Flat start for Sensex, Nifty

The indices to open on a flat note.  Asian stocks declined after a three-day rally as investors adopted a cautious tone ahead of key events from OPEC talks to the US jobs report and Italy's referendum. Nikkei 225 and Shanghai Composite are trading in red, while Hang Seng is marginally up.

Wall Street declined on Monday, weighed down by a pullback in the financial and consumer discretionary sectors as some investors booked profits on the heels of a record-setting week. The Dow had ended Monday down 0.28%, while the S&P 500 lost 0.53% and the Nasdaq 0.56%. The S&P 500 posted 21 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 180 new highs and 23 new lows.

The US dollar took a breather on Tuesday as global bonds steadied from their recent rout, while equities flatlined as political risk resurfaced in Europe ahead of a referendum in Italy this weekend.

Sheela Foam Ltd. allots 20.96 lakh equity shares at Rs 730 per share aggregating to Rs 153 crore to 14 Anchor Investors.

Among the stocks to watch are:

Tata Steel: Tata Steel UK has signed a letter of intent with Liberty House to sell its UK speciality steel business, the company said in a statement on Monday. The deal, which also covers several South-Yorkshire based assets, is being pegged at an enterprise value of £100 million. 

Sun Pharma:  Sun Pharma launched BromSite solution, marked for treatment of postoperative inflammation and prevention of ocular pain in patients undergoing cataract surgery, in the US market.

Triveni Engineering & Industries: Triveni Engineering & Industries reported 120% increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 65 crore for the quarter ended September 30.

Gokul Solutions: The company reported a net profit of Rs 1 crore for the half year ended September 30, 2016 against net profit of Rs 7 crore in the corresponding period last year.

Oil India:  The company has posted a net profit of Rs 580 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2016 as compared to Rs 706 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2015.

Tata Power: The company will announce its Q2 numbers today.

Himachal Futuristic Communications: The company has informed bourses that the board has declared first interim dividend of Rs 3.25 per share on 80,50,000 cumulative redeemable preference shares (CRPS) of Rs 100 each for the financial year 2016-17.

JSW Steel: JSW Steel has joined one of two investor groups vying to take over Italy's loss-making Ilva steel plant, as per media report.

Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd: The company has raised Rs5bn by issuing debentures on a private placement basis.

Timken India: The company reported 41% increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 30 crore for the quarter ended September 30.

Jagran Prakashan: The company has informed bourses that its subsidiary, MBL has filed its draft red herring prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Board of India on November 28, 2016 in order to undertake an initial public offering (IPO). The IPO will comprise of a fresh issue aggregating upto Rs 4,000 million and an offer for sale of upto 2,658,518 equity shares by certain existing shareholders of MBL.

Mahanagar Gas: Mahanagar Gas registered a net profit of Rs 102.24 crore, up 41%, against Rs 72.57 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

Sadbhav Engineering: Sadbhav Engineering posted a net profit after tax of Rs 18.5 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2016 as compared to Rs 27.8 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2015.

Sagar Cements: The Board at its meeting held on November 28, 2016 inter-alia, fixed an issue price of Rs 800 per equity share (which includes a premium of Rs 790 per share) for the 6,11,986 equity shares of Rs 10 each of the company being issued for cash on a preferential basis, subject to receipt of further necessary approvals as may be required.

Suzlon Group: The company has announced that it has bagged a 50.40MW wind power project from a leading business house to be executed in Andhra Pradesh.

Trends in FII flows: The DIIs were net buyers of Rs 12.33 bn in the cash segment on Monday. The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers of Rs 14.36 bn as per the provisional figures released by the NSE.

Results: Tata Power, National Fertilizers, Kanoria Chemicals & Industries, Tamil Nadu Newsprint & Papers, Wanbury.

Sensex, Nifty end flat; Airtel zooms 6%

Closing Bell:

The BSE Sensex ended with a gain of 34 points at 26,350. The benchmark indices opened at 26,304 touched an intra-day high of 26,414 and low of 26,183.

The NSE Nifty closed 13 points higher at 8,127 points. it opened at 8,081 points, hitting a high of 8,147 and low of 8,067.

