Indian equity indices fell for the second consecutive day on Monday, falling more than 1%, as investors worried about the spread of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 and looked ahead to the RBI’s bi-monthly monetary policy meeting this week for directions.

The 50-scrip index has formed a long bear candle on the daily chart, suggesting a sharp downward reversal following last week’s decent bounce, according to Nagaraj Shetti, Technical Research Analyst at HDFC Securities. 

“The negative setup is intact on the daily and weekly charts and the recent swing high of 17,489 could now be considered a new lower top of the sequence. One may expect the Nifty to slide down further to form a new lower bottom below 16,782,” he said.

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Midcap index fell 1.35%, while the Small cap index was down by 1.35%. The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were IT down by 2.49%, TECK down by 2.44%, Telecom down by 1.98%, Energy down by 1.92%, and Healthcare down by 1.78%, while there were no gaining sectoral indices on the BSE.

According to pivot charts, the key support levels for the Nifty are placed at 16,797, followed by 16,681.8. If the index moves up, the key resistance levels to watch out for are 17,122.1 and 17,332.

Indian Indices

Sensex fell 949.32 points or 1.65% to 56,747.14 and the Nifty was down by 284.45 points or 1.65% to 16,912.25. The Sensex touched high and low of 57,781.46 and 56,687.62, respectively and all 30 stocks declined on the index while the Nifty traded in a range of 17,216.75 and 16,891.70 and there was 1 stock advancing against 49 stocks declining on the index.

SGX Nifty

The trends on SGX Nifty indicate a flat opening for the index in India with a 5-points gain. The Nifty futures were trading at 17,001.00 on the Singaporean Exchange around 06:30 hours IST.

US Markets 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA finished up 646.95 points, or 1.9%, at 35,227.03, powered by strong point gains in UnitedHealth Group Inc. UNH, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. GS, Home Depot Inc. HD, and Boeing Co.  

 The S&P 500 SPX closed higher by 53.24 points, or 1.2%, at 4,591.67, marking its highest close in a week.  

The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP finished up by 139.68 points, or 0.9%, at 15,225.15.  

Asian Markets

Asian markets finished broadly lower yesterday with shares in Hong Kong leading the region. The Hang Seng was down 1.76% while China’s Shanghai Composite was off 0.50% and Japan’s Nikkei 225 was lower by 0.36%

European Markets

European markets closed sharply higher yesterday with shares in London leading the region. The FTSE 100 was up 1.54% while France’s CAC 40 was up 1.48% and Germany’s DAX was up 1.39%.

HCL Technologies plans to employ 12,000 people in the United States over the next five years

Indian software services exporter HCL Technologies said on Monday it will create 12,000 new jobs in the United States through the next five years as part of a plan to shore up business and enhance client support in a key growth market. Nearly 2,000 of the new jobs will go to college graduates over the next three years, HCL said, adding that the company will focus its U.S. recruitment drive on seven states including North Carolina, Texas, and Connecticut. Hiring will be done across roles including in IT consulting, cloud, data analytics, and digital engineering.

The parent company of IndiGo has sent out notice to shareholders for an EGM on December 30

Interglobe Aviation, the parent firm of IndiGo airline, has issued a notice to shareholders for an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on December 30. The EGM has been requisitioned jointly by entities owned by promoters Rakesh Gangwal and Rahul Bhatia. The meeting has been sought to amend Articles of Association and remove restrictions on the transfer of promoter shares. “The board recommends this resolution for approval by the members of the company as a special resolution,” Interglobe said in a regulatory filing. The entities who have called for an EGM collectively hold 74.44 percent of the paid-up equity share capital of the company, it added.

NCLT admits the RBI’s request to commence insolvency proceedings against Reliance Capital

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on December 6 admitted a plea moved by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) seeking to initiate insolvency proceedings against Reliance Capital, the financial services holding company promoted by the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group. The central bank had approached the Mumbai bench of NCLT on December 2 seeking the admission of its plea. The move was preceded by the supersession of the board of Reliance Capital by the RBI, on November 29, due to the defaults of the company in meeting various payment obligations.

