- Market Gains For Second Day To Turn Positive For The Week

- Nifty Fails To Hold 12,000 Seen After Four Sessions, Ends 62 Points Higher

- Sensex Closes With A Gain Of 169 Points At 40,582

- Nifty Bank Gains 409 Points To Post The Biggest Single-day Gain In One Month

- Midcap Index Gains In-line With Benchmarks, Closes 136 Points Higher

- Market Breadth Favours Advances For The First Time In December

- 38 Of 50 Nifty Stocks End In The Green; Tata Motors, Yes Bank Top Gainers

- HDFC Bank and Kotak Bank Top Contributors To Nifty Gains

- Infosys Slips 2.6 percent After Fresh Development On Lawsuit By Schall Law Firm

- IT Stocks Under Pressure With Rupee Gaining Against The US Dollar

- PSU Banks Post Healthy Gains After Cabinet Approves Amendments To IBC

- Hikal Surges Over 14 percent After Gujarat Units Receives EIR From US FDA

- Sterling & Wilson Moves Higher After Executing Order Of Rs 827 crore

Indian shares pared some gains in the last leg of trade but ended higher on Thursday, following global markets, led mainly by gains in metal, banking and auto stocks. Index heavyweights like HDFC Bank, TCS, SBI, Kotak Bank, and Tata Motors contributed the most to the indices. The Sensex ended 169 points higher at 40,582, while the Nifty50 index ended 62 points higher at 11,972.

Broader markets outperformed benchmarks with Nifty Midcap adding 0.8 percent and Nifty Smallcap rising 0.5 percent for the day. Among stocks, Tata Motors, Yes Bank, Vedanta, Tata Steel, and SBI were the top gainers on the Nifty50 index, while Infosys, TCS, ONGC, HCL Tech, and Bharti Airtel led the losses.

All sectoral indices, except 1, ended the day in green. Nifty Metal and Nifty PSU Bank rose the most, up over 2 percent each, while Nifty Bank and Nifty Auto also advanced 1.3 percent each. Nifty Pharma gained 0.97 percent and Nifty Realty was up 0.86 percent for the day. Only Nifty IT dragged, down over 1 percent for the day.

What will happen to YES Bank if it fails to raise funds? Will it be nationalised? There are several such instances in the past when failed private sector scheduled commercial banks had been bailed out by state-run banks. Historically, 36 private banks have been put under moratorium in public interest since 1969. In the past, the main reason behind the nationalisation of private banks had been "mismanagement", and that makes for a strong case for YES Bank's takeover by a public sector bank (PSB) in case it fails to raise adequate funds.  Read more here

When it comes to investing one’s hard-earned money, everyone is confused. The investors are not sure which instrument will give them the best returns on their investment. Often people who have investible money in their hands do not have much knowledge about the available financial products available in the markets and their advantages and disadvantages, leading to end up making bad investments.

Experts say that the investors should invest according to their financial goals, risk-taking abilities and other factors that vary from person to person. Click here to read more

Cadila Healthcare share price rose 2 percent intraday on December 12 after the company launched an affordable oral anti-diabetic tablet in India, Vinglyn (Vildagliptin) & Vinglyn M (Vildagliptin plus metformin). The drug belongs to the class of oral anti-diabetic agents, known as DPP4 inhibitors, which have shown promise in achieving glycaemic comrol without deterioration in beta cell function and are one of the recent advancements in diabetes care and management.

Ujjivan Small Finance Bank is planning to start discussions with the Reserve Bank of India to work out a plan to reduce the promoter's stake in the bank to 40 percent within five years, said managing director and CEO Nitin Chugh. Chugh said the bank is also exploring a reverse merger to cut the promoter holdings to zero. "In case we have to also go down the path of 40 percent within 5 years, we will have a plan B in the works. We have time for that and we are looking at all kinds of options,” he said in an interview with CNBC-TV18. READ MORE

lobal brokerages have raised doubts over public sector banks’ PSBs) appetite for buying lower-rated pooled asset after the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved changes to the partial credit guarantee scheme allowing them to purchase BBB+ or higher rated assets from non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), and housing finance companies (HFCs).

The scheme was introduced in the Budget 2019-20 by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Under the scheme, earlier PSBs were allowed only to purchase only AA-rated assets from these companies. PSBs have been given a one-time two-year first-loss guarantee of up to 10 percent for purchase of higher-rated pools of loans from financially sound NBFCs, up to Rs 10,000 crore in aggregate. READ MORE

Maruti Suzuki saw a growth in its production in November after nine long months of cuts. The increase in the production in November is a reflection of sales which happened in October, according to Shashank Srivastava, ED - Marketing and Sales, Maruti Suzuki.

“Production in any industry is a factor of retail, so whenever the retails are good, production has to... that is why in the first half there have been cuts in production. It is quite natural that based on the retail, the production will be adjusted," said Srivastava. The company announced earlier this month that it will increase the prices from January 2020. The price hike has been necessitated on account of the increase in input cost, it had said. READ MORE

A US-based shareholder rights litigation firm announces the filing of a class-action lawsuit against Infosys, accusing the Indian IT major of marking false and misleading statements to investors. The Schall Law Firm said investors who purchased Infosys securities between July 7, 2018, and October 20, 2019, could participate in the action by December 23.

The lawsuit came after the company disclosed in late October an unnamed group sent letters to Infosys’ board and the US Securities and Exchange Commission alleging that the company had taken “unethical” steps to inappropriately boost short-term revenue and profit. READ MORE

Reserve Bank of India governor Shaktikanta Das said on Wednesday that the current economic conditions may pose certain challenges to banks, and urged them to be proactive in tackling them. Speaking to heads of major state-run banks here, Das noted there has been "improvement" in the banking sector and it remains "resilient". The remarks come amid a slowdown in economic growth to a six-year-low at 4.5 percent for the September quarter. The RBI has also cut its growth estimate sharply to 5 percent for the fiscal year.