Live Market:

The domestic market are trading flat due to lack of directional cues from global markets.The Indian stock market has opened in red as the SENSEX is down 118.97 points, while the NIFTY 50 is down 39.25 points. Banking stocks slip in opening trade after RBI hikes CRR on incremental deposits. The central bank hopes to curtail surging banking system liquidity that risks stocking inflation.

At 1:24 PM, the S&P BSE Sensex is trading at 26,333, up 17 points, while NSE Nifty is trading at 8,136 up 22 points. Out of 1,889 stocks traded on the NSE, 400 declined, 1,150 advanced and 339 remained unchanged today. 

A total of 17 stocks registered a fresh 52-week high in trade today, while 13 stocks touched a new 52-week low on the NSE.

The BSE Mid-cap Index is trading up 0.69% at 12,267, whereas BSE Small-cap Index is trading up 0.82% at 12,127.

Power Grid, BPCL, Idea Cellular, Bharti Airtel and Hero MotoCorp are among the gainers, whereas Bank of Baroda, ICICI Bank, SBI, Wipro and TCS are losing sheen on BSE.

Some buying activity is seen in media, metal, auto, pharma and IT sectors, while PSU Bank, Bank Nifty and Private Bank are showing weakness on NSE.

The INDIA VIX is down 2.01% at 17.2575.

Sensex, Nifty trade flat; Telecom, Power stocks lead

The domestic market are trading flat due to lack of directional cues from global markets.The Indian stock market has opened in red as the Sensex is down 118.97 points, while the Nifty50 is down 39.25 points. Banking stocks slip in opening trade after RBI hikes CRR on incremental deposits. The central bank hopes to curtail surging banking system liquidity that risks stocking inflation.

At 11:46 AM, the S&P BSE Sensex is trading at 26,370, up 53 points, while NSE Nifty is trading at 8,136 up 22 points. Out of 1,889 stocks traded on the NSE, 400 declined, 1,150 advanced and 339 remained unchanged today. 

A total of 17 stocks registered a fresh 52-week high in trade today, while 13 stocks touched a new 52-week low on the NSE.

The BSE Mid-cap Index is trading up 0.92% at 12,295, whereas BSE Small-cap Index is trading up 1% at 12,148.

Power Grid, BPCL, Idea Cellular, Bharti Airtel and Hero MotoCorp are among the gainers, whereas Bank of Baroda, ICICI Bank, SBI, Wipro and TCS are losing sheen on BSE.

Some buying activity is seen in media, metal, auto, pharma and IT sectors, while PSU Bank, Bank Nifty and Private Bank are showing weakness on NSE.

The INDIA VIX is down 2.89% at 17.1025.

SUZLON ENERGY has secured a fourth consecutive order for 50.40MW wind power project from a business house. The project consists of 24 units of S95 90m tubular tower with rated capacity of 2.1 MW. Located in the district of Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh, the project is scheduled for completion in March 2017. The stock is currently trading at Rs 14.87, up by Rs 0.29 or 1.99% from its previous closing of Rs 14.58 on the BSE.

ICICI BANK LTD is currently trading at Rs 255.1, down by Rs 4.75 or 1.83% from its previous closing of Rs 259.85 on the BSE. Around 21.3 lakh shares were traded in a single block.

THIRUMALA CHEMICALS reported a net profit of Rs 37 crore for the first half of financial year 2017 as against a profit of Rs 4 crore a year ago. The stock is currently trading at Rs 719.05, up by Rs 34.2 or 4.99% from its previous closing of Rs 684.85 on the BSE.

Amtek Auto Ltd has informed BSE that a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Company meeting will be held on November 30, to consider the proposal of infusion of fresh equity by the new investors and restructuring of the Company as proposed by investors.


CIPLA rose 1.6%. Cipla Ltd is in discussions to sell Cipla Vet, its animal health division, as per media report. According to the report, the company hired global investment bank Rothschild to find potential buyers.

Shares of airline stocks rose on Monday as uncertainty over the deal to cut output by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries at a meeting on Wednesday pushed oil prices down. SpiceJet reported a rise of 103% in its net profit for the second quarter of 2016-17. The company's Q2 net profit stood at Rs 58.9 crore from Rs 29 crore reported in the corresponding quarter of 2015-16.

