The benchmark indices ended with steep losses on Friday with the Nifty slipping below its crucial 17,000 mark. Barring the Nifty IT index, all the sectoral indices on the NSE ended in the red.
The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, tumbled 889.40 points or 1.54% at 57,011.74. The Nifty 50 index lost 263.20 points or 1.53% at 16,985.20.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 2.42% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 2.07%.
The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,051 shares rose and 2,290 shares fell. A total of 98 shares were unchanged.
Concerns about the surging cases of omicron variant of the coronavirus, rising inflation and hawkish tone by the world's major central banks dented investors sentiment.
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The US central bank on Wednesday announced that it would put an end to its pandemic-era bond purchases in March and would raise the interest rates thrice in the upcoming year to battle growing inflation.
The Bank of England on Thursday raised interest rates and warned inflation was likely to hit 6% in April - three times its target level. The BoE cut its growth forecasts for December and the first quarter of 2022 because of the spread of Omicron.
However, the Bank of Japan on Friday maintained its target for short-term interest rates at minus 0.1% and said it would continue guiding the yield on 10-year Japanese government bonds to around zero.
Numbers to Track:
The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper rose to 6.411% as compared with 6.374% at close in the previous trading session.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 76.0675, compared with its close of 76.09 during the previous trading session.
MCX Gold futures for 4 February 2022 settlement rose 0.14% to Rs 48,715.
The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, rose 0.01% to 96.02.
In the commodities market, Brent crude for February 2022 settlement fell $1.21 at $73.80 a barrel.
Global Markets:
Shares in Europe and Asian were mixed on Friday, 17 December 2021, as concerns persisted about the spread of the omicron COVID-19 variant and the inflation outlook. The U.K. reported nearly 90,000 COVID-19 cases in a single day on Thursday, but daily deaths remain relatively stable.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden signed a debt ceiling increase into law on Thursday, ensuring the U.S. will not default on its debt for the first time ever. The measure lifts the government's borrowing limit by $2.5 trillion, which is expected to allow the U.S. to cover its obligations into 2023.
Meanwhile, the number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose last week despite signs that the U.S. labor market is rebounding from last year's coronavirus recession. Jobless claims rose by 18,000 to a 2,06,000, still low by historical standards. The four-week average, which smooths out week-to-week volatility, fell by 16,000 to less than 2,04,000, the lowest level since mid-November 1969, according Department of Labor figures released Thursday.
Altogether, 1.8 million Americans were receiving traditional jobless benefits the week that ended 4 December 2021, down by 1,54,000 from the previous week.
Buzzing Segment:
The Nifty IT index rose 1.35% to 36,647.90. The index rose 2.55% in two sessions.
Wipro (up 4.73%), Infosys (up 2.9%), Larsen & Toubro Infotech (up 1.61%), Mphasis (up 1.3%), HCL Technologies (up 0.88%) and Coforge (up 0.46%) advanced.
Persistent Systems advanced 3.57% after ATOSS, a Germany-based software provider for workforce management, selected the company to transform its customer relationship management with the help of Salesforce integrations. ATOSS will use the company's Salesforce platform to automate sales, integrate with existing back-end systems and introduce customer service and event management. Persistent will first implement Sales Cloud to replace and redefine the current sales and service processes at ATOSS.
Stocks in Spotlight:
KEC International rose 1.21% after the company secured new orders worth Rs 1,041 crore across its various businesses.
Bharti Airtel declined 2.35%. The telecom operator said that it has paid Rs 15,519 crore to the Department of Telecom (Government of India) towards prepayment of the entire deferred liabilities pertaining to spectrum acquired in auction of year 2014. The company had acquired 128.4 MHz spectrum (including Telenor spectrum) for a consideration of Rs 19,051 crore in the 2014 auction. The liabilities were due in annual instalments from FY 2026-2027 to 2031-2032 and carried an interest rate of 10% (the highest rate amongst the deferred liabilities and borrowings) and an average residual life of seven plus years.
Greenlam Industries rose 1.11% after the company said that it had received permission from the appropriate authority yesterday (16 December 2021) to resume manufacturing activity at its plant located in Behror, Rajasthan. The company further said that as per the applicable section of the Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Act, 2021, it has been allowed to run its manufacturing activity for 5 days per week (without any restrictions on number of hours per day).
New Listing:
Shares of Rategain Travel Technologies settled at Rs 340.50 on the BSE, at a discount of 19.88% as against the issue price of Rs 425. The scrip was listed at Rs 364.80, representing a discount of 14.16% to the initial public offer (IPO) price. The scrip hit a high of 382 and a low of 334.10 during the day. Over 7.58 lakh shares of the company changed hands in the counter.
The IPO of Rategain Travel Technologies was subscribed 17.41 times. The issue opened for bidding on 7 December 2021 and it closed on 9 December 2021. The price band of the IPO was fixed at Rs 405-425. The offer comprised of a fresh issue up to Rs 375 crore and an offer for sale of up to 2,26,05,530 equity shares.
Primary Market:
The initial public offer (IPO) of Supriya Lifescience received bids for over 7.43 crore shares as against 1.45 crore shares on offer, according to stock exchange data at 16:09 IST on Friday, (17 December 2021). The issue was subscribed 5.12 times.
The issue opened for bidding on 16 December 2021 and it will close on 20 December 2021. The price band of the IPO is fixed at Rs 265-274. An investor can bid for a minimum of 54 equity shares and in multiples thereof. The IPO comprises a fresh issue of upto Rs 200 crore and an Offer for Sale (OFS) of upto Rs 500 crore (including an anchor portions of 1,14,96,351 equity shares).
The IPO of HP Adhesives received bids for over 5.20 crore shares as against 25.28 lakh shares on offer, according to stock exchange data at 16:09 IST on Friday (17 December 2021). The issue was subscribed 20.59 times.
The issue opened for bidding on 15 December 2021 and it will close on 17 December 2021. The price band of the IPO is fixed at Rs 262-274. An investor can bid for a minimum of 50 equity shares and in multiples thereof. The Initial Public Offer (IPO) comprises up to 45,97,200 equity shares (including anchor portion of 20,68,700 equity shares).
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