Market Ahead, November 17: All you need to know before the opening bell

After logging fresh closing peaks in Saturday's Muhurat trading session, the domestic equity market is expected to see a muted start on Tuesday, as indicated by SGX Nifty. At 07:09 AM, the Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) were trading 22 points, or 0.17 per cent lower at 12,881.50 levels.
 

The stock markets were closed on Monday on account of Diwali Balipratipada.
 

On Saturday, the S&P BSE Sensex ended the session 195 points, or 0.45 per cent, higher at 43,638 while NSE's Nifty ended at 12,771, up 51 points.
 

In the overnight trade, the S&P 500 and Dow Jones industrial average notched record closing highs on Monday as news of another promising coronavirus vaccine fanned hopes of eradicating Covid-19, while spiking infections and new shutdowns threatened to hobble a recovery from the pandemic recession.
 

Moderna Inc said its experimental Covid-19 vaccine was 94.5 per cent effective in preventing infection based on interim late-state data. It was the second drugmaker, after Pfizer, to announce promising trial data in the development of a vaccine to defeat the pandemic. Moderna shares gained 9.6 per cent on the day.
 

Following the development, Asian stocks, too, opened firmer on Tuesday.
 

In commodities, oil prices edged higher ahead of OPEC+ meeting.
 

Back home, market participants are likely to opt for a stock-specific approach while also reacting to key macro numbers.
 

The wholesale price index-based (WPI-based) inflation rate rose for the third straight month to an eight-month high of 1.48 per cent in October from 1.32 per cent in the previous month. Unlike its consumer price index (CPI) counterpart, pressure did not come from food items in general. These were manufactured products, particularly pharma and metals, that fuelled the WPI inflation rate.
 

The long-awaited privatisation process for Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) is finally moving to its second stage with at least three to four companies submitting expressions of interest (EoIs). The government had to extend the deadlines for submission of EoIs four times before setting the final deadline on Monday. Reliance Industries, however, did not put in a bid, nor did its partner Saudi Aramco.
 

In a separate development, Reliance Industries’ (RIL’s) retail arm has acquired 96 per cent stake in Bengaluru-based online furniture retailer Urban Ladder for over Rs 182 crore.
 

Meanwhile, HDFC Mutual Fund on Monday said its board of directors had approved the appointment of Navneet Munot as its next managing director and chief executive officer.
 

On the Covid front, India has reported 30,715 fresh Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours. The total caseload now stands at 8,845,617. Delhi's health minister, however, on Monday said that the third coronavirus wave in Delhi has peaked.