The equity benchmark indices corrected sharply and ended with heavy losses on Wednesday. The Nifty, after opening above 13,100 level, succumbed to profit selling and ended near 12,850 mark. PSU banks advanced amid a broader market selloff.

The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, tumbled 694.92 points or 1.56% at 43,828.10. The Nifty 50 index fell 196.75 points or 1.51% at 12,858.40.

The Sensex hit a record high of 44,825.37 while Nifty scaled fresh high of 13,145.85 in early deals today. The Nifty rose 2.22% in the past three sessions.

In the broader market, the BSE Mid-Cap index slipped 1.76% and the BSE Small-Cap index lost 1.13%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,126 shares rose and 1,662 shares fell. A total of 176 shares were unchanged.

Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 3.22%), HDFC Bank (down 2.50%), Infosys (down 2.01%) and Reliance Industries (down 0.88%) were major drags.

State-run ONGC jumped 6.25% to Rs 80.80, tracking the recent uptick in crude oil prices.

COVID-19:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 5,97,62,055 with 14,09,301 deaths. India reported 4,44,746 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,34,699 deaths while 86,42,771 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Cyclone Nivar:

India Meteorological Department (IMD) informed that Cyclone Nivar is likely to cross Tamil Nadu and Puducherry coasts between Karaikal and Mamallapuram around Puducherry during the night of 25 November 2020. The MeT Department has predicted that Cyclone Nivar will make landfall as a severe cyclonic storm with a wind speed of 120-130 kilometer per hour gusting to 145 kilometer per hour.

IMD-Chennai has sounded Red Alert from extremely heavy rainfall in seven districts and orange alert in the districts located in northern Tamil Nadu. Flights have been cancelled, bus services will be affected. South Western Railway has fully or partially cancelled a few trains. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted to assure the Tamil Nadu and Puducherry governments of all possible support.

Numbers to Watch:

The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper rose to 5.886% as compared with 5.880% at close in the previous trading session.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 73.9150, compared with its close of 74.0125 during the previous trading session.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for January 2021 settlement rose 63 cents at $48.49 a barrel. The contract rose $1.80, or 3.91% to settle at $47.86 a barrel in the previous trading session.

Foreign Markets:

European shares declined after a positive start while Asian stocks ended on a mixed note on Wednesday amid profit selling.

In the United States, the Dow Jones industrial average closed at 30,046 points, up 1.5% or 455 points, hours after hitting the 30,000 mark for the first time ever. Strong gains across the market lifted the broader S&P 500 to a new record closing high. It finished 58 points or 1.62% higher, at 3,635 points.

Uncertainty in US politics has also eased after the Trump administration officially began the transition process to President-elect Joe Biden following weeks of delay. Energy stocks, financial companies, basic materials producers and industrial firms led the rally, as investors anticipated a growth-friendly stimulus package.

US president-elect Joe Biden moved swiftly to make Cabinet choices after defeating President Donald Trump, who gave the go-ahead for Biden to start receiving daily intelligence briefings. Investors now await the FOMC's minutes from its last meeting due later today for clues on the direction of monetary policy.

Buzzing Indian Segment:

The Nifty PSU Bank index rose 1.80% to 1,509.85. The index is up 2.93% in two sessions.

Indian Overseas Bank (up 8.17%), Bank of Baroda (up 4.48%), Central Bank of India (up 3.81%), Canara Bank (up 3.22%), Punjab National Bank (up 2.8%), Bank of India (up 1.83%), Bank of Maharashtra (up 1.72%), UCO Bank (up 1.24%) and Indian Bank (up 0.61%) advanced.

Union Bank of India rose 3.89% after the bank said that it will raise up to Rs 1000 crore via issue of debt securities. In a BSE filing made after market hours on Tuesday (24 November 2020), the state-run lender said that it is issuing Basel III compliant Tier II bonds in the nature of debentures with the aggregate issue size not exceeding Rs 1,000 crore, having a base issue size of up to Rs 500 crore and a Green Shoe option to retain oversubscription up to Rs 500 crore. The bonds of face value of Rs 10 lakh each, bearing a coupon of 7.18% per annum, will have maturity of 15 years. The deemed allotment date of the bonds is 26 November 2020, it added.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB) hit an upper circuit of 5% at Rs 7.65 after the union cabinet approved the scheme of amalgamation of the cash-strapped bank with DBS Bank India.

From its close of Rs 15.65 on 14 November 2020, the LVB stock tumbled 55.59% in six sessions to hit a record low of Rs 6.95 today. The stock surged 10% from the day's low of Rs 6.95 to hit the day's high of Rs 7.65.

The central government on 17 November 2020 placed LVB under moratorium for a period of one month. In parallel, RBI, in consultation with government, superseded the board of directors of LVB. T N Manoharan, former non-executive chairman of Canara Bank, was appointed as the administrator of LVB.

Larsen & Toubro fell 1.73%. The EPC major announced that its construction arm, L&T Construction has secured a 'large' contract to construct India's longest road bridge across river Brahmaputra connecting Dhubri in Assam to Phulbari in Meghalaya. As per the L&T's classification, the valuation of the 'large' order is between Rs 2500 crore to Rs 5000 crore.

HDFC slipped 1.23%. The housing finance company said that it will acquire 4,98,750 equity shares, representing 19.95% stake, of Rs 10 each of Renaissance Investment Solutions ARC. Renaissance Investment will undertake the business of asset reconstruction, subject to receipt of approval from RBI. The acquisition is being done for a cash consideration of Rs 49,87,500. The corporation expects to complete the said acquisition by 30 November 2020.

IRB Infrastructure Developers fell 0.59%. In a BSE filing made after market hours yesterday, the company said that Agra Etawah build-operate-transfer (BOT) project, implemented by AE Tollway, has been issued a completion certificate by the competent authority. Consequently, toll rates for the SPV would be increased by approximately 70% and the SPV will collect roll at revised toll rates on this project,” the company added.

Max Financial Services fell 0.90%. The company reported a 25.9% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 81.06 crore in Q2 September 2020 from Rs 64.36 crore posted in Q2 September 2019. The company reported a 49.8% jump in total income to Rs 7,020.11 crore in Q2 September 2020 from Rs 4,685 crore recorded in Q2 September 2019.

Alembic Pharmaceuticals slipped 1.78%. The drug major on Wednesday announced that its joint venture, Aleor Dermaceuticals (Aleor), has received US drug regulator's tentative approval for testosterone gel. Alembic Pharma in an exchange filing said the tentatively approved ANDA is therapeutically equivalent to the reference listed drug product, AndroGel of AbbVie Inc. Testosterone gel is indicated for replacement therapy in adult males for conditions associated with a deficiency or absence of endogenous testosterone.

Lasa Supergenerics rose 3.79% after the company received further injection from the Bombay High Court, restraining its competitor from manufacturing albendazole. In a BSE filing made after market hours yesterday, the company said that the Bombay High Court by its interim order dated 23 November 2020 has restrained one of its competitors from infringing Lasa's process patent with respect to preparation of albendazole. The relief granted by the High Court is in addition to the earlier reliefs by which the competitor is restrained from manufacturing and/or dealing in its product by using the Lasa's proprietary and confidential information.

ARSS Infrastructure Projects hit an upper circuit of 10% after the EPC company won Rs 210 crore order for improvement to two lane with paved shoulder of NH-40 section in the state of Meghalaya on EPC Mode from National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation.

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