Indian equity benchmarks resumed their up move after a day's pause in the previous session, amid buying in utilities, oil and gas, power and metal stocks. The benchmarks staged a gap up opening, as Union Minister for Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Nitin Gadkari said that India was a destination with huge potential for attractive investments and urged people to invest in MSMEs in the country. He also said that with the world moving production away from dealings in China, India was the next best alternative. Some optimism also came as the finance ministry has notified the Viability Gap Funding (VGF) scheme under which infrastructure projects would be selected for financial support to give a push to the sector. As per the scheme notified by the ministry, funding up to Rs 200 crore will be sanctioned by the Empowered Committee (EC) headed by the economic affairs secretary, while projects needing over Rs 200 crore would be approved by the EC with the approval of the finance minister. However, minor profit booking in late afternoon deals wiped out all intraday gains. Some anxiety also spread among traders with a private report stated that India's retail inflation probably fell in November from October but remained above the Reserve Bank of India's target, amid high food and petrol prices. Traders also took note of a private report that the handsome 25 per cent rise in corporate profits in the September quarter amid a sharp contraction in GDP was on the back of wage squeezes, leading to rise in inequalities in India. But, indexes resumed their positive momentum in the final minutes of trading to close higher, as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman reviewed the situation about outstanding payments to micro, small and medium enterprises, especially by CPSEs and central government agencies. Top officials including Secretary in the Department of Financial Services Debasish Panda, MSME Secretary A K Sharma, among others, were present in the meeting. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 139.13 points or 0.30% to 46,099.01, while the CNX Nifty was up by 35.55 points or 0.26% to 13,513.85.

The US markets ended mostly lower on Friday as lawmakers in Washington remain at an impasse over a new fiscal stimulus bill. The Senate managed to pass a temporary spending bill to prevent a government shutdown on Saturday, but the lack of a breakthrough on a new relief package has raised concerns among traders. Despite prolonged negotiations, Republicans and Democrats remain at odds over issues such as aid for state and local governments and unemployment assistance. However, selling pressure was relatively subdued as traders also reacted to more upbeat news regarding a potential coronavirus vaccine. The uptick by the Dow was partly due to a strong gain by shares of Disney (DIS), with the entertainment giant spiking by 13.5 percent. On economic front, the University of Michigan released a report showing an unexpected improvement in consumer sentiment in the month of December. The report said the consumer sentiment index climbed to 81.4 in December from 76.9 in November. The increase surprised market participants, who had expected the index to edge down to 76.5. Meanwhile, traders are likely to keep a close eye on developments in Washington next week, although reports on industrial production, retail sales, homebuilder confidence and housing starts may also attract attention. While the Federal Reserve is also scheduled to hold a monetary policy meeting, the central bank is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged for the foreseeable future.

Crude oil futures ended lower on Friday on concerns over outlook for energy demand amid surge in coronavirus cases and tighter restrictions on businesses in several places around the world. Oil prices also got hurt due to uncertainty about US fiscal stimulus anytime soon and the possibility of a no-deal Brexit. Recent data showing a surge in crude inventories in the US, and increased output from Libya also weighed on oil prices. A report from Baker Hughes said the number of active U.S. rigs drilling for oil rose by 12 to 258 this week. However, the rollout of coronavirus vaccines in the U.K., and the nod for Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine from the U.S. drug regulators helped limit oil's decline. Crude oil futures for January slipped $0.21 or 0.5 percent to settle at $46.57 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. February Brent crude declined $0.28 or 0.56 percent to settle at $49.97 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.

Indian rupee ended marginally higher against dollar on Friday on selling of American currency by banks and exporters. Traders took some solace as Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has urged investors to tap the vast opportunities it offers and get good returns at a time when the whole world is finding an alternative destination for investment in the wake of coronavirus disease (covid-19) pandemic. Meanwhile, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman reviewed the situation about outstanding payments to micro, small and medium enterprises, especially by CPSEs and central government agencies. On the global front, pressure was easing on the dollar on Friday, with the currency set to snap out of three straight weeks of losses while sterling still suffered due to fears a post-Brexit trade deal might not be reached before the end of 2020. Finally, the rupee ended at 73.64, 2 paise stronger from its previous close of 73.66 on Thursday.

The FIIs as per Friday's data were net buyer in both equity and debt segment. In equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 8858.17 crore against gross selling of Rs 5345.05 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 1108.24 crore with gross sales of Rs 802.63 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was of Rs 3.13 crore against gross selling of Rs 3.76 crore.

The US markets closed mostly in red on Friday as talks on a Covid-19 relief package faced setbacks and fresh business restrictions were unveiled. Asian markets are trading mostly in green on Monday  as optimism rose on the approval of Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine. Indian markets ended Friday's volatile session higher led by gains in PSU banks and metal stocks amid mixed global cues. Today, markets are likely to make positive start tracking positive global cues. Sentiments will get a boost as the country's index of industrial production (IIP) grew 3.6 per cent to 128.5 in the month of October, according to the data released by the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MoSPI). Some support will come as the government is likely to launch the third tranche of Bharat Bond ETF, the exchange traded fund that invests in debt of public sector companies, this fiscal. However, there may be some cautiousness with report that on Sunday, India reported 27,336 fresh Covid-19 cases. Its case tally now stands at 9,884,716. The country's death toll has mounted to 143,393. With 18,80,416 cases, Maharashtra has the highest number of coronavirus cases, followed by Karnataka 901,000, Andhra Pradesh 875,000, Tamil Nadu 798,000, and Kerala 669,000. With 1,984 fresh cases, Delhi's Covid-19 tally has climbed to over 607,000. Besides, former chief statistician Pronab Sen said India's current macroeconomic situation is very uncertain and the country's GDP could contract closer to 10 per cent in the current fiscal. There will be some buzz in NBFCs with CRISIL's report that the asset under management (AUM) of non-banking finance companies, including housing finance companies, is likely to see a positive growth but will be muted at 5-6 percent in the next financial year. Banking stocks will be in focus as the Finance Ministry will take a call on residual Rs 14,500 crore capital infusion in the public sector banks (PSBs) in the fourth quarter of this fiscal. There will be some reaction auto stocks with industry body SIAM's statement that India's passenger vehicle sales posted a 4.6 percent rise in November as the festive season saw a pick up in demand, as it corrected its earlier projection of a sharp 13 percent growth. Meanwhile, the Rs 810-crore Burger King India IPO (initial public offer), which was open for subscription from December 2 to December 4, is set to make its stock market debut today. The fast-food major's initial public offering was subscribed a massive 156.65 times by earlier this month, making it the second most subscribed public issue of 2020 so far.

Support and Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)

Nifty Top volumes

•  TCS has expanded its business operations in Austin, Texas with the construction of a new facility, doubling its presence to more than 400 professionals in the city. 
• Coal India has registered a 77 percent growth in e-auction sales, under five windows, at 68.3 million tonnes during the April-November period of FY21. 
• Titan Company's subsidiary -- Tanishq has strengthened its retail footprint by opening its 10th outlet in city.
•  HCL Technologies is planning to hire more than 3,000 people over the next three years in its first delivery centre in Vietnam.