Domestic Equity Markets ended Flat today; Sensex ended at record closing high of 47,751 & Nifty 50 settled at 13,981.75

Domestic equity barometers ended near the flat line on Thursday, December 31, 2020, the last day of the calendar year 2020, following a volatile session. The S&P BSE Sensex added 5.11 points or 0.01 per cent to close at record closing high of 47,751.33. Nifty 50 was successful in claiming the 14000 mark but closed below it. The Nifty 50 index lost 0.20 points as it closed at 13,981.75. Nifty Bank declined 39 points or 0.12 per cent to settle at 31,264.05.

The broader market at the BSE, the BSE Small-Cap index advanced 0.36 per cent, while the Mid-Cap index gained 0.20 per cent.

Buyers outpaced sellers. On the BSE, 1764 shares rose and 1242 shares fell. In the case of the Nifty 50 index, 22 shares advanced and 28 declined. The top five shares that advanced on Nifty 50 include HDFC (up 1.27 per cent), Sun Pharma (up 1.10 per cent), Divi's Laboratories (up 1.01 per cent), ICICI Bank (up 0.99 per cent) and Asian Paint (up 0.96 per cent). The top five losers were Shree Cement (down 2.44 per cent), TCS (down 1.52 per cent), UltraTech Cement (down 1.41 per cent), Bharti Airtel (down 1.29 per cent) and Grasim (down 1.17 per cent).

COVID-19 Update

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide were at 8,27,09,354 with 18,05,035 deaths. India reported 2,57,656 active cases of Covid-19 infection and 1,48,738 deaths while 98,60,280 patients have been discharged.

India's Current Account Surplus Shrank

As per Reserve Bank of India, India's current account surplus shrank to $15.5 billion in the July-September quarter from a record $19.2 billion in April-June as its merchandise trade deficit grew. The surplus was at 2.4 per cent of GDP in the latest quarter, compared with a deficit of $7.6 billion, or 1.1 per cent of GDP, in the same period a year ago.

Chinese Factory Activity

China on Thursday said its factory activity expanded in December. The country's official manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for December came in at 51.9, data showed. That was a slight decline compared to November's reading of 52.1. Still, the December figure was above the 50-level that separates expansion from contraction. The US trade deficit in goods climbed to $84.8 billion in November from $80.4 billion the month before. Pending home sales slid 2.6 per cent in November.