 72 cars) to operate on line 2B and 7 of Mumbai metro project. The order is valued at Rs 501 crore (approx) on equivalent INR basis.
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