Tag: World Gold Council

Sensex managed to hold on to the 49,000 mark despite falling 550 points. Nifty fell 1.11% at 14,433. All sectoral indices were in the negative zone, with banks, IT and pharma worst hit. At close, Nifty bank index traded lower at Rs 32,246 down by -0.84%, while BSE Bankex ended at 36,540 down by -0.99%.

Amongst the top losers were- PNB at Rs 35 (-2.85), followed by ICICI bank at Rs 543 (-1.86), Kotak Mahindra at Rs 1863 (-1.52), Bank of Baroda at Rs (-1.38%), SBI at Rs 303 (-1.11%), Induslnd Bank at Rs 965 (-0.38%), Axis bank at Rs 674 (-0.17%). IDFC first Bank traded in the green adding 4.76% at Rs 48.

Nifty Financial Services ended at 15,453 down by 1%. Amongst the top losers were HDFC at Rs 2,632 down by -1.91% followed by Indiabulls hsg at Rs 230 (-1.03%), Cholamandalam at Rs 424 (-0.48%). Bajaj Finance and Power Finance traded green adding 0.13% and 0.41% respectively.

Other key takeaways

Economic recovery likely to boost gold demand in India this year: WGC
Gold demand appears to be positive in India as the consumer sentiment is likely to recover in 2021, from its dismal performance due to the coronavirus pandemic-related disruptions and volatile price movement, according to a report by the World Gold Council (WGC).

Initial data about the Dhanteras festival in November suggest that while jewellery demand was still below average, it had substantially recovered from the lows seen in the second quarter (April-June 2020) of last year, according to the report.

Budget session to begin from Jan 29, Budget on Feb 1:
The Union Budget 2021-22 would be presented on February 1, confirmed the Lok Sabha Secretariat. The Parliament session would be starting from January 29, and would be held in two phases.

“The fifth session of 17th Lok Sabha will commence on Friday, the 29th January, 2021. Subject to exigencies of government business, the session is likely to conclude on Thursday, the 8th April, 2021,” said an official press release by the Lok Sabha Secretariat.

Indian bond yields rise:
India’s benchmark bond yield rose on Friday to a three-week high as a lack of an open market operation announcement disappointed investors ahead of a debt sale and variable rate reverse repo auction later in the day.

The Reserve Bank of India last week said it would conduct a variable rate reverse repo auction for 2 trillion rupees ($27 billion) on Jan. 15 on review of the evolving liquidity and financial conditions.

Rupee ends at days high
The movement in USDINR spot is in tandem with other Asian peers and going ahead the optimism over US stimulus package will keep it lower. Indian rupee ended marginally lower at 73.12, amid selling saw in the domestic equity market. It opened lower at 73.08 per dollar versus Thursday’s close of 73.04 and traded in the range of 72.99-73.17.

Wall Street ends lower:
Wall Street closed lower on Thursday after making a u-turn toward the end of the session as reports emerged about U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s pandemic aid proposal following earlier data that showed a weakening labor market.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 68.95 points, or 0.22%, at 30,991.52 while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 16.31 points, or 0.12%, to 13,112.64. The S&P 500 lost 14.3 points, or 0.38%, to close at 3,795.54.