Share market Highlights: Sensex ends 269.44 points up, Nifty above 10,850; Sun Pharma, Bajaj Finance top gainers

Year 2018 was the year full of multiple economic events, which lead to the rise of volatile market conditions. It was difficult to handle the ups and downs in the market. However, there are certain key takeaways from the 2018 volatile market, which every investor should know about. 

1) Trade small, for bigger moves- Higher volatility means the price will traverse larger territory. Since price swings will be large, the ability of smaller positions to make meaningful profits is significant. Smaller positions also allow you to have better cash management for derivative margins. Stop loss levels become more logical when you trade with positions which are manageable for wild moves.

Read full story here: Investment tips: Three key takeaways from a volatile stock market in 2018

As credit gets integrated with the lifestyle of consumers, traditional ways of credit scoring are gradually turning insignificant due to the large amounts of customer-specific data that is unaccounted for. It’s alarming to know that 50% of first-time loan applicants are still denied a loan and are forced to resort to informal channels of credit, such as moneylenders, at exorbitant rates. Credit bureaus such as CIBIL are still dependent on an individual’s financial history even though highly insightful data can be found through other sources, i.e. through their digital presence.

Read full story here: Credit Rating: How individual assessment is going beyond traditional credit scoring

The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai police has filed a supplementary charge-sheet in the alleged Rs 5,574 crore National Spot Exchange Exchange (NSEL) scam against 63 accused, including 36 companies and 27 individuals. NSEL, 63 Moons Technologies Ltd (formerly Financial Technologies India Ltd (FTIL)), India Bullion Market Association; as well as brokerage firms like Anand Rathi Commodities Ltd, Geofin Comtrade Ltd and India Infoline Commodities Ltd are some of the companies, which defaulted on paying back investors, have been named in the charge sheet. The officials of these three brokerage firms were arrested in 2015. NSEL is 99.99% owned by 63 Moons Technologies. 

Read full story here: NSEL Scam: EOW files second chargesheet against 36 firms, 27 people in Rs 5,574 crore default case

Even as Sensex continues to hold on to gains from the morning trade, bluechips HDFC twins, ICICI Bank have emerged among the top gainers in the index. HDFC shares are trading 2% higher at 1,985, while HDFC Bank share price are trading at Rs 2,132, about 1% higher. ICICI Bank shares too are trading with gains of more than 1.8% at Rs 362. A look at top 5 Sensex contributors. 

After extended rally in the morning trade, Sensex and Nifty are holding on to gains tracking positive global cues. Sensex is trading 340 points higher at 36,147.62, while Nifty is trading near the 10,900-mark. Sun Pharma shares gained by more than 3.6% to hit the day's high at 426. ICICI Bank share price zoomed by more than 2% to Rs 362.80. The rally is being led by financials and auto stocks. A look at Sensex live heatmap.

Shares of major oil marketing firms gained in trade on Friday afternoon, even as global oil prices jumped in trade on Friday. IOC shares rallied by more than 3% to hit the day's high at Rs 138. BPCL share price gained by more than 1.4% to Rs 369.80, while HPCL shares rallied by more than 1.5% to Rs 156.50.  Oil prices jumped as much as 3 percent on Friday to win back a chunk of the ground they lost in the previous session, but growth in U.S. crude stockpiles and ongoing concerns about the global economy kept markets under pressure. Brent crude was up $1.18, or 2.26 percent, at $53.34 a barrel at 0219 GMT, having earlier risen as much as 3.1 percent. It dropped 4.24 percent, or $2.31, the day before to settle at $52.16 per barrel, according to a Reuters report.

Even as global stock markets are currently volatile, retail investors shouldn’t worry much and remain focussed on good quality stocks in 2019, says market strategist Saurabh Mukherjea. The retail investors must hold on to their equity investments for at least 10 years to expect better returns, Saurabh Mukherjea, Founder, Marcellus Investment Managers tells Ashish Pandey of FE Online. The investors should not be too much concerned about what China, the US and the RBI are up to in the coming year, he adds. Sharing his views on rupee, Saurabh Mukherjee tells FE Online that the domestic currency needs to be around 75 to the US dollar to find some sort of stability.

Read full story here: 2019 stock market outlook: Buy good stocks, don’t worry about China, US, RBI, says Saurabh Mukherjea

Low-budget carrier IndiGo has received dismal marks from the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture, Road, Shipping and Aviation for poor customer services, having rude staff and higher charges during the festive season, among other issues. TMC MP Derek O’ Brienm, who heads the panel, said in the latest report tabled in Rajya Sabha on Thursday that the panel is not happy with the way some private carriers are operating in the country, but it is discourteous the way IndiGo is operating. He added that IndiGo is the worst performing airline for consumers and Air India has the best luggage policy.

Read full story here: Worst airline in India – Indigo; here’s why parliamentary panel says it’s discourteous

Even as Divya Pharmacy — founded by Baba Ramdev and his aide Acharya Balkrishna — claimed the Indian firms are not supposed to share with locals the profits from the sale of bioresources as herbal products, the Uttarakhand High Court has rejected the plea. The court, in its judgement, has said that both Indian and foreign companies are liable to pay indigenous and local communities for using the biological resources under the Biodiversity Act, 2002 as the latter kept the traditional knowledge of biological resources alive over the years.

