Closing bell: Benchmark equity indices were range bound on Friday and finally settled with minor gains.

In a lacklustre trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex inched up 7.62 points, or 0.02 per cent, to close at 41,681.54. The broader NSE Nifty settled 12.10 points or 0.10 per cent, higher at 12,271.80.

Vedanta was the top loser in the Nifty pack, dropping 2.71 per cent. Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tata Motors, Eicher Motors and ITC too fell up to 2.04 per cent. On the other hand, Titan, Tata Steel, UPL, SBI and Nestle rose up to 3.51 per cent.

The market breadth was positive as 1,272 shares advanced against the decline of 1,244, while 168 shares were unchanged.

Nifty sectoral indices at close

Telecom panel approves ₹5.23 lakh cr spectrum auction plan

The Digital Communication Commission (DCC) on Friday has approved the spectrum auctions to be held in March/April and added that there is no change in the reserve pricing of the radiowaves decided by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). Read more here

Thomas Cook India witnesses 25% growth in demand for Bollywood inspired travel

Thomas Cook (India) , has witnessed a significant surge in demand of over 25 per cent for travel to iconic Bollywood locations. Hence to cater to this huge growth opportunity, the company has launched Bollywood Blockbuster Vacations, unique group tours to the most picturesque locations across Europe. The itineraries intend to put the traveller in the spotlight, making him/her the protagonist of their Bollywood travel movie!

It’s consumer analytics has revealed that India’s fascination for Bollywood is witnessing a strong and growing demand for movie-inspired travel. With ‘Film Tourism’ clearly trending, and Indians setting their travel goals around movie themes, Thomas Cook India’s launch of its Bollywood Blockbuster Vacations intends to capitalise on this viable business potential. Additionally, unique movie-inspired experiences and photo stop on tour offer braggable rights- a reliable driver in today’s social sharing economy.

Anand Mahindra to step down as Mahindra Group Executive Chairman from April 2020

Mahindra Group on Friday said Anand Mahindra will step down as Executive Chairman from April 1, 2020.

“With effect from April 1, 2020, Mahindra will transition to the role of Non-Executive Chairman of the board of Mahindra & Mahindra. This is in accordance with the SEBI guidelines,” the group said in a statement.

Pawan Goenka will be re-designated as Managing Director and Chief Executive from April 1.

Cadila's Ahmedabad facility completes USFDA inspection with no observations

Cadila Healthcare on Friday informed that the US FDA has inspected its Ahmedabad manufacturing facility from December 16-20. At the end of the inspection, no observation (483) is issued.

Tata Chemicals acquires remaining 25% of Tata Chem (Soda Ash) from Andover Group

Tata Chemicals has acquired the remaining 25 per cent stake in Tata Chemicals (Soda Ash) Partners Holdings for USD 195 million (approximately Rs 1,387.2 crore).

With this acquisition, Tata Chemicals has increased its ownership in Tata Chemicals (Soda Ash) Partners to 100 per cent, the company said in statement.

Investment bankers predict more big Asia IPOs after best quarter since 2010

As Asia Pacific wraps up its best quarter for new listings in almost a decade, the region’s investment bankers are preparing for a busy start to 2020.

Citigroup and Morgan Stanley are among firms predicting more big offerings in the first half as investors and issuers look past US-China trade tensions and other geopolitical risks. Potential deals in the pipeline include a blockbuster listing of Thai Beverage Pcl’s brewery business in Singapore and a $1 billion initial public offering by bottled water producer Nongfu Spring Co. in Hong Kong. Read more here

Nifty Call: The index futures is range-bound, tread with caution

The Sensex and the Nifty commenced the session marginally on positive note and subsequently turned choppy. The Asian markets are trading flat; the Nikkei 225 has fallen 0.2 per cent to 23,816 while Hang Seng index is hovering flat at 27,808 levels in today's session. Both the Sensex and the Nifty are moving sideways and are range-bound.  Read more on the technicals here

Investments via P-notes decline to Rs 69,670 cr at Nov-end

Investments through participatory notes (P-notes) in the Indian capital market dropped to Rs 69,670 crore at the end of November.

