Morning update for 16 December 2020

Indices at 9:30 am

Nifty50 13,642 ▲ 75 (+0.5%)    

Sensex 46,550 ▲ 286 (+0.6%)  

Nifty Bank 30,823 ▲ 132 (+0.4%)

In the news

M&M to hike prices from January

• From January 1, M&M will hike the prices of all its passenger and commercial vehicles. Recently, Maruti too had announced plans to increase prices from January, while other automakers are likely to follow suit soon. 
• Sharp rise in prices of commodities—steel, aluminium, copper and rubber—which are key materials in auto components have necessitated the price-hike. After rallying nearly 21% in November, shares of M&M are up ~2% in December. 

S&P upgrades India’s GDP forecast

• S&P Global Ratings now projects India’s FY21 GDP to contract by 7.7% compared to 9% estimated earlier. 
• The rating agency believes that rising demand and falling infection rates have triggered an improvement in its forecasts. It expects a solid 10% rebound in GDP numbers for FY22.

Indian Railways on a roll

• From the development of railway stations to operating private trains, there are several changes happening at Indian Railways.  
• Further, around 40% of the dedicated freight corridor route is expected to be completed in 2020-21. This will connect several cities to ports in Gujarat. Meanwhile, shares of wagon manufacturers Texmaco (+26.5%) and Titagarh Wagons (+16.2%) are up in December. 

Stimulus hope boosts US markets 

• The Dow Jones registered healthy gains, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq closed at record highs on the expectation of a stimulus from the US government. 
• Currently, the US is seeing nearly 2 lakh Covid cases every day and the unemployment situation is also grim. It is widely expected that the US Fed would continue to keep interest rates low amid this scenario. 

Events this week

• Wednesday: Retail sales, crude oil inventories, Manufacturing & Services PMI (US)
• Thursday: Fed interest rate decision, initial jobless claims (US)

Sectoral indices

Global markets

Fact of the day

You can tell identical twin babies apart from their navels.

Source: Reader's Digest

Yay ? or  ? Nay?
We'd love your thoughts on this morning update.

The Mrs Bectors Food IPO is live on Upstox! You can subscribe to the IPO with us here.
If you haven't already, open your Upstox account to get IPO-ready today! Click here to sign up.

Disclosures and Disclaimer

Investment in securities markets are subject to market risks; please read all the related documents carefully before investing. The securities quoted are exemplary and are not recommendatory. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Details provided in the above newsletter are for educational purposes and should not be construed as investment advice by RKSV group. Investors should consult their investment advisor before making any investment decision.