Indian equity benchmarks ended choppy session marginally in green in tandem with a similar recovery in other markets as investors waited for more details to assess the severity of the Omicron coronavirus variant on the world economy, allowing battered stock markets and oil prices to recover. The benchmarks staged a gap down opening, as traders remained cautious with report that as many as 438 infrastructure projects, each worth Rs 150 crore or more, have been hit by cost overruns totalling more than Rs 4.34 lakh crore. Traders also took a note of Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) K V Subramanian's statement that BRICS nations need to strengthen cooperation among themselves for supporting the recovery of BRICS economies and maintaining macro-economic and financial stability while protecting against future uncertainties and risks. Meanwhile, Industry body -- The PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) has urged the GST Council to rationalise rates and stated that the current rates are not in sync with the demand creation and employment generation in the country. However, key indices soon recovered their losses and traded on positive note as traders got some support as eminent economist Pinaki Chakraborty said that India's macroeconomic situation is certainly better than what it was a year ago, while expressing hope that the country will be back on the path of economic growth if there is no major third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some support also came with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal's statement that bilateral trade between India and Canada stands at $10 billion currently and there is tremendous potential to take it to much higher levels. Goyal also said both sides have discussed the possibility of concluding the India-Canada comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA), a kind of free trade pact, in two stages. Sentiments were also upbeat as foreign portfolio investors (FPI) have pumped in a net sum of Rs 5,319 crore in Indian capital markets despite a massive correction seen in equities. In October, they were net sellers to the tune of Rs 12,437 crore. However, the profit taking at higher levels capped the upside till the end. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 153.43 points or 0.27% to 57,260.58 and the CNX Nifty was up by 27.50 points or 0.16% to 17,053.95.

The US markets ended higher on Monday after the steep drop seen last Friday dragged the major averages down to their lowest closing levels in at least a month. Sentiment got boost as President Joe Biden said there is no need for the US to reimpose lockdowns as a result of the new variant. The US has imposed travel restrictions on South Africa and several other African nations, although Biden said he does not expect addition restrictions. On the sectoral front, Semiconductor stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the session, driving the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up by 4.1 percent. Substantial strength was also visible among software stocks, as reflected by the 2.3 percent jump by the Dow Jones US Software Index. Computer hardware stocks also turned in a strong performance on the day, resulting in a 1.8 percent advance by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index. On the economic data front, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released a report showing pending home sales rebounded by much more than expected in the month of October. NAR said its pending home sales index spiked by 7.5 percent to 125.2 in October after tumbling by 2.4 percent to a revised 116.5 in September. Street had expected pending home sales to increase by 1.0 percent compared to the 2.3 percent slump originally reported for the previous month. A pending home sale is one in which a contract was signed but not yet closed. Normally, it takes four to six weeks to close a contracted sale.

Crude oil futures ended higher on Monday as traders bet that Friday's sharp sell-off, prompted by fears that the new omicron Covid variant will curb demand for petroleum products, was overdone. Meanwhile, traders looked ahead to some meetings of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. However, oil prices plunged on Friday, weighed down by news about the detection of a new variant - Omicron - in South Africa last week and subsequent news about several countries, including the US, imposing fresh travel restrictions. Benchmark crude oil futures for January delivery rose $1.80 or 2.6 percent to settle at $69.95 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for January delivery gained $1.00 or 1.4 percent to settle at $72.59 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.

Indian rupee ended considerably lower against dollar on Monday on emergence of demand for the greenback from importers amid newly found corona virus variant spurred worries over global economic health. Sentiments were also dampened with Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) K V Subramanian's statement that BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) nations need to strengthen cooperation among themselves for supporting the recovery of BRICS economies and maintaining macro-economic and financial stability while protecting against future uncertainties and risks. Traders' shrugged off Minister Piyush Goyal's statement that bilateral trade between India and Canada stands at $10 billion currently and there is tremendous potential to take it to much higher levels. On the global front, dollar edged higher, the euro fell and the yen steadied on Monday as currency markets reversed some of Friday's moves, calming after the initial shock of discovering a new coronavirus variant. Finally, the rupee ended 75.07, weaker by 18 paise from its previous close of 74.89 on Friday.

The FIIs as per Monday's data were net sellers in both equity and debt segments. In equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 8487.06 crore against gross selling of Rs 12189.56 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 551.61 crore with gross sales of Rs 1072.79 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was of Rs 16.93 crore against gross selling of Rs 26.50 crore.

The US markets ended higher on Monday regaining some of the ground they lost in Friday's sell-off, as investors were hopeful that the Omicron coronavirus variant would not lead to lockdowns after reassurance from US President Joe Biden. Asian markets are trading mixed on Tuesday after the omicron variant of the coronavirus was found in more countries and governments imposed travel controls. Indian markets ended a choppy session on Monday mildly higher, led by IT, oil & gas and select financial stocks. However, weakness in pharma and consumer shares limited the upside. Today, domestic markets are likely to begin session on a positive note, tracking gains across global markets. Investors will be eyeing quarterly GDP numbers to be released later today. India will release the quarterly GDP numbers for the July-September quarter. India is expected to report strong growth as the economy bounces back from the pandemic lows. Some support will come as India Ratings expects the economy to grow 8.3 per cent in Q2 and close the year with 9.4 per cent in FY'22, which is 10 bps lower than the consensus forecast. The agency has attributed the higher growth to the nine consecutive quarters of over 3 per cent agriculture growth, which has brightened consumer spending and the resultant uptick in private final consumption expenditure, which is likely to clip at around 10 per cent in the September quarter of the current fiscal. Additionally, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said the net direct tax collection grew nearly 68 per cent during April 1 to November 23 to more than Rs 6.92 lakh crore. Besides, the commerce ministry has recommended continuation of anti-dumping duty on Chinese tiles, used for covering floors and walls in buildings, for five more years with a view to guard domestic players from cheap imports. However, some cautiousness may prevailed in markets as Moody's Analytics said the Omicron variant of COVID-19 adds new uncertainties to the global economic outlook but much will depend on its speed of transmission, hospitalisation and death rates, and also the effectiveness of vaccines. There will be some buzz in the insurance industry stocks as rating agency Icra said the life insurance industry has seen muted growth of 4 per cent in new business premiums (NBP) so far, it is expected to close the financial year (FY22) with 14 per cent growth in NBP, backed a pick-up in business in the second half of the fiscal. NBFCs stocks will be in focus as Crisil report stated that non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) may see an uptick in fragile assets covering non-performing loans, slippages due to revision of norms and from restructured book to 5-6 per cent of assets by March 2022. There will be some reaction in aviation industry stocks as the government said investments worth Rs 91,000 crore will be made for developing existing and new airports in different parts of the country, as several measures are being taken to boost the civil aviation sector. Meanwhile, Shares of Go Fashion will list today after the IPO received a strong response from investors. The IPO was oversubscribed by all categories of investors. Star Health is set to launch an initial public offer (IPO) at 10 am to raise Rs 7,249 crore.

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

Nifty Top volumes

• Coal India's supply of coal to power sector registered 22.7% jump to 291.72 MT in the first seven months of the ongoing fiscal year. 
• Reliance Industries' telecom arm -- Jio has hiked prepaid tariffs for unlimited plans by around 21% from December. 
• IOC's Mathura refinery has received environmental clearance for projects to expand its crude processing capacity to 11 mmtpa.  
• NTPC's arm NTPC Renewable Energy has inked PPA and other project agreements with Indian Railways, Madhya Pradesh Power Management Company and Rewa Ultra Mega Solar.

Ratnamani Metals & Tu...

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