ASHOK LEYLANDinched up 1.2%. Ashok Leyland has completed the acquisition of Nissan Motor Co. Ltd.’s stake in each of the three joint ventures formed between the two companies.

AURIBINDO PHARMA is trading lower at Rs 736. Arrow Generiques SAS, the French subsidiary of Aurobindo Pharma, has signed an agreement to acquire select commercial products in France from Teva.

BEML zoomed 2.5%. The company reported standalone net loss narrowed to Rs 16.6 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2016, against that of Rs 24.6 crore in the corresponding quarter of previous fiscal.

STRIDES SHASUN gained 1%. Strides Shasun’s wholly owned subsidiary Strides Arcolab International, UK has entered into an agreement with Moberg Pharma, Sweden to acquire the 'PediaCare' brand for a total consideration of $5 million plus inventory value at closing.

HATHWAY CABLE AND DATACOM slipped 2.6%. The company has reported a net loss of Rs 40 crore for the quarter under review as compared to a net loss of Rs 32 crore for the same quarter in the previous year.

The BSE Oil and Gas index is trading up 1.6% or 190 points at 11,943 as against the previous close of 11,753.

The BSE Oil and Gas index opened at and hit a high of 11,953.45 and a low of 11,705. The oil stocks are trading higher as international oil prices decline after a planned meeting today between OPEC and non-OPEC producers was canceled.

Oil rebounds from 2% losses as OPEC embarks on a last-ditch diplomatic push to reach a production cut and will meet in Vienna on Wednesday; a meeting with non-OPEC producers today was canceled after Saudi Arabia decided not to attend and suggested the oil-club doesn’t necessarily need to curb output.

HPCL is currently trading at Rs 479.4, up by Rs 17.2 or 3.72% from its previous closing of Rs 462.2 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs 464 and has touched a high and low of Rs 481.25 and Rs 462.35 respectively. So far 2129614 (NSE+BSE) shares were traded on the counter. The current market cap of the company is Rs 46954.05 crore.

BPCL is currently trading at Rs 659.9, up by Rs 20.25 or 3.17% from its previous closing of Rs 639.65 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs 639.65 and has touched a high and low of Rs 663.85 and Rs 639.65 respectively. So far 1597983 (NSE+BSE) shares were traded on the counter. The current market cap of the company is Rs 92504.17 crore.

IOCL is currently trading at Rs 304, up by Rs 7.5 or 2.53% from its previous closing of Rs 296.5 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs 297 and has touched a high and low of Rs 306.3 and Rs 295.5 respectively. So far 1239474 (NSE+BSE) shares were traded on the counter. The current market cap of the company is Rs 143977.58 crore.

OIL is currently trading at Rs 442.05, up by Rs 5.15 or 1.18% from its previous closing of Rs 436.9 on the BSE. The company will announce its Q2 numbers today.

RAJSHREE SUGARS AND CHEMICALS climbed 5.3%. The company has entered into a share purchase agreement with the prospective buyer, for the sale of the wholly-owned subsidiary Company Trident Sugars, having the sugar factory at Telangana. As per the said agreement, the prospective buyer is expected to close the sale transaction by March 31, 2017.

GPT INFRAPROJECTS advanced 1%. The company announced bourses that it has bagged an order value at Rs 73 crore from Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd.

UFLEX zoomed 5.6%. The company reported 17% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 90 crore for the quarter ended on September 30, 2016. It had posted a net profit of Rs 77 crore for July-September quarter in the year-ago period.

SBIN  slipped 2% on the BSE. The bank said it will raise Rs 56.81 billion by issuance of preferential shares to the central government, its majority shareholder.  

The Indian rupee opened higher by four paise at 68.42/$ against the previous close of 68.46/$.

The demonetisation drive of the government is likely to see some protests on the street in various parts of the country as few political parties have joined hands for ‘Akrosh Divas.’

Parliament may see less activity today as attention will be on the protests and dealing with the Opposition tirade. The old tradition of Black Friday is losing its charm abroad; online sales on Thanksgiving and Black Friday rose about 18 pc to $5.27 bn.

Saudi Arabia seems to suggest that oil producers need not reduce output. With the Dow Jones having crossed the key milestone of 19000 & the S&P 2200 markets could see consolidation globally as investors take stock of the last fortnight. Also the rise in bond yields in tandem with the US $ may not last & pause here would be prudent as markets digest the gains.

