Barometers near day's high; breadth positive

The benchmarks indices regained vigor and were trading near the day's high in afternoon trade. The Nifty index reclaimed 13,700 while S&P BSE Sensex hovered above 46,800 mark. Barring the IT index and the Media index, all the other sectoral indices on the NSE were in the green.

At 13:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, jumped 424.28 points or 0.91% at 46,868.46. The Nifty 50 index gained 119.25 points or 0.88% at 13,720.35.

The broader market lagged the benchmarks. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 0.32%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.61%.

Buyers outpaced sellers. On the BSE, 1,615 shares rose and 1,197 shares fell. A total of 151 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 34 stocks advanced while 16 stocks declined.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 7,87,12,623 with 17,30,766 deaths. India reported 2,83,849 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,46,756 deaths while 96,93,173 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Economy:

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the proposal for revision of the guidelines for obtaining license for providing Direct-To-Home (DTH) broadcasting service in India. License for the DTH will be issued for a period of 20 years in place of present 10 years. Further the period of License may be renewed by 10 years at a time. License fee has been revised from 10% of GR to 8% of AGR. AGR will be calculated by deduction of GST from GR. License Fee will be collected on quarterly basis in lieu of presently annual basis.

Gainers & Losers:

Tata Motors (up 4.37%), ONGC (up 3.47%), Axis Bank (up 3.07%), Bajaj Auto (up 2.59%) and SBI Life Insurance Company (up 2.52%) were major gainers in Nifty 50 index.

Infosys (down 1.40%), Nestle India (down 1.35%), Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) (down 0.90%), Shree Cement (down 0.77%) and HCL Technologies (down 0.71%) were major losers in Nifty 50 index.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Aurobindo Pharma gained 0.79%. Aurobindo Pharma and US-based COVAXX have entered into an exclusive license agreement to develop, commercialize and manufacture UB-612, the first multitope peptide-based vaccine to fight COVID-19, for India and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) agency.

Under the signed agreement, Aurobindo Pharma has obtained the exclusive rights to develop, manufacture and sell COVAXX's UB-612 vaccine in India and to UNICEF, as well as non-exclusive rights in other select emerging and developing markets.

Zee Media Corporation fell 0.16%. The board of Zee Media Corporation approved the terms of raising of fund through issuance and allotment of up to 2,500, 9% p.a. unrated, unlisted, secured, redeemable NCDs bearing a face value of Rs 10 lakh each for cash at par, aggregating to up to Rs 250 crore in one or more series, on a private placement basis.

Global Markets:

European stocks opened higher as traders grew optimistic regarding a hopeful Brexit trade deal. Britain and the European Union are said to be on the cusp of striking a post-Brexit trade deal on Thursday.

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to speak with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Johnson is then expected to hold a news conference.

Most Asian markets were trading higher on Thursday. Shares of Chinese tech giant Alibaba in the spotlight following reports that Chinese regulators will probe the firm for suspected monopolistic behavior.

In US, the S&P 500 closed barely in positive territory on Wednesday as an expected stimulus deal and falling jobless claims prompted investors to put their money into sectors most likely to benefit from the economy re-opening when it recovers from the global health crisis.

The number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits totaled a seasonally adjusted 803,000 for the week ended December 19, compared to 892,000 in the prior week, the Labor Department said on Wednesday.

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