Market Wrap, Dec 15: Here's all that happened in the markets today

After remaining in the negative territory for the most part of the session, the domestic equity market managed to settle flat with a positive bias on Tuesday amid buying in select financial and information technology (IT) counters.
 

The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 46,263, up 10 points, or 0.02 per cent while NSE's Nifty settled at 13,568, up 10 points, or 0.07 per cent. During the session, Sensex hit a high and low of 46,350.30 and 45,841.67 levels, respectively.
 

HDFC, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, and HCL Tech were the major contributors to the Sensex's recovery today. Bajaj Finance (up 4.7 per cent) was the biggest gainer on Sensex while HUL (down over 2 per cent) emerged as the top loser.
 

Moreover, Bajaj Finance entered the elite club of companies with a market capitalisation (market-cap) of Rs 3 trillion after the company's stock price hit a new high. The stock ended at Rs 5,128 on the BSE.
 

Volatilty index, India VIX, ended at 19.3 levels, down 0.29 per cent.
 

In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index outperformed the frontline indices as it gained 0.42 per cent to 17,733.87 while SmallCap index ended flat at 17,696 points.
 

Among sectoral indices, Nifty Media gained the most - up 1.79 per cent, followed by Nifty Metal and Nifty Financial Services indices (both up 0.77 per cent).
 

Among buzzing stocks, shares of Majesco hit a fresh record high of Rs 1,019 on the BSE after the company said its board has approved payment of interim dividend of Rs 974 per equity share for the financial year 2020-21. The stock, however, pared gains and ended 0.88 per cent higher at Rs 982.2.
 

Shares of DHFL were locked in the lower circuit for the second straight day after media reports suggested that the US-based asset management firm Oaktree Capital has emerged as the highest bidder in a revised round of bidding for the troubled mortgage lender.
 

Meanwhile, US-based fund Interups says it has Rs 13,500 crore as available capital for investment in Air India and is ready to invest "billions of dollars" in the Indian aviation sector.
 

Global markets
 

Asian stocks retreated on Tuesday as worries about increasing Covid-19 deaths and lockdowns overshadowed optimism about the roll-out of coronavirus vaccinations, just days after indexes hit record highs.
 

In commodities, oil slipped towards $50 a barrel as tighter lockdowns in Europe and forecasts of a slower demand recovery outweighed relief from the roll-out of coronavirus vaccines.