Sensex, Nifty Clock Best Monthly Gains Since April

India stocks clocked fourth straight week of gains, the longest streak since July, and the best monthly gains since April, as investors assess the pace of economic recovery.

The S&P BSE Sensex ended the trading session 0.35% lower at 44,149.72, while the NSE Nifty 50 Index closed 0.35%% lower at 12,968.95.

Both indices, which are close to highs set Tuesday, gained more than 11% for the month, their best performance since April.

Surging inflows from foreign investors have helped drive Indian equities higher even with the economy probably in its first technical recession since at least 1996. While signs of a recovery are emerging, a report after markets close today will show gross domestic product contracted 8.2% in the quarter through September, according to economists’ estimates.

Sectorally, Nifty Media and Nifty Auto indexes led the gains in Friday’s session, up more than 1.4% each. Sun TV Network Ltd. was the top performer on the media index, shares closed 4.76% higher at Rs 44.35 apiece. TVS Motor Co. and Tata Motors Ltd. pulled the the auto index higher, gaining 4.92% and 2.82% respectively.

Broader markets outperformed with the Nifty Midcap Index gaining 2.7% and the Nifty Smallcap Index gaining more than 3%.

Indian equity benchmarks trade little changed after fluctuating between gains and losses through the session. Broader markets outperform.

• Nifty down 0.14% at 12,969
• Sensex down 0.15% at 43,893
• Nifty Bank up 0.3% at 44,189
• Nifty Midcap index up 2.25% at 19,628
• Nifty Smallcap Index up 2.37% at 6,528.40
• India Volatility Index up 0.24% at 20.07
• Nifty Media is the top sectoral gainer, up 2.28%
• Nifty IT is the biggest sectoral laggard, down 0.31%
• Tata Motors is the top Nifty gainer, up 4.81%
• HDFC Life Insurance is the biggest laggard, down 2.14%

TVS Motor Co. shares rose 5.5%, the most in four weeks, to Rs 500.65 apiece, the highest in 19 months. Trading volume was 3.56 million shares, triple the 20-day average of 1.31 million shares for this time of day.

L&T Finance Holdings Ltd. rose 6.1%, teh most in two months with triple the the 20-day average trading volume for this time of day. The shares increased to Rs 83.10 apiece

Cadila Healthcare Ltd. rose 6.7%, the most in seven months, to Rs 450.70 apiece, teh highest in almost three years. Trading volume was 10.2 million shares, quadruple the 20-day average for this time of day.

Cummins India shares rose 5.8%, the most in seven months, to Rs 564.50 apiece. Trading volume was double the 20-day average for this time of day.

India’s sovereign bonds decline as the central bank has yet to announce open-market bond purchase plans for the next week. RBI has previously announced such operations
on Thursdays.

10-year yields rose 2 basis points to 5.89% on Friday, up 1 basis point for the week.

RBI on Thursday bought Rs 10,000 crore worth of bonds under its Operation Twist and sold an equivalent amount of short-term notes.

Rupee depreciated 0.2% against the U.S. dollar, the pair is down 0.5% for the week.

Vakrangee Ltd. rose 13%, more than any full-day gain since April 11, 2019.

The shares increased to 39.05 rupees. Trading volume was 6.77 million shares, eight times the 20-day average of 840,615 shares for this time of day.

The stock is gaining for the eighth straight day.

India stocks are headed for a fourth straight week of gains, the longest streak since July, as investors assess the pace of economic recovery.

The S&P BSE Sensex traded marginally lower at 44,158.79 as of 10:12 a.m., while the NSE Nifty 50 Index was also flat. Both indexes are trading close to record highs set on Tuesday.

• Nifty Bank down 0.13% at 29,513
• Nifty Midcap index up 1.63%
• Nifty Smallcap index up 1.26%
• India Volatility Index up 6% at 21.22
• Nifty Financial Services and Nifty IT Index decline
• All other sectoral indexes gain
• Tata Motors is the top Nifty gainer; up 4.3%
• HDFC Life Insurance is the top Nifty laggard; down 1.9%

The yield on the benchmark 10-year government bond rose by two basis points to 5.89%, while the rupee strengthened 0.1% to 73.7988 per U.S. dollar.

Varun Beverages Ltd. rose 5.7%, more than any full-day gain since June 18, while India's benchmark index was little changed.

The shares rose to Rs to 821.80 apiece, with five times the average trading volume for this time of day. The stock was the best performer among its peers.

Gujarat Gas, Mahanagar Gas and IGL rose more than 10% each intra-day. In a major positive for these companies, PNGRB has restricted existing co-located CNG outlets of oil marketing companies from selling CNG under open access route, as per the open access notification. OMC outlets already selling CNG will not be allowed to participate through the open access route.

This mitigates any negative impact on existing earnings of city gas distributors in the CNG segment, according to Jefferies . The brokerage states in a report that the new regulation is incrementally more positive for Mahanagar Gas and IGL, with ~ 75% of volumes coming from CNG. It adds that the impact on Gujarat Gas was limited even before this new clause.

Indian stock benchmarks began trade on a cautious note inline with global peers as investors assessed valuations following the strong rebound in equities this month.

The S&P BSE Sensex opened 0.15% higher at 44,325 while the NSE Nifty 50 index gained 0.19% to open at 13,012.

Among the sectoral indices, the Nifty Auto is up 0.7% at the start of trade, while the Nifty Media is up 0.56%.

Broader markets are outperforming the benchmarks. The Nifty Midcap index is up 0.55% while the Nifty Smallcap index has gained 0.3% at the start of trade.

Good Morning!

The Nifty 50 and the Sensex gained more than 11% in the November futures and options 2020 series but it was the Nifty Bank that stole the show. The bank gauge gained over 23% during the series and is on course for its best monthly performance since January 2012.

Futures, however, are indicating that the final F&O series of 2020 will begin on a subdued note. The Singapore-traded SGX Nifty, an early indicator of the Nifty 50 Index’s performance in India, was flat at 13,047 as of 7:45 a.m. on Friday.

Since today is the first day of a new series, no stocks will be in the F&O ban. In terms of positions, the 13,500 call expiring on Dec. 3 continues to command the highest open interest at 25 lakh shares, followed by the 13,000 call with 20 lakh shares.

Asian markets are cautious on the final trading day of the week. Benchmark indices in Japan are advancing, while those in Australia and Hong Kong are underperforming.

Futures on the Dow Jones are currently trading 100 points lower. The U.S. markets were shut on Thursday on account of the Thanksgiving holiday.

West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.5% to $45 per barrel, while gold fell 0.3% to $1,810.4/Oz.

Short on time? Well, then listen to this podcast for a quick summary of All You Need To Know before the opening bell.