Nifty hovers near 13,200; PSU banks in demand

The benchmark indices extended gains and traded near the day's high in morning trade. At 10:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 209.57 points or 0.47% to 44,827.61. The Nifty 50 index added 57.35 points or 0.44% to 13,171.10.

In the broader markets outperformed the benchmarks. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose by 0.76% each.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1735 shares rose and 656 shares fell. A total of 137 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 357.35 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net sellers to the tune of Rs 1,635.97 crore in the Indian equity market on 2 December 2020, provisional data showed.

Coronavirus Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 64,447,657 with 1,491,559 deaths. India reported 422,943 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 138,648 deaths while 8,973,373 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty PSU Bank index jumped 4.73% to 1,671.75. The index had shed 0.44% yesterday.

Canara Bank (up 7.33%), Bank of Baroda (up 6.47%), Indian Bank (up 5.80%), Punjab National Bank (up 5.60%), Bank of Maharashtra (up 5.14%), CBI (up 4.49%), Union Bank of India (up 4.08%), Bank of India (up 3.90%), SBI (up 3.40%), Indian Overseas Bank (up 3.27%), UCO Bank (up 3.23%) and Jammu and Kashmir Bank (up 1.49%) advanced.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) shed 0.35% to Rs 215.60. Indian Gas Exchange (IGX), a wholly owned subsidiary of IEX, on Thursday announced that it has secured the necessary authorization to operate as a Gas Exchange as per the provisions of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board Regulations, 2020 for a period of 25 years. The regulatory authorization reaffirmed IGX's commitment to provide neutral, transparent price discovery platform and foster gas markets in the country.

Fermenta Biotech rose 2.96% to Rs 316.35. The company said that Fermenta Biotech USA, LLC, its wholly owned subsidiary, has acquired a 52% membership interest in AGD Nutrition, LLC. AGD Nutrition LLC is in the similar line of business as that of the company and Fermenta Biotech USA, LLC. The main purpose of acquisition is to facilitate exports and enhance company's footprint in North America. The aggregate consideration for the purchase of membership interest shall be $1,260,500.

Nava Bharat Ventures added 3.97% to Rs 57.60. The company has entered into a conversion agreement with Tata Steel Mining (TSML), wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Steel (TSL) for conversion of high carbon ferro chrome. The duration of the conversion agreement with TSML is from 1 December 2020 to 31 March 2025. The agreement postulates that the entire smelting capacity of the Odisha plant is dedicated to TSML to produce up to 70,000 metric tons of high carbon ferro chrome per annum. Thereby, the arrangement should provide long-term operational stability for the ferro alloy plant and associated captive power plant at Odisha, Nava Bharat said in a BSE filing.

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