Sensex, Nifty to edge higher; HP Adhesives, Varun Beverages, BPCL, Dish TV in focus

Indian benchmark indices, the BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty, are expected to open higher on the second-last session of 2021, following mixed cues from global peers. The positive trends on SGX Nifty also indicated a gap-up opening for the Indian equities, with SGX Nifty futures trading 33 points, or 0.2%, higher at 17,302 on the Singapore Stock Exchange at 7:40 AM. The market is likely to see some volatility ahead of the expiry of monthly futures and options (F&O) contracts due by the end of the session.

On Wednesday, the domestic share market ended lower in choppy trade as investors grappled with rising Omicron cases. Snapping two sessions' gaining streak, the BSE Sensex ended 91 points, or 0.16%, lower at 57,806, and the NSE Nifty dropped by 19 points, or 0.11%, to settle at 17,213. Outperforming the benchmark indices, the S&P BSE Midcap and the S&P BSE Smallcap indices gained 0.13% and 0.49%, respectively. The market witnessed bearish trade with 19 out of the top 30 BSE stocks ending in negative terrain. State Bank of India (SBI), the country’s largest lender, topped losers’ chart by falling 1.45%. Some of the other notable losers on the BSE Sensex pack were ITC, Tech Mahindra, Tata Steel, and NTPC, which dropped in the range of 0.8-1.5%.

Individual stocks that will be in focus on Thursday include HP Adhesives, Varun Beverages, BPCL, IRB Infrastructure, Dish TV, and others.

Telecom stocks: Shares of telecom companies such as Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea will in focus today after rating agency ICRA upgraded telecom services industry outlook to 'stable'. The upgrade in sector’s outlook was attributed to the telecom tariff hike as well as the recent relief package offered to the industry.

HP Adhesives: Investors will keep an eye on shares of newly listed company after foreign investor Nexus Global Opportunities Fund exited the company. Nexus offloaded 3,04,923 equity shares in the company at ₹369.2 per share on the BSE, as per the bulk deals available on the exchange.

Varun Beverages: The company has established a new company 'Varun Beverages RDC SAS' in the Democratic Republic of Congo for manufacturing, selling, and distribution of carbonated and non-carbonated beverages.

BPCL: Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has acquired a 2.02% stake in the oil company via open market transactions, as per the exchange data. The insurance major’s shareholding in BPCL has increased to 7.03% from 5.01% earlier.

IRB Infrastructure: The infrastructure company has raised ₹5,346.6 crore as it approved allotment of 25.24 crore equity shares at ₹211.79 per share to Cintra INR Investments BV and Bricklayers Investment.

Dish TV: The shares of DTH service provider will be in focus as the annual general meeting of the company will be held on Thursday. The AGM had been postponed twice before amid an ongoing conflict between Subhash Chandra family-led promoters and its single largest shareholder YES Bank.

Here are key things investors should know before the market opens today:

U.S. stocks end modestly higher

On Wall Street, the U.S. stocks closed mixed with the Dow and S&P 500 ending modestly higher in thin trade on Wednesday. The rising economic optimism has taken centre stage as reduced risk of hospitalisation in Omicron cases have shrugged off concerns over the travel disruptions. The Dow Jones index rose 0.3%, the S&P 500 gained 0.1%, and the tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite fell 0.1% in overnight trade.

Investors reacted to trade deficit in goods which widened by 17.5% to $97.8 billion in November, compared to $83.2 billion in October. Goods exports dropped 2.1%, while imports climbed by 4.7%, as per the Commerce Department data released on Wednesday.

Asian markets mixed on Omicron concerns

Shares in the Asia-Pacific region traded mostly higher in muted trade, following mixed cues from Wall Street. The continued rise in Covid-19 cases around the world and uncertainty over the economic impact of the highly transmissible Omicron variant left investors jittery.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index traded lower by 0.07%, while South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.08% despite reporting strong economic data. The country’s industrial output surged 5.1% in November, signaling an ease in global supply bottlenecks.

The Straits Times Index in Singapore was down 0.2%, and the Australia’s ASX 200 index also traded tad lower.

Meanwhile, China’s Shanghai Composite surged 0.6%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong rose 0.5%. Thailand’s SET Composite was the outperformer with a 0.7% gain, while the Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite gained 0.06%. Taiwan Weighted Index also traded higher with marginal gains.

Crude oil prices rise as U.S. oil inventories fall

Crude oil price traded higher during early Asian trading hours on Thursday after U.S. government data showed lower oil inventories. The drop in U.S. crude and fuel inventories as well as hopes that the Omicron variant will have a limited impact on global fuel demand boosted sentiment.

The U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Crude oil futures for February were up 0.43% at $76.89 a barrel, while the Brent oil futures for March traded 0.43% higher at $79.56 per barrel.

In the overnight trade, global benchmark Brent crude and the U.S. WTI crude ended higher after data showed that U.S. crude inventories fell last week, while oil production surged to the highest since May 2020.

FIIs turn net seller, DIIs remain net buyers

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) turned net sellers in the Indian equity market on December 29, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) emerged as net buyers for the second day. As per the data available on the NSE, FIIs net sold shares worth ₹975.23 crore, while DIIs net bought shares worth ₹1,006.93 crore.