The equity indices ended near the day's high after a volatile session on Tuesday. As per provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 314.73 points or 0.72% at 43,952.71. The Nifty 50 index advanced 98.65 points or 0.77% at 12,878.90.
The broader market outperformed the benchmarks. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 1.08%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.88%.
Buyers outnumbered sellers. On the BSE, 1560 shares rose and 1256 shares fell. A total of 186 shares were unchanged.
Sentiment was 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.
Buzzing Segment:
The Nifty Metal index rose 3.02% to 2,762. The index has added 4.74% in two sessions.
Tata Steel (up 6.19%), Hindustan Copper (up 6.07%), Jindal Steel & Power (up 6.05%), Ratnamani Metals Tubes (up 5.85%), Welspun Corp (up 4.75%), National Aluminum Co. (up 4.40%), NMDC (up 2.18%), Hindalco Industries (up 2.13%), Mishra Dhatu Nigam (up 1.68%), SAIL (up 1.64%) and Coal India (up 1.26%) advanced.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) declined 4.53% to Rs 394. 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.
Reliance Industries (RIL) shed 0.48% to Rs 1992.20. 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.
HDFC Asset Management Company rose 1.94% to Rs 2500 after the company appointed Navneet Munot as the managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO). The board of directors of the company approved that Navneet Munot will be appointed as MD & CEO of the company and he will succeed the present MD, Milind Barve. Navneet Munot is currently the Chief Investment Officer (CIO) at SBI Mutual Fund.
General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re) slipped 0.71% to Rs 126.25. 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 (YoY) 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.
Spandana Sphoorty Financial surged 18.26% to Rs 742.45. The company reported 46% jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 66.76 crore on 3.4% decline in total income to Rs 354.11 crore in Q2 FY21 over Q2 FY20. It held cumulative provisions of Rs. 396 crore as on 30 September 2020, which accounted for 7.1% of total on-balance sheet portfolio.
Eveready Industries jumped 7.22% to Rs 167.80. The battery maker's standalone net profit jumped 216% to Rs 58.02 crore in Q2 September 2020 from Rs 18.38 crore in Q2 September 2019. Net sales rose 7% year on year to Rs 372.63 crore in Q2 September 2020 from Rs 348.28 crore in Q2 September 2019. EBITDA margin improved to 20.3% in Q2 September 2020 as against 9.1% in Q2 September 2019.
Embassy REIT slipped 0.27% to Rs 338. 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:
European shares declined while most Asian indices ended higher on Tuesday following 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%.
Drug maker 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.
Last week, Pfizer said that a vaccine it developed with German drugmaker BioNTech was more than 90% effective against COVID-19. Pfizer expects to have 50 million vaccine doses globally this year, and 1.3 billion in 2021. 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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