Falling crude prices cooled Asian shares while the dollar has stepped back against Asian peers. India’s foreign exchange reserves fell for the second consecutive by $1.542 bn to $365.5 bn in the week ended Nov 18.

Sensex, Nifty set for cautious start

The DEMONETIOSATION drive of the government is likely to see some protests on the street in various parts of the country as few political parties have joined hands for ‘Akrosh Divas.’

Parliament may see less activity today as attention will be on the protests and dealing with the Opposition tirade. The old tradition of Black Friday is losing its charm abroad; online sales on Thanksgiving and Black Friday rose about 18 pc to $5.27 bn.

The outlook is a cautious start. NIFTY and Bank Nifty have cracked 7.6 and 6.5% respectively in November series. PSU Bank stocks could see weakness following the RBI move to mop up excess liquidity; banks have to keep aside deposits collected between Sept 16 and Nov 11 with the central bank. Saudi Arabia seems to suggest that oil producers need not reduce output. With the Dow Jones having crossed the key milestone of 19000 & the S&P 2200 markets could see consolidation globally as investors take stock of the last fortnight. Also the rise in bond yields in tandem with the US $ may not last & pause here would be prudent as markets digest the gains.

Falling crude prices cooled Asian shares while the dollar has stepped back against Asian peers. India’s foreign exchange reserves fell for the second consecutive by $1.542 bn to $365.5 bn in the week ended Nov 18.

NIFTY saw a smart rally moving past 8100 & will now face headwinds around 8150. The sudden RBI move to raise the CRR over the weekend would see financials under pressure as bond yields would rise sharply.

IT outperformance could continue as most participants were under weight on this sector & with the rupee weakness it should see more short covering. Metals, Pharma & IT would see buying today with banks & NBFC under selling pressure.

Among the stocks to watch are:

Oil India: The company will announce its Q2 numbers today.

CIPLA Cipla Ltd is in discussions to sell Cipla Vet, its animal health division, as per media report. According to the report, the company hired global investment bank Rothschild to find potential buyers.

ASHOK LEYLAND Ashok Leyland has completed the acquisition of Nissan Motor Co. Ltd.’s stake in each of the three joint ventures formed between the two companies.

SPICEJET SpiceJet reported a rise of 103% in its net profit for the second quarter of 2016-17. The company's Q2 net profit stood at Rs 58.9 crore from Rs 29 crore reported in the corresponding quarter of 2015-16.

Aurobindo Pharma: Arrow Generiques SAS, the French subsidiary of Aurobindo Pharma, has signed an agreement to acquire select commercial products in France from Teva.

BEML: Thr company reported standalone net loss narrowed to Rs 16.6 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2016, against that of Rs 24.6 crore in the corresponding quarter of previous fiscal.

Strides Shasun: Strides Shasun’s wholly owned subsidiary Strides Arcolab International, UK has entered into an agreement with Moberg Pharma, Sweden to acquire the 'PediaCare' brand for a total consideration of $5 million plus inventory value at closing.

Hathway Cable & Datacom: The company has reported a net loss of Rs 40 crore for the quarter under review as compared to a net loss of Rs 32 crore for the same quarter in the previous year.

Larsen & Toubro: L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering, a wholly owned subsidiary of Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has unveiled high-tech spool base facilities at L&T’s fabrication facility at Kattupalli, in Chennai.

Rajshree Sugars & Chemicals: The company has entered into a share purchase agreement with the prospective buyer, for the sale of the wholly-owned subsidiary Company Trident Sugars, having the sugar factory at Telangana. As per the said agreement, the prospective buyer is expected to close the sale transaction by March 31, 2017.

GPT Infraprojects: GPT Infraprojects announced bourses that it has bagged an order value at Rs 73 crore from Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd.

Uflex: Packaging company Uflex reported 17% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 90 crore for the quarter ended on September 30, 2016. It had posted a net profit of Rs 77 crore for July-September quarter in the year-ago period.

Steel Authority of India Limited: SAIL, Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP), is looking to develop and explore small mines to meet its iron-ore requirement.

State Bank of India: The bank said it will raise Rs 56.81 billion by issuance of preferential shares to the central government, its majority shareholder. 

