Barometers firm up amid volatility

Key benchmark indices came off day's low in afternoon trade. Buying emerged after China's Central Bank cut reserve requirement ratio by 50 basis points, aimed at supporting the economy.

The Nifty continued to march towards the 12,300 mark. At 13:24 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 39.21 points or 0.10% at 41,292.95. The Nifty 50 index was up 11.45 points or 0.09% at 12,179.90.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.29% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.57%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1179 shares rose and 887 shares fell. A total of 148 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 19 stocks advanced while 31 stocks declined.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (up 3.06%), Power Grid Corporation of India (up 1.60%), NTPC (up 1.30%), Wipro (up 0.96%) and Vedanta (up 0.75%) were the top gainers.

IndusInd Bank (down 1.38%), Eicher Motors (down 1.22%), Bharti Airtel (down 0.90%), Zee Entertainment Enterprises (down 0.79%) and GAIL (India) (down 0.58%) were the top drags.

Yes Bank slipped 0.11% to Rs 46.90. CARE downgraded the rating on infrastructure bonds to A/Negative {from A+ (Credit Watch with Developing implications) and Negative outlook assigned. The outlook for the ratings is Negative considering the uncertainty related to equity raising, which is critical for the bank to maintain adequate capital buffers over the minimum regulatory requirement as well as fund future growth of the bank.

Titan Company fell 2.26% to Rs 1160.75. CRISIL upgraded the company's Long Term Rating to CRISIL AAA from CRISIL AA+. Short Term Ratings were reaffirmed at CRISIL A1+. CRISIL maintained a stable outlook with an expectation that the company will improve over the medium term on account of dominant market position in jewellery retail segment, aided by healthy store additions and strong financial profile. In addition, watch segment is expected to witness healthy growth while sustaining the improvement in profitability.

Maruti Suzuki India was trading 0.47% lower at Rs 7332.40. The car major reported 11.5% decline in total auto sales to 1.33 lakh units in December 2019 compared with 1.50 lakh units in November 2018. Total sales, however, rose 3.9% last month compared with 1.28 lakh units in December 2018. Total domestic sales rose 3.5% to 1.25 lakh units while total exports sales jumped 10.2% to 7,561 units in December 2019 over December 2018.

Foreign Markets:

Markets in Asia, Europe and America are closed on account of the New Year holiday. China's central bank on Wednesday announced a decision to cut the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) for financial institutions by 50 basis points from 6 January, to support the development of the real economy.

Wall Street's major indexes edged higher on Tuesday on a renewed rally fuelled by trade optimism. US market remains shut on Wednesday for the New Year holiday.

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Phase 1 of trade deal with China would be signed on 15 January at the White House. Trump tweeted that he would sign the deal with high level representatives of China and that he would later travel to Beijing to begin talks on the next phase.

The Phase 1 deal, struck earlier this month, is expected to reduce tariffs and boost Chinese purchases of American farm, energy and manufactured goods while addressing some disputes over intellectual property.

In U.S. economic news, the October Case-Shiller home price index showed home prices rising by 3.3% in 20 major metropolitan areas across the U.S., up from a 3.2% rise in September.

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