Indian stock benchmarks fell on Wednesday, December 29 on weak global signals from year-end portfolio adjustments. At 9:30 a.m., the Sensex was up 0.08 percent or 48.54 points to 57,946.20, while the Nifty was up 147 points to 17,233.05. Pharma stocks were particularly profitable as the government yesterday approved the use of two more vaccines – Corbevax and Covovax and one antiviral drug – Molnupiravir, to step up the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
HDFC Bank, Infosys, Power Grid Corporation of India, Coal India, NTPC were among the biggest barriers. On the other hand, IndusInd Bank, Cipla, Sun Pharma and Dr. Reddy’s Labs among the top winners.
Mid and small cap stocks traded positively as the Nifty Midcap 100 index rose 0.40 percent, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 index rose 0.82 percent.
Asian stocks fell on Wednesday after a mixed Wall Street session as investors in the region positioned their portfolios for the new year and continued to struggle with the rising global Omicron coronavirus cases.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside of Japan lost 0.25 percent after six sessions of gains on volatile US trading. There were losses in Hong Kong, down 0.6 percent on declines in mainland technology stocks, while Chinese blue chips lost 0.25. per cent.
Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.58 percent today after hitting a month-long high on Tuesday. But in Australia, the ASX 200 was up one percent early in the session, even though the country’s most populous state, New South Wales, announced 11,201 new COVID-19 cases.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.26% on Tuesday. The S&P 500 hit an all-day high during the session, but weakened to close the day by 0.10 percent. The Nasdaq Composite lost 0.56 percent.
In the currency markets, the dollar has strengthened somewhat in early Asian trading today as a recent rally in stocks showed signs of weakening, but trading slackened by the holiday season meant markets showed little real direction.
The euro lost 0.14 percent overnight to $1.1307 and the pound fell from a five-week high, helping the dollar index, which measures the dollar against major competitors, jump to 96.165 from as low as 95,958 on Friday.
In the crude oil market, US oil rose for the sixth straight session on Wednesday, as Brent gained more ground with a broad rally in global markets that supported prices.
The benchmark Brent oil rose 23 cents or 0.3 percent to $79.17 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude added 21 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $76.19 a barrel. Both contracts are trading near their month-to-month highs, helped by strong stock prices.
At home, on the stock-specific front, multiplex stocks like PVR, INOX Leisure could be in the spotlight again today after the Delhi government announced that cinema halls and multiplexes will be closed as part of the new restrictions under the ‘Level 1’ or ‘Yellow Alert’ Amid Rising Omicron Variants of Covid-19 in National Capital.
Pharma stock will be in focus today after the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) grants emergency use approval for the antiviral drug Molnupiravir. Major pharmaceutical companies such as Cipla, Torrent Pharma and Dr. Reddy’s Labs partnered with Merck to launch Molnupiravir.
India reported 9,195 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, 44 percent more than yesterday’s 6,358 cases. The number of Omicron cases has risen to 781 with Delhi reporting the highest number to date with 781.