Continuing their gaining streak, Indian equity benchmarks ended at a record close on Tuesday with Nifty crossing the 13,050-mark for the first time ever, following advances in global peers largely because signs of progress on a COVID-19 vaccine which in turn spurred hopes for a faster economic recovery. Benchmarks made optimistic start and traded in fine fettle, as sentiments got a boost as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman assured the industry that momentum of economic reforms will continue to make India a hotspot of global investment. Some positivity also came as Care Ratings said the economy is expected to throw up better numbers in the September quarter with GDP contraction of 9.9 per cent, as against 24 per cent in Q1 at the onset of the pandemic. Frontline gauges extended their upside in second half of trading session, as sentiment perked up with chief economic adviser (CEA) -- Krishnamurthy Subramanian's statement that India is likely to report a current account surplus at the end of the current financial year ending in March 2021, mainly led by a fall in imports. Adding optimism among investors, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said that unprecedented reforms undertaken on both governance and economic fronts by the government will usher in a new era of growth and prosperity. He also stressed the need to increase expenditure on research and development and strengthen intellectual property rights (IPR) laws. Traders overlooked S&P Global Ratings' statement that the recommendations made by the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) working group on allowing corporate ownership in banks given India's weak corporate governance amid large corporate defaults over the past few years pose a potential risk. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 445.87 points or 1.01% to 44,523.02, while the CNX Nifty was up by 128.70 points or 1.00% to 13,055.15.

The US markets ended higher on Tuesday, extending their previous session's gains. The Dow sped past a milestone of 30,000 for the first ever time, and more importantly, held gains and finished above that mark. The recent encouraging updates on the coronavirus vaccine front continued to aid sentiment. There were concerns about continued spikes in new coronavirus cases in several states across the country, but traders still chose to pick up stocks, hoping the situation will turn for the better once the vaccines start to arrive. Also, the market appeared to be hoping that a new administration at White House will decide on a fiscal stimulus soon and begin efforts to put the economy back on track. The reports about the head of the General Services Administration informing Biden that the Trump administration is ready to begin the formal transition process helped lift sentiment as trading began and stocks never looked back after opening on firm note. The development has eliminated some of the lingering uncertainty about the outcome of the presidential election, although President Donald Trump has indicated he will continue to challenge the results in court. Meanwhile, Biden has picked former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen as Treasury Secretary.

Crude oil futures ended higher on Tuesday, magnifying their previous session's gains, on easing concerns about energy demand on the back of recent upbeat updates on potential coronavirus vaccine, and increasing prospects for a fiscal stimulus soon following US President-elect Joe Biden beginning his transition to the White House. Meanwhile, traders were also betting on hopes the OPEC and its allies will discuss extending oil output curbs into next year, aiming to balance the market. Crude oil futures for January rose $1.85 or about 4.3 percent to settle at $44.91 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. January Brent crude surged $1.70 or 3.7 percent to settle at $47.74 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.

Indian rupee ended stronger against dollar on Tuesday due to fresh selling of the American currency by banks and exporters. Sentiments were upbeat with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's statement that the momentum of reforms will continue in the future as well. She also said All enterprises, MNCs and India Inc., big, medium and small enterprises, are facing a reset exercise in doing business. Adding optimism, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant has said that unprecedented reforms undertaken on both governance and economic fronts by the government have been quite unprecedented and they will usher in a new era of growth and prosperity. Besides, strong gains in domestic equity markets also helped rupee to trade higher. On the global front, dollar and the euro rose on Tuesday after US President Donald Trump accepted the start of a transition to a Biden regime that may include former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen as Treasury secretary. Finally, the rupee ended at 74.01, 10 paise stronger from its previous close of 74.11 on Monday.

The FIIs as per Tuesday's data were net buyer in equity segment and net seller in debt segment. In equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 12598.77 crore against gross selling of Rs 7709.22 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 123.55 crore with gross sales of Rs 685.29 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was of Rs 10.32 crore against gross selling of Rs 17.09 crore.

The US markets settled higher on Tuesday as investors anticipated a 2021 economic recovery on coronavirus vaccine progress and the formal clearance for President-elect Joe Biden's transition to the White House. Asian markets are trading in green on Wednesday following a record session on Wall Street as coronavirus vaccine hopes and reduced uncertainty in US politics buoy investor sentiment. Indian markets ended at record-high levels on Tuesday on the back of positive developments over the COVID-19 vaccine that has boosted investors' risk appetite amid growing prospects of speedy global economic recovery. Today, the start of session is likely to be optimistic tracking firm trade in Asian peers and overnight gains on Wall Street. Traders will be taking encouragement as Nilesh Shah, a part-time member of the economic advisory council to the Prime Minister, said the GDP contraction will improve to higher single digits in the September quarter, and the economy will be back to positive growth by the March quarter. Market participants may also track the Union Cabinet meeting, scheduled for later today, where the Centre may consider a proposal to infuse Rs 6,000 crore into the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund. However, investors may be concerned with report that India reported 44,276 fresh Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking its tally to 9,221,998. The country's death toll mounted to 134,743. There may be some cautiousness with S&P Global Ratings' statement that non-performing loans in the Indian banking sector is likely to witness an uptick and may shoot up to 11 per cent of gross loans in the next 12-18 months. Aviation industry stocks will be focus with ICRA's report that the Maharashtra government's decision to make coronavirus negative report mandatory for those entering the state from four certain states is expected to impact the domestic travel demand further. There will be some buzz in automobile industry stocks with Ind-Ra's report that India's two-wheeler exports will see sustained growth in the second half of next fiscal after witnessing temporary hurdles in the first half this year due to COVID-19 and weakened crude oil prices, hurting the economies of key exporting destinations. Infrastructure stocks will be in limelight as the Union Cabinet is likely to consider a proposal to infuse Rs 6,000 crore into the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), a move which will help the entity raise Rs 1.10 lakh crore by 2025 for financing infrastructure projects. There will be some reaction in mining industry stocks with ICRA's report that the domestic mining & construction equipment (MCE) industry has staged a strong recovery since late June 2020, posting a year-on-year growth of 20-22 per cent in Q3 of CY20.

Support and Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)

Nifty Top volumes

• Coal India is planning to set up 14 rooftop and ground-mounted solar power projects of 3,000 MW capacity by 2023-24 which will entail an investment of Rs 5,650 crore. 
• Maruti Suzuki India has expanded and launched its Maruti Suzuki Subscribe in four more cities - Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar. 
• SBI has partnered with Luxury car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz for car finance at 'attractive' interest rate besides many other benefits. 
• Tech Mahindra has entered into strategic partnership with RUAG International for global IT infrastructure and digital transformation.

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