Sensex hits record high; metal stocks correct

The BSE Sensex extended gains and hit a record high of 48,708.46 in mid-afternoon trade. The Nifty hovered near 14,300 mark. Barring the Nifty Metal index, all the sectoral indices on the NSE were trading in the green.

Global shares were upbeat amid hopes for an economic recovery later in the year. Traders bet that a new Democratic-controlled U.S. government would lead to heavy spending and borrowing to support the country's economic recovery. US President-elect Joe Biden is expected to move quickly to gain passage of $2,000 stimulus checks, along with expanded unemployment benefits, aid to state and local governments and additional relief for small businesses.

At 14:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, jumped 512.60 points or 1.1% at 48,622.92. The Nifty 50 index gained 158.20 points or 1.12% at 14,295.55.

Buying was broad based. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 0.67%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.54%.

Buyers outpaced sellers. On the BSE, 1,777 shares rose and 1,267 shares fell. A total of 155 shares were unchanged.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 8,80,51,477 with 18,98,655 deaths. India reported 2,25,449 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,50,570 deaths while 1,00,37,398 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Nearly a week after the government suspended the flights to and from the United Kingdom amid concerns over the new coronavirus strain, the two countries resumed normal flight operation from Friday.

According to reports, the first flight carrying 256 passengers arrived in the national capital from London today. The resumption of the normal flight operations comes nearly a week after the government suspended services between India and UK on December 23 over the new and more contagious strain of the virus.

Economy:

The central government on Thursday projected that the country's economy will 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. The agriculture sector estimate for FY 2021 stood at 3.4%. Also, mining estimate stood at -12.4% for FY21 against 3.1%(YoY) and nominal GDP estimate stood at -4.2%.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index slipped 0.75% to 3,523.70. The index rallied 5.15% in two days.

Hindalco Industries (down 1.78%), NMDC (down 1.52%), Tata Steel (down 1.39%), Steel Authority of India (down 0.83%) and Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (down 0.44%) declined.

Numbers To Track:

In the foreign exchange market, the partially convertible rupee fell to 73.3950 compared with its previous closing of 73.31.

The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper rose to 5.893% as compared to its previous close of 5.892%.

MCX Gold futures for 5 February 2021 settlement declined 1.21% to Rs 50,288.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, rose 0.21% to 89.980.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for March 2021 settlement rose 46 cents to $54.84 a barrel. The contract rose 0.15% to settle at $54.38 in the previous trading session.

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