Markets close 2021 on a positive note; Sensex surges 460 points & Nifty ends at 17,354

Domestic equity benchmarks on Friday, December 31, 2021, ended with decent gains on the last trading day of 2021. The S&P BSE Sensex rose 459.50 points or 0.80 per cent to 58,253.82. The Nifty 50 index added 150.10 points or 0.87 per cent to settle at 17,354.05. In the sectoral indices at the NSE, the Nifty Bank index closed with a gain of 418.10 points or 1.19 per cent at 35,481.70.

The broader markets at the BSE outperformed the Sensex with the S&P BSE MidCap rising 1.38 per cent and S&P BSE SmallCap adding 1.16 per cent.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2439 shares rose and 947 shares fell. On the Nifty 50 index at the NSE, 45 shares advanced and 5 shares declined. The top five gainers on the Nifty 50 index were Hindalco (up 5.58 per cent), Titan (up 3.29 per cent), UltraTech Cement (2.78 per cent), Tata Motors (up 2.64 per cent) and Kotak Bank (up 2.42 per cent). The top five losers were NTPC (down 1.97 per cent), Cipla (down 0.91 per cent), Tech Mahindra (down 0.44 per cent), Power Grid (down 0.41 per cent) and SBI Life (down 0.02 per cent).

CMS Info Systems Listing: CMS Info Systems shares made a tepid debut at the Indian stock market today. The public issue of the cash management company opened at Rs 220.20 on NSE, near 2 per cent higher than its issue price of Rs 216 per equity share. However, at the close, the stock ended higher at Rs 241 per share at NSE, at a premium of 11.57 per cent over the issue price. The stock was listed at Rs 218.50, a gain of 1.15 per cent against the issue price of Rs 216 at the BSE. It closed 9.91 per cent higher at Rs 237.40.

COVID-19 Update

India's active caseload is currently at 91,361. Active cases account for less than 1 per cent of total cases, currently at 0.26 per cent. The recovery rate currently was at 98.36 per cent. India reported 7,585 recoveries in the last 24 hours, which increases total recoveries to 3,42,66,363. A total of 16,764 new cases were reported in India in the last 24 hours. The daily positivity rate (1.34 per cent) is less than 2 per cent for the last 88 days. The weekly positivity rate (0.89 per cent) is less than 1 per cent for the last 47 days. According to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday, the country recorded 961 cases of the Omicron variant of Coronavirus across 22 states and UTs so far.

Registration for vaccination of Covid jabs in the age group of 15 to 18 years will begin on the Cowin portal from tomorrow. Health Ministry has said that beneficiaries can also avail a walk-in registration facility. AIR correspondent reports, Prime Minister in his address to the nation on 25th of this month said, vaccination for the age group of 15 to 18 years is scheduled to begin from third of next month.

Economy

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman chaired the pre-budget consultations with the Finance Ministers of States and Union Territories for Union Budget 2022-23 in New Delhi Yesterday. The meeting was attended by the Union Minister of State for Finance, Chief Ministers, Deputy Chief Ministers, Finance Ministers, Ministers and Senior Officers from the States and Union Territories and the Union Government.

The Finance Secretary welcomed all the participants to the deliberation and informed the importance of this particular consultation meeting. Most of the participants thanked the Union Finance Minister for financially supporting their States and Union Territories during the worst months of the pandemic, by enhancing borrowing limits, providing back-to-back loans to States and through special assistance for capital expenditure. The participants also gave numerous suggestions to the Union Finance Minister for inclusion in the Budget Speech. Ms Sitharaman thanked the participants for their inputs and suggestions towards Union Budget 2022-23 and assured to examine each of the proposals.

On the data front, new claims for US unemployment benefits fell in the week leading up to Christmas and benefits rolls slid to their lowest level of the coronavirus pandemic era the week earlier, the Labour Department said on Thursday. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped to a seasonally adjusted 198,000 for the week ended December 25.