Market Ahead, November 18: All you need to know before the opening bell

Global brokerage firm Morgan Stanley expects the benchmark Sensex top the 50,000 milestone by end of next year. The brokerage believes the economic growth cycle is not fully priced in. It has revised upwards the earnings per share (EPS) estimate for Sensex. Earlier, the brokerage had a target of 37,300 for June 2021.

Besides, Goldman Sachs on Tuesday upgraded its India GDP forecast to a contraction of 10.3 per cent in FY21, as against its earlier estimate of a negative growth of 14.8 per cent. The US-based firm said developments on the vaccine front -- where two candidates have posted satisfactory progress -- will be very helpful in the recovery.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday proposed to merge private sector lender Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB) with the India subsidiary of Singapore’s DBS Bank, even as LVB was put under moratorium for at least a month by the government.

Further, the Piramal group revised its offer for Dewan Housing Finance Corporation’s (DHFL’s) retail book on Tuesday. Oaktree Capital, which had last week revised its offer for all assets of DHFL to Rs 31,000 crore, did not make any further revision.

With this, the Adani group remains the highest bidder for all assets of DHFL, with its bid of Rs 31,250 crore.

Global cues:
 

In the overnight trade, US stocks retreated from record closing highs on Tuesday, ending lower as surging Covid-19 cases, the growing threat of a fresh round of economic lockdowns and weak retail sales data dampened the euphoria caused by potential vaccine breakthroughs.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Tuesday it was not time to shut down emergency programs aimed at battling the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, with cases again surging and the economy left with “a long way to go” to recover.

Asian equities, too, were set for a sluggish open on Wednesday, tracking a lower Wall Street session. At 07:23 AM, Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) traded 30.5 points, or 0.24 per cent at 12,903.20 levels, indicating a muted start for the Indian market on Wednesday.

In commodities, oil prices edged lower in post-settlement trade on Tuesday.

Back home, shares of Wipro may remain in focus today as the IT services major on Tuesday said its shareholders have approved up to Rs 9,500 crore share buyback plan at Rs 400 per share.