Sensex surges over 450 points

The BSE Sensex which opened at 25,953.24 points, closed at 26,316, up 456 points or 1.76% from the previous close at 25,860.17 points. The Sensex touched a high of 26,244 points and a low of 25,874.45 points during the intra-day trade so far.

The NSE Nifty closed with a gain of 142 points at 8,107. The NSE Nifty opened at 8,008 hitting a high of 8,122 and low of 7,977.

The SENSEX opened in the green on Friday morning. The domestic market is trading higher tracking positive trade in Asian markets even as investors weighed the prospect of a higher interest-rate environment in the U.S.

On the economy front, PM NARENDRA MODI pushed for the need to move towards a digital economy, saying that people have the right to use their money, but that can also be done digitally.

At 11:49 AM, the S&P BSE Sensex is trading at 26,121 up 268 points, while NSE Nifty is trading at 8,064 up 99 points.

The BSE Mid-cap Index is trading up 0.93% at 12,139, whereas BSE Small-cap Index is trading up 1.53% at 11,973.

Tata Steel, Infosys, GAIL, TCS, Wipro and Asian Paints are among the gainers, whereas Tata Motors, Cipla, NTPC, Bharti Airtel and Dr. Reddy's are losing sheen on BSE.

Some buying activity is seen in metal, IT, PSU Bank, media, pharma and Bank Nifty sectors, while auto sector is showing weakness on NSE.

The INDIA VIX is down 0.59% at 17.0575. Out of 1,874 stocks traded on the NSE, 269 declined, 1,213 advanced and 392 remained unchanged today.

A total of seven stocks registered a fresh 52-week high in trade today, while 59 stocks touched a new 52-week low on the NSE.

Sensex jumps 200 points; Nifty reclaims 8,050 mark

The Sensex, Nifty open in green on Friday morning. The domestic market is trading higher tracking positive trade in Asian markets even as investors weighed prospect of a higher interest-rate environment in the U.S.

On the economy front, PM Narendra Modi pushed for the need to move towards a digital economy, saying that people have the right to use their money, but that can also be done digitally.

At 10:02 AM, the S&P BSE Sensex is trading at 26,028 up 167 points, while NSE Nifty is trading at 8,032 up 67 points.

The BSE Mid-cap Index is trading up 0.85% at 12,128, whereas BSE Small-cap Index is trading up 1.20% at 11,933.

Tata Steel, Infosys, GAIL, TCS, Wipro and Asian Paints are among the gainers, whereas Tata Motors, Cipla, NTPC, Bharti Airtel and Dr. Reddy's are losing sheen on BSE.

Some buying activity is seen in metal, IT, PSU Bank, media, pharma and Bank Nifty sectors, while auto sector is showing weakness on NSE.

The INDIA VIX is down 0.59% at 17.0575. Out of 1,874 stocks traded on the NSE, 269 declined, 1,213 advanced and 392 remained unchanged today.

A total of seven stocks registered a fresh 52-week high in trade today, while 59 stocks touched a new 52-week low on the NSE.

AMTEK AUTO LTD is currently trading at Rs 37.35, up by Rs 2.55 or 7.33% from its previous closing of Rs 34.8 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs 35.05 and has touched a high and low of Rs 37.45 and Rs 34.55 respectively. So far 1311787 (NSE+BSE) shares were traded on the counter. The current market cap of the company is Rs 782.15 crore.

Sun Pharma rose 1%. The US drug regulator has found seven breaches of manufacturing standards at Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd’s formulations plant in Mohali, Punjab, following a recent inspection.

SPICE-JET rallied 4.4%. The company will announce its Q2 numbers today.

JAGRAN PRAKASHAN gained 1.5%. The company said its subsidiary Music Broadcast will raise up to Rs 400 crore through initial public offer.

Vardhman Textiles advanced 1.3%. The board of the company has approved buyback proposal for up to Rs 720 crore.

RELIENCE USTRIES IND is trading marginally lower on the BSE. A flash fire broke out at Reliance Industries’ Ltd refinery complex at Moti Khavdi near Jamnagar on Thursday in which some contract workers were injured, the company said.

Wipro rose 2.2%. The company has informed bourses that it has granted 5,000 Restricted Stock Units under Restricted Stock Unit Plan 2007 effective November 1, 2016 to its identified employee.

