The domestic equity barometers ended almost flat after a volatile session on Wednesday. Select autos and PSU banks advanced while pharma and financial stocks lagged.
The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 24.79 points or 0.05% to 49,492.32. The Nifty 50 index added 1.40 points or 0.01% to 14,564.85.
Mahindra & Mahindra (up 6.24%), ITC (up 2.35%) and NTPC (up 2.24%) supported the indices. HDFC (down 2.76%), HDFC Bank (down 0.70%) and Reliance Industries (down 0.90%) dragged.
The Sensex hit a record high of 49,795.19 and the Nifty hit a record high of 14,653.35 in early trade.
Developments on the US political front kept investors on the edge as the US House of Representatives is expected to vote on an impeachment motion against President Trump today.
The sentiment, however, received a boost after the domestic retail inflation cooled off in December, falling below RBI's upper tolerance limit of 6%.
In the broader market, the BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.63% and the BSE Small-Cap index lost 0.38%. Both the indices underperformed the Sensex.
Sellers outpaced buyers. On the BSE, 1,236 shares rose and 1,828 shares fell. A total of 148 shares were unchanged.
COVID-19:
Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 9,16,05,941 with 19,62,345 deaths. India reported 2,14,507 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,51,529 deaths while 1,01,29,111 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
Economy:
The country's retail inflation, which is measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), eased to 4.59% in the month of December mainly due to decline in food prices.
The CPI inflation had been continuously been above RBI's upper tolerance band of 6% for the past eight months until November. Inflation peaked in October to 7.61% and had fallen to 6.93% in November.
India's factory output, measured in terms of Index of Industrial Production (IIP), witnessed a contraction of 1.9% for November 2020, reverting back to the declining territory after rising in the previous two months, data released by the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MOSPI) showed on Tuesday.
Numbers to Watch:
The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper rose to 5.950% as compared with 5.931% at close in the previous trading session.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 73.15, compared with its close of 73.2550 during the previous trading session.
In the commodities market, Brent crude for March 2021 settlement rose 9 cents at $56.63 a barrel. The contract rose 92 cents, or 1.65% to settle at $56.58 a barrel in the previous trading session.
Foreign Markets:
Most Asian shares ended higher while European shares were mixed on Wednesday. European investors kept track of COVID-19 developments in the region, with governments looking to accelerate, or to keep good momentum, in their coronavirus vaccination drives. In the meantime, lockdowns have been extended in Germany and the Netherlands.
In Asia, the Japanese government is set to expand the state of emergency to more areas on Wednesday, as per reports. That comes after Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga recently declared a state of emergency in Tokyo and three other areas in a bid to stem a rise in coronavirus infections.
Meanwhile, local Chinese authorities in regions near Beijing are reportedly stepping up restrictions on social activity following a rise in new coronavirus cases.
US stocks closed along the flatline on Tuesday as traders weighed higher rates, possible stimulus and political turmoil. Investors will watch for developments from Washington, with the U.S. House set to push ahead with efforts to remove President Donald Trump from office over his role in sparking last week's deadly attack on the Capitol.
As per reports, Vice President Mike Pence told House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday that he does not support invoking the 25th Amendment against President Donald Trump. Pence's letter came as the House is preparing to vote on a resolution calling on Pence to convene and mobilize Trump's cabinet to remove the president from power, using the powers granted by the amendment, the reports added.
House Democrats reportedly are moving forward with efforts to remove Trump from office following last week's riot at the U.S. Capitol, which they charge he incited. An impeachment vote is reportedly expected on Wednesday.
Buzzing Indian Segment:
The Nifty Bank index rose 0.73% to 32,574.65. The index has added 1.80% in two sessions.
The banking index hit a record high of 32,683.50 in intraday today.
Bank of Baroda (up 6.5%), State Bank of India (up 4.6%), Indusind Bank (up 1.56%), Axis Bank (up 1.53%) and ICICI Bank (up 1.46%) advanced.
