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Indian equity benchmarks ended flat on Friday, trimming intraday losses in the dying hour of trade, as investors are eyeing the industrial production data to be out later in the day. Domestic equities began on a quiet note, following weak sentiments in the global market as the market awaits the release of Indian and US November inflation numbers. Traders were concerned as Health Ministry said that there are 23 cases of Omicron variant of Covid-19 in India and authorities are closely monitoring the situation. Maharashtra leads the chart with 10 cases, followed by Rajasthan with nine, while globally there are 2303 cases of Omicron variant. Selling further crept in with Former Reserve Bank of India Governor Duvvuri Subbarao’s statement that the central bank could lose control over the money supply and inflation management if cryptocurrency is allowed in the country. Rao also said India's case for issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) may not be strong as there are capital controls.

However, benchmark indices have recovered from the lows of the day, taking support from a private report expects the economy to continue to show positive surprises and record up to 9 percent growth in the next fiscal. For the current financial year too, the report anticipates growth to be higher than the consensus forecast of 8.4-9.5 percent, and printing in at around 10.5 percent. Some solace also came with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that for a strong, sustainable and inclusive recovery of the global economy hit by the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, it is imperative to ensure collective progress of all countries. She stressed on the critical role of multilateralism and collective action in achieving the goal of global recovery. 

On the global front, Asian markets settled mostly lower on Friday, while European markets were trading lower, with concerns around rising Covid-19 infections and caution ahead of U.S. inflation data due later in the day weighing on markets. It is expected that the Federal Reserve could decide to double the pace of tapering its asset purchase program to $30 billion per month. Back home, on the sectoral front, as jewelry industry stocks’ remained in watch  as a report by the World Gold Council (WGC) showed that imports made up 86 per cent of India’s gold supply between 2016-2020, and inbound shipments continue to grow despite high import duty. Stocks related to steel sector remained in focus, as Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has appealed to steel industry stakeholders for assessing manufacturing costs and exploring possibilities of offering relief to small industries that use the commodity for producing components and other engineering products.

Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 20.46 points or 0.03% to 58,786.67 and the CNX Nifty was down by 5.55 points or 0.03% to 17,511.30.     

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 58,859.91 and 58,414.76, respectively and there were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.39%, while Small cap index was up by 0.85%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.90%, Oil & Gas up by 0.86%, Consumer Discretionary up by 0.74%, Power up by 0.73%, Utilities up by 0.56%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.28%, Telecom down by 0.19%, Bankex down by 0.08%, Finance down by 0.04% and TECK down by 0.02% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Asian Paints up by 3.25%, SBI up by 1.25%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.02%, TCS up by 0.91% and Bajaj Finserv up by 0.69%. On the flip side, Titan Company down by 1.39%, HDFC down by 1.12%, Axis Bank down by 0.92%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.86% and HCL Technologies down by 0.58% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said for a strong, sustainable and inclusive recovery of the global economy hit by the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, it is imperative to ensure collective progress of all countries. She stressed on the critical role of multilateralism and collective action in achieving the goal of global recovery. She also underlined the importance of inclusion, investment, innovation and institutions to support the path of global recovery.

Sitharaman emphasised on the importance of ensuring affordable and equitable access to vaccines and therapeutics to bridge the divergences being witnessed in the global economic recovery. In this context, she said so far India has administered over 1.25 billion doses of vaccines and supplied more than 72 million vaccine doses to over 90 countries, including by way of grant thereby reflecting India's commitment to co-ordinated global action.

She stressed on the importance of enhanced infrastructure investments for enabling a quick and stable return to the growth path. She also emphasised that green investments will play a key role in the rebuilding efforts of governments and called upon the G20 to deliberate on how climate finance and green technologies can be made available to developing countries so as to incentivize and accelerate their efforts towards green growth.

The CNX Nifty traded in a range of 17,534.35 and 17,405.25 and there was 20 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining, while 1 stock remains unchanged on the index.   

The top gainers on Nifty were Asian Paints up by 3.16%, Grasim Industries up by 1.35%, SBI Life Insurance up by 1.28%, SBI up by 1.26% and BPCL up by 0.88%. On the flip side, Divi's Lab down by 1.55%, Titan Company down by 1.52%, HDFC down by 1.15%, Tata Consumer Product down by 1.03% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.01% were the top losers.

European markets were trading lower; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 7.20 points or 0.1% to 7,314.06, France’s CAC decreased 23.30 points or 0.33% to 6,984.93 and Germany’s DAX decreased 41.11 points or 0.26% to 15,598.15.

Asian markets settled mostly lower on Friday as investors cautious ahead of US consumer inflation data for November due this evening and the US central bank's meeting next week. A higher-than-expected inflation reading would strengthen the case for a policy tightening decision at the Fed’s meeting. Asian shares slipped further by tracking weakness in Wall Street overnight as investors reacted to restrictions in the UK to curb the spread of the Omicron variant of the corona-virus. Chinese shares declined amid uncertainty in the country's property sector after Evergrande and Kaisa Group Holdings were downgraded to restricted default by rating agency Fitch Ratings yesterday, which cited missed dollar bond interest payments in Evergrande’s case and failure to repay a $400 million dollar bond in Kaisa’s. Japanese shares dropped, but posted their first weekly gain in three on easing fears over the Omicron variant's impact on the pace of economic recovery. Moreover, Seoul shares tumbled as new coronavirus infections in South Korea' stayed above 7,000 for the third consecutive day today amid the waning immunity and cold weather conditions.

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