On Wednesday, Indian market indices extended their bull run for the fourth consecutive day, with the Sensex recovering crucial 60,000 levels and the Nifty closing above 17,900. Markets got off to a shaky start, owing to growing concerns regarding the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

The broader indices ended mixed with the BSE Midcap index rising 0.36%, while the Small cap index was down by 0.08%. The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 2.43%, Finance up by 1.85%, Metal up by 1.61%, Oil & Gas up by 1.43% and Realty up by 1.25%, while IT down by 1.87%, TECK down by 1.52%, Power-down by 0.32%, Healthcare down by 0.31% and Consumer Durables down by 0.11% were the top losing indices on BSE. 

The Nifty50 has formed a reasonable long candle on the daily chart with minor upper and lower shadows, suggesting the continuation of an uptrend, according to Nagaraj Shetti, Technical Research Analyst at HDFC Securities. Some consolidation or minor correction from the highs is possible, he said. 

According to pivot charts, the key support levels for the Nifty are placed at 17,801.1, followed by 17,677. If the index moves up, the key resistance levels to watch out for are 17,997 and 18,068.8.

Indian Indices

Sensex rose 367.22 points or 0.61% to 60,223.15 and Nifty was up by 120.00 points or 0.67% to 17,925.25 in the previous session. Sensex touched high and low of 60,332.72 and 59,661.38, respectively and there were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index while Nifty traded in a range of 17,944.70 and 17,748.85 and there were 33 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

SGX Nifty

The trends on SGX Nifty indicate a negative opening for the index in India with a 70-points loss. The Nifty futures were trading at 17,826.00 on the Singaporean Exchange around 06:45 hours IST.

Asian Markets

Asian markets finished mixed. The Nikkei 225 gained 0.10%, while the Hang Seng led the Shanghai Composite lower. They fell 1.64% and 1.02% respectively.

US Markets

The S&P 500 fell 92.96 points, or 1.9%, to 4,700.58.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 392.54 points, or 1.1%, to 36,407.11.

The Nasdaq fell 522.54 points, or 3.3%, to 15,100.17.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 74.87 points, or 3.3%, to 2,194.

European Markets

European markets finished higher yesterday with shares in France leading the region. The CAC 40 was up 0.84% while Germany’s DAX was up 0.67% and London’s FTSE 100 was up 0.22%.

Zomato, Nykaa, Paytm, and Policybazaar have received the AMFI large-cap label: Edelweiss

Mutual fund lobby Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi) has promoted food delivery platform Zomato, Nykaa owner FSN E-Commerce Venture, Paytm owner One97 Communication, Policybazaar owner PB Fintech Ltd and nine other stocks from mid-cap to a large-cap category, according to brokerage Edelweiss’ report. Other stocks such as Mindtree, SRF, IRCTC, Tata Power, Mphasis, Godrej Properties, Macrotech Developers, Bharat Electronics and JSW Energy too have been moved to the large-cap category. This list will be effective from February to July 2022. The changes were made exactly in line with its earlier December projection, the brokerage report added. The report also said that 20 firms — Bandhan Bank, Bosch, Cholamandalam Invest and Fin, P&G Hygiene & Health Care, Aurobindo Pharma, NMDC, Lupin, Bank of Baroda, Biocon, Colgate-Palmolive India, Punjab National Bank, Honeywell Automation India, Yes Bank, Star Health and Allied Insurance, Clean Science and Technology, Nuvoco Vistas Corp, Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC, GR Infraprojects, Aptus Value Housing Finance India and Devyani International — have been downgraded to mid-cap from large-cap. Stocks such as Gujarat Flurochemicals, Happiest Minds Technologies, Central Bank of India, Indian Energy Exchange, National Aluminium Co, Trident, Prestige Estates Projects, Grindwell Norton and CG Power and Industrial Solutions have been upgraded to mid-cap from small-cap.  The brokerage firm said that 32 new debutants were also included in the small-cap category, including Metro Brands, MedPlus Health Services, Latent View Analytics, Chemplast Sanmar, CE Info Systems, Glenmark Life Science, Sapphire Foods, Go Fashion, Ami Organics, RateGain Travel Tech, Supriya Lifescience, India Pesticides, CMS Info Systems, Fino Payments Bank, Rolex Rings, Paras Defence and Space Tech, Anand Rathi Wealth, and Shriram Properties among others. Meanwhile, the brokerage firm has downgraded 20 stocks to small-cap from mid-cap. They include The Phoenix Mills, Alembic Pharma, Manappuram Finance, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, Exide Industries, Blue Dart Express, Wabco India, Apollo Tyres, Bank of Maharashtra, Affle India, Indigo Paints, RBL Bank, and Jubilant Pharmova among others.

