Morning update for 14 December 2020

Indices at 10:00 am

Nifty50 13,544 ▲ 30 (+0.2%)   

Sensex 46,200 ▲ 101 (+0.2%) 

Nifty Bank 30,682 ▲ 77 (0.2%)

In the news

King-sized debut 

• QSR chain Burger King listed with a 92% gain over its issue price. The stellar returns don’t come as a surprise since the IPO was oversubscribed a whopping 156 times. 
• An uptick of 1.2% was seen in the shares of Westlife Development (McDonald’s), while Jubilant Food (Domino’s) was down by 1%.

IIP at 8-month high

• For October, the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), a gauge of India’s industrial health, increased by 3.6% over last year. It is now at an eight-month high. 
• IIP has expanded for two consecutive months now, indicating recovery trends. However, experts believe a mild contraction in November can’t be ruled out due to an unfavourable base effect, holidays in the month and some slack after the fulfilment of pent-up demand.

Indians use smartphones nearly 7 hrs

• As per a recent study, the average usage of smartphones by Indians has reached ~7 hours per day, up 25% from pre-Covid levels. Higher usage for work/study from home and entertainment amid the pandemic has resulted in this spike. 
• The study, comprising participants aged 15-45 years, revealed that while 73% of them "feel compelled" to constantly check their smartphone, the same percentage of people agreed that they would be happier if they spent less time on their smartphones.

Germany to shut stores 

• In a bid to arrest the rise in Covid cases, Germany will close most stores from 16 December to 10 January. Germany has already been in partial lockdown for six weeks, as it struggles to tide the second wave. 
• This stricter measures would cut short the on-going Christmas shopping season, during which the number of social gatherings has risen considerably. The government will support businesses that are forced to close by covering 90% of their fixed costs. Meanwhile, Germany’s benchmark index DAX dropped 1.4% last week.

Events in this week

• Monday: WPI and CPI Inflation (India)
• Tuesday: Mrs Bector's IPO
• 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

Iceland doesn't have an army. There are 30 other countries that don't have a military.

Source: Businessinsider

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