Closing Bell: Sensex, Nifty end flat; mid, smallcaps outperform

After The Bell: Nifty Closes Flat After Hitting 14k, What Should Investors Do On Friday?

The charts clearly suggest that the short-term trend is still up but an intraday correction can't be ruled out if the index trades below 13,935.... Read More

Gainers & Losers: 10 Stocks That Moved The Most On December 31

BSE midcap index rose 0.20 percent and the smallcap index climbed 0.36 percent, outperforming the benchmark Sensex.... Read More

In a choppy trading session, the Indian markets traded in a tight range amid stable global cues. Investors would await the auto sales numbers and PMI data as it would help in gauging the economic recovery. Further, global cues are likely to dictate the trend for the markets in the near-term. We reiterate our cautious stance on the markets.

Markets reached an all-time high on the final day of a tumultuous 2020 which was filled with deep market corrections and unexpected rebounds.

However, the European markets lost steam on the final trading day owing to the pandemic and reports regarding an increased tariff on EU products by the United States.

Despite the havoc created by the COVID-19 pandemic, the economy is expected to recover in 2021 giving a boost to the equity markets in addition to upgrades in corporate earnings.

On the last day of the December F&O expiry series, the benchmark index Nifty hit yet another all-time high of 14,024.85. The BSE Sensex also registered a fresh all-time high of 47,896.97. In this month the Sensex rallied near 8 percent. A sharp rally from 44000 to 47800 clearly suggests bulls are in total control and heading towards 48000-48500.

Technically, post strong uptrend rally, the index has formed a small body Doji kind of reversal formation near an important resistance level. The texture of charts clearly suggests the short-term trend is still up but the strong possibility of intraday correction is not ruled out if the index trade below 13,935.

For the trend following traders 13,935 should be the sacrosanct level to watch. Trading below the same we can expect quick correction up to 13,875-13,850 On the flip side, 14,025 would be the immediate hurdle for the day traders, above the same we could expect further uptrend till 14,075-14,125.

Market benchmarks Sensex and Nifty ended flat on December 31. Sensex closed at 47,751.33, with a nominal gain of 5 points, or 0.01 percent. Nifty closed the day absolutely flat at 13,981.75.

BSE Midcap index rose 0.20 percent and the Smallcap index climbed 0.36 percent, outperforming the benchmark Sensex.

We see markets behaving differently in the first half and second half of CY21. Q3 earnings season could turn to be strong due to healthy advance tax figures and also lead to some earnings upgrades.

We can expect Nifty to go anywhere between the 14,000 & 15,000 range sometime in the first quarter of CY21. Post Budget and Q4 result season, we expect markets to go into some kind of consolidation phase and witness time correction.

We expect moderation in monetary policies and rising yields scenario in H2CY21, which will lead to mean reversion of valuations towards 10/15 year averages.

We have used the previous 15 years peak of 19 times Fw PE multiple to value the Nifty50 to derive at our CY21 end target. We expect Nifty50 to end CY21 somewhere near 13,500 and BSE Sensex to end at near 46,000.

Gold has been rising for the last few years and the rally exacerbated this year owing to COVID-19. Gold surged to a record high level of near $2080/oz in August 2020. However, it witnessed a correction of about 15 percent reaching a low of near $1770/oz in late November, before recovering back to currently traded $1880/oz.

The recent sell-off has been mainly due to profit-taking amid hopes of a COVID -19 vaccine and year-end position squaring.

Although it has slightly dented market sentiment, the overall outlook for gold is still upbeat. Escalating virus situation is proving to be a challenge for the global economic recovery.

Apart from this, lower interest rates worldwide and the US dollar's downtrend might prove positive for the yellow metal.

Currently, gold spot is flirting near $1900/oz. A sustained break might be seen in 2021 which might push the prices to $1980/oz and then $2050/oz.

Serum Institute of India (SII) has stockpiled 75 million doses of AstraZeneca-Oxford University COVID-19 vaccine and will be increasing it to 100 million doses by the first week of January.

"Nobody has this much stock of the product, ... everybody is looking at us for supplies," Umesh Shaligram, Director, Research and Development of SII said at a webinar organised by the Department of Biotechnology.

"As soon as we have emergency use authorization (EUA) we will be able to supply," Shaligram said.

Adar Poonawalla, the CEO of Serum Institute, earlier said that 50 percent of the vaccine supplies would go to India and the rest would go to COVAX, the WHO's programme to deliver COVID-19 vaccine to poorer countries. However, during the initial months, India would prioritise supplies.

PSU Stocks Underperform Broader Market; Can 2021 Be A Turnaround Year?

Gaurav Garg, Head of Research at CapitalVia Global Research believes 2021 might be a turn-around year for PSU stocks, but investors need to be very specific in selecting PSUs.... Read More

: Crude oil prices traded weak with benchmark NYMEX WTI crude oil were trading marginal down to USD 48.30 per barrel on Thursday. MCX Crude oil January futures were trading steady at Rs 3,534 by noon. We expect crude oil prices to trade sideways to up with support at USD 47 and resistance at USD 49.50. MCX Crude oil January has support at Rs 3,490 and resistance at Rs 3,590.

Shares of Bharti Airtel fell almost 2 percent after Reliance Jio Infocomm said it will make domestic calls free from January 1, after interconnect usage charges (IUC) on such services end. "Honouring its commitment to revert off-net domestic voice-call charges to zero, as soon as IUC charges are abolished, Jio will once again make all off-net domestic voice calls free, starting 1st January 2021. On-net domestic voice calls have always been free on the Jio network," Reliance Jio said in a statement.