P-notes are issued by registered foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) to overseas investors who wish to be part of the Indian stock market without registering themselves directly after going through a due diligence process.

The total value of investments via P-notes in the Indian markets (including equity, debt, and derivatives) declined by Rs 7,103 crore to Rs 69,670 crore by the end of November from Rs 76,773 crore at October-end.

Working to decriminalise offences under Companies Act: PM

Hard selling his administration’s pro-business approach, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the government is working to decriminalise provision of Companies Act to make it easier to do business in the country.

Speaking at an Assocham event, he said the recent cut in corporate tax had brought rates to an all-time low for businesses. He, however, said labour force should also be taken care of. Read more here

PSU general insurers cede ground to private players

State-run general insurers have ceded market share to their private sector peers, according to data from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI).

The data reveals that barring Oriental Insurance, the other three state-run general insurers lost market share in 2018-19. The trend seems to be continuing this fiscal year as well. Read more here

Dilip Buildcon receives appointment date for NHAI project in Karnataka

Dilip Buildcon 's arm DBL Nidagatta Mysore Highways on Friday announced that it had received appointed date i.e. December 10, 2019 from National Highways Authority of India for six-laning of the Nidagatta-Mysore section of NH 275 in Karnataka to be executed on hybrid annuity mode.

The bid project cost is Rs 2,283.50 crore to be completed in 30 months.

Shell-Reliance give up Panna-Mukta fields; western offshore fields to revert to ONGC

After operating Panna-Mukta oil and gas fields for 25 years, Royal Dutch Shell and Reliance Industries will revert the western offshore fields back to state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), the companies said in a statement.

Panna-Mukta and Tapti (PMT) oil and gas fields in the Arabian Sea off the Mumbai coast were in 1994 awarded a consortium of US energy giant Enron and Reliance. ONGC, which had originally discovered the fields, as a government nominee given 40 per cent back-in rights.

Media shares advance; Dish TV rises 9%

Media shares were leading the gain in Friday's morning session.

Shares of Dish TV (up 9.12 per cent), TV Today (up 2.41 per cent), TV18 Broadcast (up 2.08 per cent), Zee (up 1.97 per cent), Zee Media (up 1.59 per cent) and Sun TV (up 1.13 per cent) were the top performers in the media index.

The Nifty Media index was trading 1.45 per cent higher at 1,792.15 at 11.25 am.

Benchmark NSE Nifty50 index was up 24.15 points at 12,283.85 while the BSE Sensex was up 83.58 points at 41,757.30.

Out of the 15 stocks in the index, except for DB Corp, which fell 0.60 per cent, all others are trading in green.

Reliance Home Finance seeks permission to repay nearly 20,000 bondholders

Reliance Home Finance has sought permission from lenders to repay its retail bondholders. It has to repay Rs 91.78 crore to retail investors on or before the due dates of January 3 and January 15. Read more here

Glenmark gets approval from Australian regulator to commercialise Ryaltris

Drug maker Glenmark Pharmaceuticals on Friday said that it has received approval from Australian regulator Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) to commercialise Ryaltris in Australia through its partner Seqirus.

Ryaltris is a new fixed dose combination nasal spray of an antihistamine and a steroid indicated for treatment of symptoms associated with allergic rhinitis and rhinoconjunctivitis in patients over 12 years of age in Australia.

Will Dubai foray boost growth of Lemon Tree?

Lemon Tree Hotels on Thursday (through its management subsidiary Carnation Hotels Pvt Ltd) made an international debut by launching the first Lemon Tree Hotels in Dubai. The hotel, owned by Al Waleed Real Estate LLC, has 114 appointed rooms with a multi-cuisine restaurant and other facilities.

