Benchmark indices ended higher; Sensex rises 478 points & Nifty settles above 18,000

After a long weekend, the domestic equity markets rallied high and ended the day with strong gains on Monday, November 8, 2021. The S&P BSE Sensex surged 477.99 points or 0.80 per cent to 60,545.61. The Nifty 50 index rose 151.75 points or 0.85 per cent to 18,068.55. However, the Nifty Bank fell 135.45 points or 0.34 per cent to 39,438.25.

The broader markets outperformed the Sensex at the BSE with S&P BSE MidCap closing with a gain of 1.20 per cent and S&P BSE SmallCap rising 0.78 per cent.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,818 shares rose and 1,539 shares fell. On the Nifty 50 index at the NSE, 40 stocks advanced and 10 stocks declined. The top five gainers on Nifty were Titan (up 4.53 per cent), IOC (up 4.53 per cent), Bajaj Finserv (up 4.18 per cent), UltraTech Cement (up 4.09 per cent) and Tech Mahindra (up 3.73 per cent). The top five losers were IndusInd Bank (down 10.52 per cent), Divi's Laboratories (down 5.15 per cent), Mahindra & Mahindra (down 1.37 per cent), SBI (down 1.29 per cent) and Hindalco (down 0.71 per cent).

NSE has said that the T+1 settlement cycle will be implemented in a phased manner and the first list of securities with a T+1 settlement cycle will begin from the trade date starting from February 25, 2022.

Paytm IPO Update

The initial public offering of One 97 Communications Limited, the parent company of India's leading digital financial services company, Paytm, was subscribed 0.18 times today, the first day of subscription by 5 pm at BSE. The Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIBs) portion was subscribed 0.06 times, while the Non Institutional Investors (NIIs) and Retail Individual Investors (RIIs) were subscribed 0.02 times and 0.78 times, respectively.

The company has fixed the price band at Rs 2,080-2,150 per share for the offer as it seeks to raise around Rs 18,300 crore from the issue. The issue will come to a close on November 11, 2021.

The issue comprises a fresh issue of equity shares worth Rs 8,300 crore and an offer for sale of Rs 10,000 crore (including Anchor portion of 3,83,02,326 Equity shares). Paytm's fundraising plan from the IPO is the biggest ever to date in India. Before this, state-run coal mining company Coal India had the biggest IPO of more than Rs 15,000 crore in October 2010.

The bid lot size is 6 Equity Shares and in multiples thereof. At the upper price band, investors will have to pay Rs 12,900 to get a single lot of One97 Communications. Of the total issue, 75 per cent will be reserved for Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIB), 15 per cent for non-institutional investors and the remaining 10 per cent for retail investors.

Economy

Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal today launched the 3rd edition of the Logistics Ease Across Different States (LEADS) report, 2021. As per the report, Gujarat has been adjudged as the Best Performing State while Uttar Pradesh is the top improver.

Launching the report in New Delhi, Mr Goyal said that some states have leapfrogged in their rankings and Uttar Pradesh has moved ahead seven places. The Minister also said this reflects the efforts that have been done in improving the quality of infrastructure in Uttar Pradesh.

He said, better logistics infrastructure will improve Ease of Doing Business and Ease of Living and during the COVID period the government was able to manage critical requirements due to efficient infrastructure. He mentioned that LEADS is an attempt to bring Longevity, Efficiency, Accuracy, Durability, and Smartness in the Logistics sector.

The US economy added 531,000 jobs last month and job gains in the prior two months were higher than originally reported, while the unemployment rate dropped to 4.6 per cent, according to government data.

Japan cut its view on economic conditions for the first time in more than two years after the coincident indicator index extended its decline in September, falling to the lowest in a year. The index showing current economic conditions, compiled from data including factory output, employment and retail sales, slipped a preliminary 3.8 points from the previous month to 87.5, the Cabinet Office said, marking the third consecutive month of decline. The fall was the biggest since May 2020.

The government on Monday lowered its assessment of the index to "weakening" from "improving" in its first downgrade since August 2019. Stagnant shipments of cars and their components as well as slowing exports and factory output - dragged down by the auto industry - contributed to the index' fall, a government official told a news conference. The index of leading economic indicators used to predict the direction of the economy a few months ahead, decreased 1.6 points in September to 99.7, the government also said. Japan is considering an economic stimulus package worth more than 30 trillion yen ($265 billion) aimed at easing the pain from the Covid-19 pandemic, a plan that would require issuing new debt, a news service reported.