The October Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation moved past the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) comfort level of 4 percent, to a 16-month high of 4.6 percent, led by a spike in food prices. Does this mean no more rate cuts by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC)? Rise in inflation above RBI's target level may lead to central bank pausing the rate cuts in the upcoming policy meet and holding on the current rate till inflation softens. However, Bank of America Merill Lynch (BofAML) is of the view that the MPC will still cut 40 basis points (bps) more in FY20. RBI MPC should still cut 25 bps on Dec 5 and 15 bps in February to support growth, said the investment bank in a report. READ MORE

The share price of Wockhardt surged 13 percent intraday on Monday after sources of Moneycontrol reported that Cipla, Dr Reddy's Laboratories and Carlyle Asian Investment Fund PAG are in the fray to acquire selected business segments of the company.

In intraday, the shares of the company rose 13.28 percent at Rs 307.10 per share on the NSE. 

Meanwhile, the exchange has sought a clarification from the company on the same.

This is my third blog in the 13 series after one on Dhanteras and another about important stocks last week. You can expect 10 more blogs from me on this series as we make the journey towards the Nifty's 13,000 mark. Read here CNBC-TV18 Anuj Singhal's exclusive take on the Nifty target. 

Indian benchmark equity indices, the BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty50, traded flat on Monday afternoon amid profit-booking in blue-chips HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, Tata Consultancy Services, and ICICI Bank, which weighed on indices. 

The BSE Sensex was down over 45 points to trade at 40,311 at 1.12 pm. The NSE Nifty50 was 6 points lower to trade at 11,889. 

Among sectoral gauges, bank, auto, financial service, FMCG, IT and the private bank declined, while media, metal, pharma, PSU bank and realty shares advanced. The laggards included Yes Bank, Britannia, Bajaj Auto, M&M, Nestle, Hero MotoCorp and HDFC Bank, which fell by up to 3.5 percent.

The 30-share S&P BSE Sensex index pared gains on Monday after heavyweights like HDFC Bank, Bajaj Auto, Asian Paints along with others were trading in the red zone. YES Bank remained the top loser in the index, falling 3.42 percent. While HDFC Bank's shares fell 1.26 percent. 

Half of Nifty50's sectoral indices are trading in the red zone today due to drag in the FMCG stocks. The sector is witnessing consumption slowdown resulting in decline in the share prices' of FMCG giants. On the contrary, Nifty Pharma, Nifty Metal and Nifty PSU Bank were the only indices that rose over 1 percent, trying to move the index upwards. 

Acknowledging that "lack of a good debt market is a national problem", former SEBI chairman UK Sinha said that there was a need for drastic changes to develop the same.

“We need some drastic changes in the way we can develop the debt market... there are dozens of reports pointing out how that should be done and the corporate bond market can develop only on the back of a very vibrant government bond market," said Sinha in an interview with CNBC-TV18.

On whether or not there is a possible resolution for the NBFCs under the insolvency and bankruptcy code (IBC), he said, "Global experience is that financial sector companies require a different sets of rules."

“The government is incrementally trying to test the waters," said Sinha, adding that some financial sector companies can be tackled through the IBC mechanism.

Talking about loans against shares, he said, “In hindsight, maybe things could have been looked at more promptly and timely but the good thing is that at last, things are under control so far as the regulatory regime is concerned and my feeling is that the new changes which Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has brought about, for example: liquid funds must be having 20 percent in liquid assets, the sectoral caps have been reduced, must-have investments only in listed commercial papers (CPs) and non-convertible debentures (NCDs), graded exit load for first 7 days... I think these will provide a lot of comfort and safety to the investors."

Kotak Institutional Equities has maintained a 'buy' rating on State Bank of India (SBI) shares with a long-term target price of Rs 400. The long-term price target of Rs 400 has an upside potential of over 24 percent from the scrip's closing price of Rs 322 on Friday.

SBI shares traded at Rs 326.65 per share on Monday, after opening at Rs 324 apiece on BSE at 11.22 am. Here is the article for you to read!

The October trade deficit came in at $11 billion, little changed from $10.8 billion in September. When you look at September versus October, it looks like there is not much change. Ideally, the way to look at imports and exports is year-on-year (YoY) because it is a seasonal thing. 

In exports, while it is largely accounted for petrochemical products. India imports a lot of crudes and sells specialized petrochemical products. Oil imports in October fell 31.74 percent to $9.63 billion YoY.

Here's the link to the entire article: Latha Venkatesh explains why India trade data presents a gloomy picture

The share price of Glenmark Pharma rose nearly 9 percent on Monday, extending gains from Friday after global brokerage CLSA upgraded the stock to 'buy' from 'sell' and raised target price to Rs 410 per share from Rs 350 earlier.

The stock gained as much as 8.7 percent to Rs 327.60 per share on the BSE. At 9:50 am, the stock was trading 7.7 percent higher, at Rs 324.50, as compared to a 0.03 percent or 11 points rise in BSE Sensex at 40,368.