"Governor noted that there has been some improvement in the banking sector and the sector remains resilient even though current economic conditions may pose certain challenges. He urged the banks to proactively tackle the emerging challenges swiftly, particularly with regard to the stressed assets resolution in a co-ordinated manner," an RBI release said. READ MORE

The Federal Reserve held its key interest rate steady and signalled it plans to stay on hold in 2020 unless a worsening economy prompts a significant change in its outlook. James Glassman, senior economist at JPMorgan shared his views on the Fed's decision.

“It is very favourable for risky assets. The economy is performing well, inflation is not the issue, we don’t need the central bank to tell us that they are going to be cautious and I think that message has been taken out by the markets which is why we are up so much. This is the case for any central bank, it is not unique to the Federal Reserve. Central bank’s job is to manage the economies unless there is an inflation problem. So when inflation is quite benign, it is not surprising that the Fed has suddenly become very cautious,” he said. READ MORE

- Indian shares were trading higher, following global markets, led mainly by gains in banking and auto stocks.

- The BE Sensex was trading around 150 points higher, hwile the Nifty50 index was up nearly 50 points, around 11,950 levels

- Tata Motors, Yes Bank, Vedanta, Hindalco, and UPL were the top gainers on Nifty at this hour, while, Zee, ONGC, Bharti Infratel, Infosys, and HCL Tech led the losses.

- Major Buying was seen in auto, metals, and banking sectors, while media and IT indcies were trading in red.

Ujjivan Small Finance Bank made a strong debut on bourses on Thursday, listing at Rs 58 per share on BSE, up 57 percent from its issue price of Rs 37. The stock rose as much a 69.7 percent to Rs 62.8 per share on BSE. At 10:02 am, it was trading 68.6 percent higher over the issue price at Rs 62.40. On the NSE, USFB shares opened at Rs 58.75 per share on the NSE, up 58.78 percent from its issue price of Rs 37 per share. READ MORE

Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad came in for sharp criticism when he pointed to the box-office collections of some films to say the economy was doing fine. But there is one stock, with strong links to films, which has indeed beaten the odds.

Consumer spending declined for the first time in 2019 in four decades but shares of speciality retail player INOX Leisure have jumped more than 47 percent on BSE, as of December 9 close. The equity benchmark Sensex has gained more than 12 percent in the same period. Stocks outperforming the market benchmark is not an unusual phenomenon, but what makes INOX Leisure's rise special is that it brushed aside the slump in consumer spending. READ MORE

Indian shares opened higher on Thursday, following global markets, which rose after the US Federal Reserve held its interest rates steady and signaled borrowing costs will not change anytime soon.  At 9:17 am, the BSE Sensex was trading 127 points higher at 40,540 and the Nifty50 was trading 35 points higher at 11,945.

Yes Bank, Vedanta, Bharti Infratel, Tata Motors, and Tata Steel were the top gainers on the Nifty50 index, while Bharti Airtel, Zee, Infosys, Wipro, and HDFC led the losses. All sectoral indices, except Nifty Media, were trading in the green in the opening trade. Nifty PSU Bank rose the most, up 0.8 percent, while Nifty Bank, Nifty Auto,  and Nifty Metal were up 0.5 percent each. Nifty Realty also rose 0.7 percent and Nifty FMCG gained 0.4 percent. However, Nifty PSU Bank fell 0.3 percent in opening deals. 

- Buy Kotak Bank with a stop loss of Rs 1,670, target at Rs 1,720

- Buy TCS with a stop loss of Rs 2,025, target at Rs 2,100

- Buy HDFC with a stop loss of Rs 2,300, target at Rs 2,365

- Buy Indraprastha Gas with a stop loss of Rs 410, target at Rs 435

- Buy Jubilant FoodWorks with a stop loss of Rs 1,570, target at Rs 1,620

Click here for buy-sell calls by Sudarshan Sukhani, Prakash Gaba

Nestle India has been slapped with a Rs 90 crore fine by the National Anti-profiteering Authority (NAA) for its failure to pass on the benefits of the goods and services tax (GST) reduction to consumers. However, the fine is unlikely to have a significant impact on the Nestle stock as Rs 90 crore is paltry in the FMCG major's balancesheet. Nestle has said that the company is studying the order carefully to consider appropriate actions, but it prides itself in being a responsible, responsive, and fully compliant corporate citizen. READ MORE

The consumer price index (CPI) data for November will be released on Thursday. Here are the key expectations from last month's data:

- The CPI is expected to come in at around 5.17 percent versus 4.62 percent on a month-on-month (MoM) basis.

- The core CPI is expected to remain largely flat at around 3.46 percent against 3.5 percent on a MoM basis.

- The likely range for the CPI in terms of the headline figures is quite wide, anywhere between 4.7 percent and 5.4 percent, driven by food inflation. Food inflation in October had spiked to 7.89 percent versus 5.11 percent on a MoM basis.

Oil prices steadied on Thursday with the market mood switching to relief as OPEC forecast a supply deficit next year, from doom and gloom over data showing a surprise increase in U.S. crude inventories. Brent futures rose 19 cents, or 0.3 percent to 63.61 a barrel by 0100 GMT, after skidding 1 percent on Wednesday on the U.S. stocks build-up. West Texas Intermediate crude was down 9 cents at $58.85 a barrel, following a 0.8 percent drop the previous session.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on Wednesday said it now expected a small deficit in the oil market in the next year, suggesting the market is tighter than previously thought - even before the latest pact with other producers to curb supply takes effect. READ MORE