Benchmarks hit day's high; RIL up 3%

Equity indices extended gains and hit the day's high in mid-morning trade. The Nifty traded above the 17,100 mark. IT and metal stocks bucked the broader market weakness.

At 11:26 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 466.65 points or 0.82% at 57,573.26. The Nifty 50 index added 114.9 points or 0.67% at 17,141.35.

The broader market underperformed the main indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index declined 0.47% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index lost 1.42%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 877 shares rose and 2,345 shares fell. A total of 175 shares were unchanged.

Winter Session of Parliament:

The Winter Session of Parliament will begin from today. It is scheduled to conclude on 23rd December. The Session will spread over a period of 25 days and will have 19 sittings. Thirty-Six Bills and one financial item have been identified for being taken up during the Session.

Today, Farm Laws Repeal Bill 2021 has been listed for introduction and passing in the Lok Sabha. The Bill will repeal the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 and to amend the Essential Commodities Act, 1955.

Other important Bills which are listed in business schedule include the Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy (Second Amendment) Bill and the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill.

The Electricity (Amendment) Bill, The National Anti-Doping Bill and the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (Amendment) Bill will also be taken up during the session.

In Financial Business, the Second Batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants for the 2021-22 has been listed for discussion and voting. Three bills will also be taken up to replace the ordinances promulgated during inter-session.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty IT index added 0.94% to 34,893, outperforming the sectoral indices on the NSE. The index slumped 1.97% in previous trading session.

HCL Tech (up 2.62%), TCS (up 1.54%), Larsen & Toubro Infotech (up 1.06%), Wipro (up 0.85%) and Infosys (up 0.8%) and Coforge (up 0.27%) were top gainers in IT space.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Reliance Industries jumped 3.37% after Reliance Jio hiked tariff plans for prepaid users by 20%. The tariff hike will be effective from 1st December 2021. The base tariff voice plan with a validity of 28 days will cost Rs 91 from Rs 75 earlier. The cheapest unlimited voice bundle plan with a validity of 28 days will cost Rs 155 from Rs 129 earlier. The pack consists of unlimited calling, 300 SMS, 2GB data/month. The premium unlimited voice bundle plan with a validity of 365 days will cost Rs 2879 from Rs 2399 earlier. The pack consists of unlimited calling, 100 SMS/day, 2GB data/day.

Gujarat Alkalies & Chemicals (GACL) rose 0.88% to Rs 610.55 after the company said its product, Ortho Phosphoric Acid, has been granted license by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), with effective from 24 November 2021. GACL said it is the first Indian company to get license for Ortho Phosphoric Acid under this compulsory registration scheme.

Ortho Phosphoric Acid is used to make phosphate salts for fertilizers. It is also used in dental cements, in the preparation of albumin derivatives, and in the sugar and textile industries.

Global Markets:

Asian stocks were trading lower on Monday as investors in the region continue to watch for developments surrounding the recently discovered omicron Covid variant. Britain and European countries have restricted travel from southern Africa, where the variant was detected.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said in a Sunday statement that it was still unclear whether infection with the omicron Covid variant causes more severe disease as compared with other strains, including delta.

U.S. stocks dropped sharply on Friday as a new Covid variant found in South Africa triggered a global shift away from risk assets. Friday was a shortened trading day because of the Thanksgiving holiday.

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