Read full story here: HC rejects Patanjali’s ‘Swadeshi’ logic: Why Ramdev’s Divya Pharmacy was told to share benefits with locals

"Going ahead, 2019 will bring a number of macro challenges. As the economic cycle matures in developed economies, global growth will rely increasingly on momentum in the emerging markets. This heightens concerns around country risk, liquidity trends and trade-related shocks at a time when China’s growth impulse is slowing. Global liquidity is tighter going into 2019, while political uncertainty remains high with the upcoming elections in India," N Chandra wrote in a New Year message to employees.

Gold inched higher on Friday to trade below a more than six-month high hit earlier this week, as concerns about slowing global economic growth and a partial government shutdown in the United States stoked safe-haven demand, although gains in equities capped the upside. Spot gold had risen by 0.2 percent to $1,277.75 per ounce as of 0448 GMT, and was set for a second straight weekly gain with no end in sight for China-U.S. trade tensions and political uncertainty in the United States.The precious metal had hit its highest level since June 19 at $1,279.06 on Wednesday. (Reuters reported)

The Indian rupee opened higher at 70.05 against the US dollar, an appreciation of 30 paise in the currency market from its previous close of 70.35 per US dollar. On Thursday, the domestic currency plunged 29 paise to close at 70.35 against the US dollar amid strengthening of the US currency despite crude oil prices easing. At 9:20 AM, the domestic currency was trading at 70.08 per US dollar, up 26 paise after touching an intraday low of 70.10 per US dollar and an intraday high of 70.03 per US dollar from the Thursday’s close of 70.35 per US dollar, according to data available with Bloomberg.

Read full story here: Rupee rebounds to open 30 paise higher at 70.05 per US dollar

Shares of Lemon Tree Hotels skyrocketed on Friday morning, after the firm  agreed to enter into a joint venture with Magnolia Grove Investment Ltd, an affiliate of Warburg Pincus group. Lemon Tree Hotels share price gained by more than 14% to hit the day's high at Rs 77.80. The JV Hamstede Living Private Limited will construct, acquire, develop, operate and lease short- and long-stay real estate projects, with a primary focus on student housing, co-living for working professionals/adults and multi-family users. The joint venture has been formed to develop rental housing projects envisaging investments of Rs 3,000 crore over a period of time.

Sensex and Nifty opened higher tracking on Friday global cues, after Asian equities were mixed in trade, and US markets ended in the green. Sensex zoomed  more than 220 pts to 36,027.79, while the broader Nifty 50 was trading above 10,800. Yes Bank share price gained by more than 2.1% to Rs 182, while ICICI Bank shares zoomed 1.3% to Rs 360.20. The rally was being led by financials, pharma and auto stocks. A look at Sensex live heatmap.

Tata Group has committed over Rs 70,000 crore to deleverage and restructure Tata companies, consolidate cross-holdings, acquire strategic assets and infuse much-needed capital for future growth in 2018, N Chandrasekaran, chairman of Tata Sons, said in his New Year letter addressed to employees. The Tata group’s collective market capitalisation crossed Rs 10 lakh crore in 2018. Chandra said the group was working diligently to simplify itself and to build capital and to navigate an unpredictable global environment — which he said is the “one characterised by a new regime of trade tensions, geopolitical volatility and regulatory uncertainty”.

Also read: Tata Group committed over Rs 70,000 cr investment in 2018

Asia stocks gained on Friday after Wall Street ended volatile trade in the green, adding to the big advances of the previous session, although lingering investor jitters helped support safe-haven currencies such as the yen. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.3 percent. It has fallen almost 4 percent so far in December.The Shanghai. Composite Index edged up 0.3 percent. Australian stocks added 0.6 percent and South Korea’s KOSPI climbed 0.5 percent. Japan’s Nikkei bucked the trend and slipped 0.5 percent, losing some steam after surging nearly 4 percent the previous session.

Also read: Asia stocks lifted as Wall Street extends comeback

Oil prices jumped as much as 3 percent on Friday to win back a chunk of the ground they lost in the previous session, but growth in U.S. crude stockpiles and ongoing concerns about the global economy kept markets under pressure. Brent crude was up $1.18, or 2.26 percent, at $53.34 a barrel at 0219 GMT, having earlier risen as much as 3.1 percent. It dropped 4.24 percent, or $2.31, the day before to settle at $52.16 per barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures, were at $45.62 a barrel, up 2.26 percent, or $1.01, after earlier rising 3.6 percent. They ended Thursday down 3.48 percent, or $1.61, at $44.61 a barrel. Oil prices fell to their lowest in more than a year on Thursday, a day after their biggest one-day rally in two years, pulled down by worries about the global economy and a supply glut.

Also read: Brent crude oil prices jump, but oversupply worries persist

U.S. stocks roared back to end in positive territory on Thursday following steep losses for much of the session, as equities rebounded for a second day. The failure of an initial selloff to gain more momentum lent credence to the idea that the extended bout of selling pressure may be coming to an end for now, investors said. The gains come a day after the major indexes posted their biggest daily percentage increases in nearly a decade. The S&P 500’s two-day percentage gain of 5.9 percent is the best performance for the benchmark index since late August 2015 when the market was in the midst of a downturn over a slowing China. (Reuters reported)