HDFC Bank (down 0.5%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 1.23%), RBL Bank (down 1.36%), Federal Bank (down 1.9%), IDFC first Bank (down 2.33%) and Bandhan Bank (down 4.04%) declined.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Wipro rose 0.23%. The IT major reported 20.37% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 2,968 crore on a 3.68% increase in revenue to Rs 15,670 crore in Q3 December 2020 (Q3 FY21) over Q2 September 2020 (Q2 FY21). Profit before tax (PBT) in Q3 FY21 stood at Rs 3850.4 crore, up by 20% from Rs 3,207.30 crore in Q2 FY21. Total tax expense during the third quarter increased 18% to Rs 852.6 crore in Q3 December 2020.
The company's consolidated net profit has grown by 20.85% and revenue has risen by 1.29% in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20.
Wipro's IT services segment revenue came at $2,071 million in Q3 FY21, a sequential growth of 3.9%. The company's non-GAAP constant currency IT services segment revenue increased by 3.4% quarter on quarter. The company said its IT services operating margin grew by 243 basis points quarter on quarter to 21.7% in Q3 FY21.
Infosys rose 1.16%. The IT major's consolidated net profit jumped 16.6% to Rs 5,197 crore on a 12.3% rise in revenues to Rs 25,927 crore in Q3 December 2020 over Q3 December 2019. Operating profit rose 5.8% to 6,589 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q2 FY21. Operating margin stood at 25.4% in Q3 FY21, higher than 25.3% in Q2 FY21.
Infosys has revised FY21 growth guidance upward to 4.5% to 5% in constant currency term. Operating margin for FY21 is also revised upward in the range of 24% to 24.5%.
Tech Mahindra rose 0.08%. The company said that it has agreed to acquire 100% shareholding of Payments Technology Services for a cash consideration of $9 million. Headquartered in Hong Kong, Payments Technology Services entity is a stepdown subsidiary of Fidelity Information Services (FIS). The company is a payments solutions provider with a banking and financial services (BFS) focus.
Tata Elxsi surged 14.41% after the company's net profit jumped 39.5% to Rs 105.20 crore on 10.9% rise in total income to Rs 492.20 crore in Q3 December 2020 over Q3 December 2019. EBITDA rose 52.4% to Rs 143.60 crore in Q3 December 2020 over Q3 December 2019. EBITDA margin expanded to 30.1% in Q3 December 2020 from 22.2% in Q3 December 2019.
Bharti Airtel added 2.21%. The telecom operator said that it has received approvals for its relevant downstream investments and it is initiating process to revise its foreign investment limit to 100% with an immediate effect.
Bharat Rasayan rose 1.98% to Rs 10554.95. The board of Bharat Rasayan on Tuesday (12 January 2021) approved a proposal to buyback upto 93,472 shares (2.2% of the total number of fully paid-up equity shares) at a price of Rs 11,500 per share, aggregating to amount not exceeding Rs 107.49 crore.
Larsen & Toubro (L&T) rose 0.17% to Rs 1352. The company said its construction arm secured 'significant' orders for its various businesses. As per L&T's classification, the valuation of the 'significant' contract lies between Rs 1000 crore to Rs 2500 crore.
Hero MotoCorp rose 0.33%. The two-wheeler major reinforced its presence in Central America by appointing new distributor partners in Nicaragua and Honduras, with expansion plans for both the countries.
Tata Motors advanced 1.98% after the Tata Motors Group global wholesales in Q3 FY21, including Jaguar Land Rover, stood at 2.78 lakh units, recording a 1% year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth compared with Q3 FY20.
Filatex India tumbled 5.37%. The textile firm's net profit surged 255.63% to Rs 66.04 crore in Q3 FY21 compared with Rs 18.57 crore in Q3 FY20. Net sales during the quarter declined 2.19% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 721.59 crore. EBITDA stood at Rs 120.2 crore in third quarter as against Rs 55.9 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal. EBITDA margin was at 16.65% as on 30 December 2020 compared with 7.57% as on 30 December 2019.
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