ShriramInsight-News Details

Nov 29 2021 4:03PM

Equity indices ended a volatile trading session with tiny gains on Monday. The Nifty managed to close above the 17,000 mark after hitting a day's low of 16,782.40 in early trade. Barring IT and consumer durable sector, selling was seen across the board. Concerns of a new virus variant continued to weigh on the domestic market.
As per the provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 153.43 points or 0.27% to 57,260.64. The Nifty 50 index added 14.25 points or 0.08% to 17,040.25.

The broader market saw more selling pressure and underperformed the front line indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index declined 0.93% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index lost 1.9%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 967 shares rose and 2,433 shares fell. A total of 175 shares were unchanged.

Winter Session of Parliament:

The Winter Session of Parliament will begin from today. It is scheduled to conclude on 23rd December. The Session will spread over a period of 25 days and will have 19 sittings. Thirty-Six Bills and one financial item have been identified for being taken up during the Session.

Today, Farm Laws Repeal Bill 2021 has been listed for introduction and passing in the Lok Sabha. The Bill will repeal the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 and to amend the Essential Commodities Act, 1955.

Other important Bills which are listed in business schedule include the Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy (Second Amendment) Bill and the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill.

The Electricity (Amendment) Bill, The National Anti-Doping Bill and the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (Amendment) Bill will also be taken up during the session.

In Financial Business, the Second Batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants for the 2021-22 has been listed for discussion and voting. Three bills will also be taken up to replace the ordinances promulgated during inter-session.

On 26 November 2021, World Health Organization designated the variant B.1.1.529 a variant of concern, named Omicron. WHO said that it is not yet clear whether Omicron is more transmissible (e.g., more easily spread from person to person) compared to other variants, including Delta. The number of people testing positive has risen in areas of South Africa affected by this variant, but epidemiologic studies are underway to understand if it is because of Omicron or other factors.

Commenting on the severity of the new variant, WHO said that it is not yet clear whether infection with Omicron causes more severe disease compared to infections with other variants, including Delta. However, preliminary data suggests that there are increasing rates of hospitalization in South Africa, but this may be due to increasing overall numbers of people becoming infected, rather than a result of specific infection with Omicron.

Meanwhile, India reported 236 fatalities in the last 24 hours. According to the Union Health Ministry, the number of active cases in the country have declined to 1,03,859.

Kotak Mahindra Bank jumped nearly 3% after the Life Insurance Corporation of India announced that the Reserve Bank of India has allowed the life insurer to raise stake in bank up to 9.99%. As of 30 September 2021, LIC holds 4.96% stake in the private sector bank.

Asian Paints rose 0.03%. On Monday, the paint manufacturer informed that it will invest Rs 960 crore to expand its existing manufacturing capacity at company's Ankleshwar facility situated in Gujarat. The company has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Government of Gujarat commencing the proposed expansion of manufacturing capacity of paint from 1,30,000 kilo litre to 2,50,000 kilo litre and resins and emulsions from 32,000 metric ton to 85,000 metric ton, Asian Paints said in a regulatory filing. The said expansion is to be completed over a period of next 2 -3 years at a total investment of Rs 960 crore (approx.) on plant and machinery at the current prevailing prices. The expansion will be carried out on the existing land owned by the company.

Shakti Pumps (India) soared 6.73% after the company said its board approved incorporating a wholly owned subsidiary to foray in electric vehicles (EV) segment. The board of Shakti Pumps (India) on 29 November 2021 approved the incorporation of wholly owned subsidiary to foray in segment of EV motor, EV charger, EV controller, multi application variable-frequency drive (VFD) for automobiles.

Reliance Industries jumped 1.11% after Reliance Jio hiked tariff plans for prepaid users by 20%. The tariff hike will be effective from 1st December 2021. The base tariff voice plan with a validity of 28 days will cost Rs 91 from Rs 75 earlier. The cheapest unlimited voice bundle plan with a validity of 28 days will cost Rs 155 from Rs 129 earlier. The pack consists of unlimited calling, 300 SMS, 2GB data/month. The premium unlimited voice bundle plan with a validity of 365 days will cost Rs 2879 from Rs 2399 earlier. The pack consists of unlimited calling, 100 SMS/day, 2GB data/day.

State Bank of India (SBI) fell 1%. The PSU bank said that Reserve Bank of India has imposed a penalty of Rs 1 crore on the bank for contravention of provision.

Hero MotoCorp declined 1.48%. The company said that the board of directors has appointed Rajnish Kumar as an Additional and Independent Director and Vasudha Dinodia as an Additional and Non-Executive Director, effective November 25, 2021.

Gujarat Alkalies & Chemicals fell 2.2%. The company said its product, Ortho Phosphoric Acid, has been granted license by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), with effective from 24 November 2021. GACL said it is the first Indian company to get license for Ortho Phosphoric Acid under this compulsory registration scheme. Ortho Phosphoric Acid is used to make phosphate salts for fertilizers. It is also used in dental cements, in the preparation of albumin derivatives, and in the sugar and textile industries.

GHCL rose 2.29% to Rs 384.55 after the company said it signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the government of Tamil Nadu for investing Rs 500 crore in the state. As per the MoU, GHCL will set up 40,000 ring spindles in Manaparai, Tiruchirappalli district to produce synthetic and synthetic blended yarn to cater to knitting and weaving segments. It will also install another 40000 ring spindles with 24 knitting machines in Paravai, Madurai district to produce 100% cotton yarn and knitted fabrics. The company also plans to develop an EHT (extra high tension) power transmission facility in Manaparai location to ensure uninterrupted power supply.

One 97 Communications (Paytm) declined 3% after the company reported consolidated net loss of Rs 473.50 crore in Q2 FY22, higher than net loss of Rs 436.70 crore in Q2 FY21. Net sales jumped 63.64% to Rs 1086.40 crore in Q2 FY22 over Q2 FY21. Revenue growth was driven by 52% growth in non-UPI payment volumes (GMV) and more than three times growth in financial services and other revenue. Revenue from payments and financial services grew 69% Y-o-Y to Rs 842.60 crore, while commerce and cloud services revenue grew by 47% Y-o-Y to Rs 243.8 crore. Pre-tax loss stood at Rs 471.50 crore in Q2 FY22, higher than pre-tax loss of Rs 428.30 crore in Q2 FY21.

European markets traded higher while Asian stocks ended lower on Monday, as investors in the region continued to watch for developments surrounding the recently discovered omicron COVID-19 variant. Britain and European countries have restricted travel from southern Africa, where the variant was detected.

The Dow Jones Futures were trading 128 points higher, indicating a positive start in US markets today.

US stocks dropped sharply on Friday as a new COVID-19 variant found in South Africa triggered a global shift away from risk assets. Friday was a shortened trading day because of the Thanksgiving holiday.