BSE rises 118 points to close at an all-time high of 47,869; Sensex closes above 14,000 mark

Domestic equity benchmarks ended with decent gains on Friday, January 1, 2021, the first trading session of the New Year. The S&P BSE Sensex gained 117.65 points or 0.25 per cent to close at an all-time high of 47,868.98. The Nifty 50 index added 36.75 points or 0.26 per cent to settle above 14,000 level at 14,018.50. Nifty Bank lost 38.20 points or 0.12 per cent and closed lower at 31,225.85.

The broader market at the BSE also gained underperforming the Sensex. The Mid-Cap index rose 1.24 per cent while the Small-Cap index added 0.90 per cent.

Buyers outpaced sellers. On the BSE, 2043 shares rose and 953 shares fell. In the case of the Nifty 50 index, 35 shares advanced and 15 stocks declined. The five biggest gainers in Nifty 50 were Adani Ports (up 4.39 per cent), TCS (up 2.42 per cent), ITC (up 2.34 per cent), Mahindra & Mahindra (up 1.55 per cent) and State Bank of India (up 1.49 per cent). The top five losers were ICICI Bank (down 1.36 per cent), SBI Life (down 0.99 per cent), Hindalco (down 0.96 per cent), HDFC Bank (down 0.89 per cent) and Titan (down 0.58 per cent).

COVID-19 updates

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide were at 8,34,45,600 with 18,18,387 deaths. India reported 2,54,254 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,48,994 deaths while 98,83,461 patients have been discharged.

India's Fiscal Deficit Data

The government's fiscal deficit for April-November 2020 soared to Rs 10.76 lakh crore, or 135 per cent of the full-year budgeted target of Rs 7.96 lakh crore, as the government's finances continued to be stretched due to lower revenues arising from the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic slowdown. Expenditure for the period has been 62 per cent of the Budgeted estimate vs 65.3 per cent last year.

Contracting for the ninth consecutive month, the output of India's eight core infrastructure sectors dropped by 2.6 per cent in November, mainly due to decline in production of natural gas, refinery products, steel and cement. Production of eight core sectors had recorded a growth of 0.7 per cent in November 2019. Barring coal, fertiliser and electricity, all sectors recorded negative growth in November 2020. During April-November, the sectors' output dropped by 11.4 per cent as compared to a growth of 0.3 per cent in the same period of the previous year.

All eyes are on two US Senate races in Georgia next week that will determine control of the chamber and influence Democratic President-elect Joe Biden's ability to enact his agenda.