Coal India misses target, April-December capex up 37.4% y-o-y

Coal India Ltd (CIL) reported a 37.4% year-on-year increase in capital expenditure in the nine months ended December at Rs 10,717 crore but fell short of the internal target for the period. Coal India has been pressed to raise output because Indian utilities face a serious shortage in the second half of 2021. The state-owned coal company had set a capex target of Rs 17,000 crore for the current fiscal year. “The capex scale-up comes at a time when the Centre has been exhorting the public sector entities to step up their annual capex. CIL’s capex spend during the referred period marks 86.3% of the progressive target achievement,” the company said. The firm fell short of its capex estimate of Rs 12,421 crore for the period. According to a Coal India official, capex activity normally goes up in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year, and the firm is confident of meeting the yearly target.

Delhi High Court dismisses Future Group’s petition to halt arbitration with Amazon

Future Retail and its promoters have filed appeals before the division bench of the Delhi High Court challenging the order passed on January 04, 2022, that dismissed Future group’s petitions for termination of the Amazon arbitration. The Delhi High Court has dismissed the pleas moved by Future Group companies seeking a direction to the arbitration tribunal, adjudicating Amazon’s objections against Future Group’s deal with Reliance, to take a decision on their application for terminating the arbitration proceedings before moving any further. Future Retail offers food and grocery categories, fresh fruits and vegetables, meat and poultry, dairy products, staples, FMCG and processed foods, electronics and appliances, clothing and footwear, furniture and furnishing, and other household articles.

ICICI Bank facilitates payment of customs duty online

ICICI Bank has launched a facility for its retail and corporate customers to pay customs duty digitally. The customers can make online payments by selecting ICICI Bank from the list of banks on the website of Indian Customs Electronic Gateway (ICEGATE). Retail customers can do so through the Bank’s retail internet banking platform, while corporate customers can pay customs duty through the Bank’s Corporate Internet Banking (CIB) and mobile banking app InstaBIZ. ICICI Bank is a leading private sector bank in India.

Geojit has launched a platform for loans against shares

Geojit Credits, an NBFC, and subsidiary of Geojit Financial Services, on Wednesday launched its digital platform to offer loans against shares (LAS). With the launch of the digital platform, Geojit Credits becomes the first company to disburse LAS digitally to any demat account holder registered with NSDL. The platform was formally launched by Padmaja Chunduru, Managing Director of National Securities Depository Ltd, in the presence of CJ George, Founder and Managing Director of Geojit, A Balakrishnan, Executive Director of Geojit, and Prashant Vagal, Executive Vice-President of NSDL, at a function held in Kochi.

Gaming company Zupee announces partnership with Reliance Jio

Skill-based casual gaming company Zupee announced a partnership with Jio Platforms Limited with an aim to roll out more games in multiple languages. Zupee which has over 70 million downloads in India will be using the new capital raised to grow its reach. It will also utilize the funds to develop new products, enhance design experiences, expand into new geographies, ramp up marketing, reach, penetration, research and innovation, and hire top talent. The games will be distributed to all the Jio and Jio Phone customers.

Bulk Deal data

MCAP India Fund sold 2.5 lakh equity shares in Ganesha Ecosphere at Rs 535.73 per share on the NSE, and 1.5 lakh shares at Rs 535.42 on the BSE, the bulk deals data showed.

S K Growth Fund sold 10 lakh shares in Vishwaraj Sugar Industries at Rs 25.35 per share on the NSE, the bulk deals data showed.

Axis Bank offloaded 38 lakh shares in Orient Green Power Company at Rs 22.4 per share on the NSE and sold 45 lakh shares at Rs 22.8 per share on the BSE, the bulk deals data showed.

DII and FII data

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) purchased shares worth a net Rs 336.83 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1,271.95 crore in the Indian equity market on January 5, as per provisional data available on the NSE.

NSE F&O Ban

No security has been put under the F&O ban for January 6. 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.