Indices open on firm note; breadth strong

Local stocks are trading firm in early trade on buying demand in index pivotals. At 9:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 357.81 points or 0.74% at 48,451.13. The Nifty 50 index was up 112.35 points or 0.79% at 14,249.70.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.59%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.9%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, is strong. On the BSE, 1687 shares rose and 498 shares fell. A total of 94 shares were unchanged.

On the macro front, the central government projects the country's economy to contract by 7.7% in the current fiscal year 2020-21, as per the first advance estimates of gross domestic product released by the National Statistical Office on 7 January 2021.

Stocks in news:

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) rose 1.44%. TCS will declare its December 2020 quarter earnings today, 8 January 2021.

Biocon rose 1.84%. Biocon announced that the board of its subsidiary Biocon Biologics has approved a primary equity investment by Abu Dhabi based ADQ (ADQ), one of the region's largest holding companies. As per the terms of the proposed agreement, ADQ will invest Rs 555 crore for a 1.80% minority stake in the biosimilar business, valuing Biocon Biologics at a post money valuation of about $4.17 billion.

Bharat Rasayan jumped 8.09%. Bharat Rasayan said that a meeting of the board of directors of the company will be held on 12 January 2021 to consider the proposal of buyback of equity shares of the company.

Strides Pharma Science fell 1.77%. Strides Pharma Science announced that Aditya Puri has joined the Strides Group as an Advisor and also will be a Director of its associate company, Stelis Biopharma (Stelis).

AGC Networks (AGC) fell 1.09%. CRISIL has assigned its 'CRISIL BBB-/Stable' rating on the long-term bank facilities of AGC Networks (AGC).

Global Markets:

Overseas, Asian stocks are trading mixed on Friday trade after stocks on Wall Street cruised to new record highs overnight. Shares of South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor soared following reports of a deal between the firm and Cupertino-based tech giant Apple on developing electric vehicles and batteries.

In US, stocks rose to all-time highs on Thursday as the U.S. Congress confirmed the election of Joe Biden as president early Thursday, a day after supporters of Donald Trump invaded the U.S. Capitol. Thursday marked the Nasdaq's first-ever close above 13,000. It was also the first time the Dow and S&P 500 ended a session above 31,000 and 3,800, respectively.

Traders continued to focus on the possibility for additional fiscal aid after the Democratic party secured a slim majority in the Senate, giving it control of both congressional chambers.

Sentiment on Wall Street also got a boost after the Institute for Supply Management said its index for nonmanufacturing activity in the U.S. rose to 57.2 in December from 55.9 in November.

Back home, the main equity indices closed mildly lower on Thursday. The S&P BSE Sensex, fell 80.74 points or 0.17% at 48,093.32. The Nifty 50 index fell 8.90 points or 0.06% at 14,137.35.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 382.30 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net sellers to the tune of Rs 989.50 crore in the Indian equity market on 7 January, provisional data showed.

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