Read more on this article here: Find out why Glenmark Pharma rose 9 percent on Monday

Nilesh Shah, Managing Director of Kotak Mahindra AMC gives out his view on the Q2 earnings season. Here are his takeaways: 

1. Earnings need to recover in  H2FY20 to drive Nifty higher

2. Essar steel judgment is positive for banks but needs participation from other sectors also

3. Execution of law on the ground has been challenging and needs to be monitored

4. Focus on companies where cash flow predictability is possible

5. Remained underweight on telecom for past few years, continue to evaluate it

6. Lots of developers have shut shop post RERA implementation

7. Weaker realty companies shutting their shop is good news for larger realty companies

8. One positive from Q2 earnings season was an improvement in operating cash flow

9. As seen in Hindustan Zinc, strategic sale of government assets have created shareholder wealth

Muthoot Finance Ltd is set to acquire IDBI Asset Management Ltd and the deal, which is in its final stage, is expected to close this week, reported livemint, citing three people aware of the development. According to the report, as on March 31, IDBI Bank owned 66.67 percent stake in IDBI Asset Management with IDBI Capital Markets and Securities holding a 33.33 percent stake. READ MORE

Shares of Reliance Communications hits a 52-week low on Monday after Anil Ambani resigned as the director of the company. 

Intraday, the stock price fell over 8 percent to Rs 0.55 per share on the NSE. 

Along with Anil Ambani, the Chief Financial Officer Manikantan V and 4 other directors resigned from the company. 

The resignations' came in soon after the company posted a consolidated loss of Rs 30,142 crore for the second quarter, after provisioning Rs 28,314 crore for license fee and spectrum usage dues following a recent Supreme Court verdict on the calculation of adjusted gross revenue.

The share price of Vodafone Idea climbed 23 percent on Monday after Finance Minister reacted to reports of stress in the telecom sector and said "We want no company to shut their operations. We want everyone to flourish."

The minister further said the Committee of Secretaries (CoS) appointed to deal with financial problems being faced by telecom companies, "has not taken a final decision yet"

Sources have confirmed the committee has sought recommendations from Department of Telecom (DoT) on setting a minimum charge for all tariffs for telecom players and also assessing the impact it will have on telecom operators.

Intraday, the stock was trading 23.28 percent higher at Rs 4.50 per share on the NSE.

Indian shares opened positively on Monday after momentum in the global markets gathers with new developments in the US-China trade talks. 

In the opening bell, the 30-share BSE Sensex index opened 94.45 points or 0.23 percent at 40,451.14 while the NSE Nifty index rose 24.60 points or 0.21 percent at 11,920.05.

All sectoral indices traded in the green, with Nifty media posting most gains (+0.86 percent). BPCL was the top Nifty50 gainer while shares of Vodafone Idea climbed 20 percent. 

The Indian Rupee opens at 71.68 v/s Friday's close of 71.78. 

Chinese State Media Xinhua said, "China and the United States had constructive talks on trade in a high-level phone call on Saturday." China's Vice Premier Liu He, U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin were on the call. This information has helped Wall Street to surge on Friday with record highs. 

With strong fundamentals, India's civil aviation sector is in its "golden age" and there is also healthy competition among domestic carriers, IndiGo CEO Ronojoy Dutta has said.

Interestingly, the country's civil aviation sector has been experiencing lower growth in traffic compared to previous years and there has also been softness in fares in October, according to industry experts. Read here for more.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) pumped in a net sum of Rs 19,203 crore into the domestic capital markets in the first half of November amid encouraging domestic and global factors.

According to the latest depositories data, overseas investors infused a net amount of Rs 14,435.6 crore into equities and Rs 4,767.18 crore into the debt segment during November 1-15, taking the total net investment to Rs 19,202.7 crore. Click here to read more.

Saudi Aramco is worth up to $1.7 trillion at the price range set by the oil giant on Sunday, below the $2 trillion sought by Saudi's crown prince but putting it in the running to become the world's biggest IPO.

Aramco cannot sell its shares directly to investors in the United States and other markets, as the initial public offering (IPO) will be restricted to Saudis and those foreign institutions permitted to invest in the kingdom's stock market.

The oil giant said it plans to sell 1.5 percent of the company, or about 3 billion shares, at an indicative price range of 30 riyals to 32 riyals, valuing the IPO at as much as 96 billion riyals ($25.6 billion) and giving the company a potential market value of between $1.6 trillion and $1.7 trillion. Read the full article here.

First up, here is quick catchup of what happened in the markets on Friday.

The benchmark indices, the BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty50, ended Friday's trading session with gains, boosted by PSU banks and pharma stocks. 

The 30-share S&P BSE Sensex ended 70 points, or 0.17 percent, higher at 40,357. The broader NSE Nifty50 too advanced 23 points, or 0.20 percent, to settle at 11,895.

If you are interested, you can check out the full article here.

Good morning, readers! This is Mousumi Paul. I am a copy editor at CNBCTV18.com and I am very passionate about the stock market.

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