Khaitan (India) jumped 4.7%. The company has infomed bourses that it has submitted an application for reference to the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) as it has become a sick industrial company pursuant to the provisions of Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act, 1985 (SICA).

Jindal Poly Films dropped 2.9%. The company reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 77 crore for the September quarter, lower than the Rs 99.9 crore in the year-ago period.

TALWALKARS BETTER VALUE FITNESS climbed 3.6% after the management has decided to demerge gym business, thereby transferring gym business of TBVFL to TLL, in the interest of maximising overall shareholder value.

TCSrallied 2.5%. Tata Consultancy Services is rethinking how it appraises its over 3,70,000 employees after scrapping the Bell Curve model.

STERLITE TECNOLOGIES zoomed 3%.The company informed bourses that Crisil has upgraded the Long term credit rating to 'CRISIL AA-/Stable' from 'CRISIL A+/Watch Developing' and Short term credit rating have been upgraded to ‘CRISIL A1+’ from 'CRISIL A1 /Watch Developing’.

LT FOODS gained 2.3%. The company has inked a 51:49 joint venture with Kameda Seika, to sell rice-based snacks in India.

Natco Pharma inched up 1% after the pharma company has received final approval from the US health regulator for generic version of Budesonide capsules used for treatment of active Crohn's disease for the American market.


YES BANK gained 2% To Rs 1,143. The bank announced a partnership with Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation (GSRTC) to digitise payment of bus tickets for its customers.  

DLF LTD is currently trading at Rs 110.6, down by Rs 2.55 or 2.25% from its previous closing of Rs 113.15 on the BSE.

The Indian rupee opened marginally higher by one paise at 68.72/$ against the previous close of 68.73/$.

Asian markets opened in the green with commodities leading the charge as the yen hits 113 to the US$. The Japanese Nikkei stock index has entered a new bull market as exporters benefit from the falling yen. The Nikkei has risen from levels of sub 15000 on Brexit day to over 18000 today, which is further seeing flows unabated as investors chase higher returns in developed markets.

The demonetization drive is coming under severe criticism from the Opposition parties with former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh terming it as a ‘monumental failure’ in its implementation.

The Finance Minister shot back citing a litany of scams that had emerged during the previous government’s rule. One thing is for sure. The demonetization has sent most calculations awry – be it GDP growth, tax collections or the serpentine queues waiting for their money in cash form. The rupee continues to struggle breaching its Aug 2013 lows and is flirting near the 69 per dollar mark.

Foreign investors are net short 3,086 contracts in the index futures. The rollovers were better than anticipated at 61 pc but much lower than the three-month average of 75 pc. A strong earthquake rattled Central America raising concerns of tsunami waves. Oil prices moved higher ahead of next week’s crucial OPEC meet.

Sensex, Nifty open in green; Hindalco, GAIL up 1%

At 9:15 AM, the S&P BSE Sensex is trading at 25,916 up by 56 points, while NSE Nifty is trading at 7,998 up by 33 points.

The Indian rupee opened marginally higher by one paise at 68.72/$ against the previous close of 68.73/$.

Asian markets opened in the green with commodities leading the charge as the yen hits 113 to the US$. The Japanese Nikkei stock index has entered a new bull market as exporters benefit from the falling yen. The Nikkei has risen from levels of sub 15000 on Brexit day to over 18000 today, which is further seeing flows unabated as investors chase higher returns in developed markets.

The demonetization drive is coming under severe criticism from the Opposition parties with former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh terming it as a ‘monumental failure’ in its implementation.

The Finance Minister shot back citing a litany of scams that had emerged during the previous government’s rule. One thing is for sure. The demonetization has sent most calculations awry – be it GDP growth, tax collections or the serpentine queues waiting for their money in cash form. The rupee continues to struggle breaching its Aug 2013 lows and is flirting near the 69 per dollar mark.

Foreign investors are net short 3,086 contracts in the index futures. The rollovers were better than anticipated at 61 pc but much lower than the three-month average of 75 pc. A strong earthquake rattled Central America raising concerns of tsunami waves. Oil prices moved higher ahead of next week’s crucial OPEC meet.
& Pharma may be on the cards.