Strong market breadth; most Asian stocks advance

Key indices were trading near the day's low in mid-morning trade. At 11:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 153.69 points or 0.34% to 44,501.75. The Nifty 50 index lost 23.40 points or 0.18% to 13,085.65. Strong gains in the previous session encouraged traders to book profits.

The broader market was trading firm. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 0.43% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.66%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1601 shares rose and 973 shares fell. A total of 148 shares were unchanged.

GST Collections:

Gross revenues from the Goods and Services Tax (GST) crossed the Rs 1 lakh crore mark for the second month in a row, with Rs 1,04,963 crore collected in November 2020. This was 1.4% higher than a year ago but a tad lower than October's collections.

Coronavirus Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 63,770,421 with 1,478,923 deaths. India reported 435,603 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 137,621 deaths while 8,889,585 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty IT index slipped 0.54% to 22,051. The index advanced 1.87% yesterday.

Larsen & Toubro Infotech (down 1.77%), Tech Mahindra (down 1.37%), Info Edge India (down 1.30%), Infosys (down 1.22%) and TCS (down 0.45%) declined.

Meanwhile, Wipro (up 1.46%), HCL Tech (up 1.07%) and MindTree (up 0.60%) bucked the trend.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Phoenix Mills jumped 12.60% to Rs 776.40 after company, along with its subsidiaries, signed a non-binding term-sheet with an affiliate of GIC to create a strategic, retail-led mixed-use platform.

KDDL shed 0.48% to Rs 185.10. The watch components maker has acquired 50,000 fully paid equity shares of Rs 10 each at Rs 250 per share from the existing shareholder of Ethos. Post the above acquisition, consolidated shareholding of KDDL (directly and indirectly through its subsidiary, Mahen Distribution) in Ethos has increased from 74.80% to 75.08%, KDDL said in a statement on Tuesday.

Global markets:

Overseas, most Asian stocks advanced on Wednesday amid hopes of additional US economic stimulus and a earlier-than-expected rollout of the coronavirus vaccine.

In the United States, the main stock indices jumped on Tuesday, adding to their sharp gains from the previous month. The Dow climbed 185 points, helped by a 3% jump in Apple's stock. The 30-stock average hit an intraday record in Tuesday's session. The S&P 500 climbed 1.13% to close at a record high. The Nasdaq Composite also notched a new record, closing up 1.28%, as the mega-cap tech stocks all closed in the green.

Sentiment got a boost after a group of lawmakers unveiled a $908 billion stimulus plan, however, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell rejected the proposal later in the day. Still, investors are hopeful for a second stimulus package.

Meanwhile, Pfizer and BioNTech have reportedly applied to the European Medicines Agency for conditional marketing authorization of their coronavirus vaccine. If authorization is granted, it could enable use of the vaccine in Europe this month.

Despite the positive vaccine data, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell called the economic outlook extraordinarily uncertain on Tuesday when he and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spoke before Congress this week as part of mandated updates on CARES Act funding. Mnuchin did call on Congress for $300 billion in aid for restaurants heading into the winter months.

In US economic data, the IHS Markit final manufacturing purchasing managers index reading for November was unchanged at 56.7 from its initial reading. The Institute for Supply Management's November manufacturing index slipped to 57.5% from an October reading of 59.3%.

Crude oil prices were lower in the morning of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures down 0.57% to $46.95 per barrel.

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