Tata Motors will raise commercial vehicle costs beginning in January

Homegrown auto major Tata Motors on Monday said it will hike prices of its commercial vehicles in the range of 2.5% from January 1 to offset the increase in commodity and raw materials costs. The price hike will be across segments of medium and heavy commercial vehicles (M&HCV), intermediate and light commercial vehicles (I&LCV), small commercial vehicles (SCV), and buses, based on individual models and variants of the vehicle, Tata Motors said in a regulatory filing.

Air India owes Rs 2,350 crore while SpiceJet Rs 185 crore to the Airports Authority of India

Air India and SpiceJet have outstanding dues of Rs 2,350 crore and Rs 185 crore respectively to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) as on September this year, Minister of State for Civil Aviation V K Singh said on Monday. “Some airlines have defaulted on clearance of their dues,” Singh said in a written response to a question in Rajya Sabha. The AAI follows up with the airlines regularly for recovery of dues according to its credit policy, he mentioned. Charging penal interest, encashment of security deposits along with resorting to legal action were other measures available with the AAI to carry out the recovery of dues, he noted.

Tata Power & IIT Madras signed MoU to collaborate on R&D, training, and technological solutions

Tata Power and IIT Madras have inked a pact to collaborate on R&D, consultancy, advocacy, training, and technology solutions. According to a statement, the two organisations have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to facilitate this collaboration. As a part of the MoU, Tata Power and IIT Madras will aim to pursue advanced research in areas of future technology. The agreement also includes campus recruitment opportunities to postgraduate students of IIT Madras.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor collaborates with Karnataka Bank to provide financing solutions

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) on Monday said it has partnered with Karnataka Bank to finance its vehicles across cities and towns in India. The company has signed a memorandum of understanding with Karnataka Bank, following which the bank will be one of the preferred financiers for the entire range of vehicles sold by TKM. The finance options at competitive interest rates will be available to customers, including those covered under priority sector schemes, for purchasing Toyota vehicles for private and commercial use, TKM said in a statement.

Rategain Travel Technologies IPO to open on December 7

RateGain Travel Technologies Ltd. will be launching its first public offering on December 7. The offer will open for subscription on Tuesday, December 07, and the last date for subscribing to the offer is set for Thursday, December 09. The company has fixed a price band of Rs 405-425 per share having a face value of Rs 1. The company hopes to garner Rs 1,335.7 crore at the upper price band of the offer.

Bulk Deal data

Axis Bank Limited sold 9,18,033 shares in MT Educare Ltd at Rs 7.77 per share on the NSE, the bulk deals data showed. 

Individual investor Mahimtura Nishant Mitrasen sold 7,00,000 shares in Libas Consu Products Ltd at Rs 29.41 apiece and Anish J Saraf HUF and Visa Capital Partners bought 5,00,000 and 2,00,000 shares in the company at Rs 29.5 and Rs 29.2 apiece respectively.

Anuradha Suri bought 94,593 shares in Silgo Retail at Rs 31.25 per share, while Gautam Kumar Chordia and Vanita Chordia each sold 92,392 and 2,00,000 shares in the company at Rs 31.57 and Rs 30.17 per share.

In Jump Networks Limited, Diksha Mahesh Kothari sold 5,47,704 equity shares at Rs 7.69 per share and Harshawardhan Hanmant Sabale picked up 5,00,000 shares at 7.7 per share on the NSE, the bulk deals data portrayed. 

Equity fund Alpha Leon Enterprises LLP bought 92,99,000 shares in Sintex Industries at Rs 9.55 per share and sold 22,50,000 shares in Visagar Polytex Ltd at Rs 1.1 per share on the NSE, according to the bulk deals data. 

On an individual basis, Piyushkumar Thumar sold 3,00,000 shares in Bright Solar Limited at Rs 5.02 apiece and Rajvirdhan V sold 1,65,000 shares in LG Balakrishnan & Bros at Rs 492.97 a share, Ltd. First Overseas Capital sold 2,00,000 shares in Nidan Labs and Health Ltd Rs 61.91 apiece on the NSE, as per the bulk deals data on Monday.  

DII and FII data

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded Indian equities worth net Rs 3,361.3 crore on Monday. However, domestic institutional investors made purchases worth net Rs 1,701.6 crore, according to provisional exchange data.

NSE F&O Ban

Indiabulls Housing Finance is under the F&O ban for December 7. Securities in the ban period under the F&O segment include companies in which the security has crossed 95% of the market-wide position limit.