Through this addition, Lemon Tree aims to increase its appeal to existing as well as potential customers. Shareholders of Lemon Tree will closely monitor the development.

Sensex heads for yet another record close in bull run

India’s benchmark stock gauge climbed, set for a fourth straight record-high close, as investors shrugged off economic worries ahead of the holiday season.

Foreign investors have pumped $13.8 billion into India’s stocks this year, the biggest inflows since 2014 and driving most of the Sensex’s 16 per cent gain, even as economic growth lingers at a six-year low. -

Prestige Estates: Focus on plan to raise funds

The board of directors of Prestige Estates Projects will meet on Friday to consider and approve raising of funds through preferential issue to an identified allottee. Last week, the board had approved the increase of existing authorised share capital of the company and an allottment of 1.98 crore equity shares to qualified institutional buyers.

Shareholders will closely monitor the quantum of funds the company plans to raise, the price of the issue and identification of allottees.

Earnings boost: Kotak Securities sees 18% CAGR for Nifty-50 firms in the next 3 years

Kotak Securities sees earnings of Nifty-50 companies registering a robust 18 per cent compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) for next three years, a sharp increase over the previous three years CAGR of 8 per cent. Read more here

CRISIL to acquire US-based data analytics company Greenwich Associates for $40 million

CRISIL is set to acquire the US-based Greenwich Associates and its six subsidiaries for about $40 million as it looks to become a leading player in the global benchmarking analytics market. Read more here

Oil prices hold near 3-month highs on US-China trade deal progress

Oil prices held steady near three-month highs on Friday on the back of easing Sino-U.S. trade tensions that have weighed on demand as well as the global economic growth outlook.

Brent futures rose 2 cents, or 0.03%, to 66.56 a barrel by 0145 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was down 9 cents, or 0.15%, at $61.09 per barrel.

Laurus Labs (₹370.3): Buy

Investors with a short-term horizon can buy the stock of Laurus Labs at current levels. The stock jumped 4.2 per cent accompanied by above average volume on Thursday, breaking above a key immediate resistance at ₹355. Moreover, the stock has conclusively breached its 200-DMA. Read more on the technicals here

Daily Rupee call: Short on rallies with 70.85 as stop loss

The rupee (INR), after gaining during the first hour of the trading session, faced a substantial selling pressure against the dollar (USD). After marking an intraday high of 70.87, the local currency declined sharply to make an intraday low of 71.2, before closing the session at 71.04. Thus, the exchange rate continues to move around the key level of 71.

Day Trading Guide for December 20, 2019

Given below are supports and resistances for Nifty 50 futures and seven key stocks that can help in your intra-day trading:

₹1288 • HDFC Bank

₹731 • Infosys

₹244 • ITC

₹125 • ONGC

₹1605 • Reliance Ind.

₹328 • SBI

₹2228 • TCS

12268 • Nifty 50 Futures

S1, S2 : Support 1 & 2; R1, R2: Resistance 1 & 2.

Opening bell: The BSE benchmark Sensex opened flat on Friday tracking global markets.

At 09:17 am, the Sensex is up 73.92 at 41,747.84, while Nifty is down 5.30 points at 12,254.40.

Bharti Infratel, SBI, Tata Motors, Hero Motocrop, Tata Motors, and Adani are among the major gainers in early trade. Yes Bank, Britannia, Sun Pharma, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Hindustan Unilever were trading lower.

Among sectors, except for metal, pharma and FMCG, all other sectors are trading in green.

Asian stocks trade flat

Asian shares snoozed near 18-month highs on Friday as trade thinned in the run-up to Christmas and investors seemed content to digest the chunky gains already made so far this month.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was a fraction firmer in early trade, having gained 1.2% for the week so far and almost 5% for the month.

Japan's Nikkei inched up 0.1% after reaching a 14-month top earlier in the week. It was ahead by 2.5% for the month so far. South Korea's market added 0.25% on the day and 5.5% for December.

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