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Shares of Axis Bank will be in focus. Max Life has received the formal approval from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority ofIndia (IRDAI), which vide its letter dated 24th February 2021 has granted approval to the Axis Entities, as promoters of Max Life, to collectivelyacquire 12.002% of the equity share capital of Max Life, by way of transfer of equity shares of Max Life from Max Financial to the Axis Entities.Shares of Nureca will debut on bourses today, 25 February 2021. The final issue price was fixed at Rs 400 per share.Just Dial has launched its B2B portal, Jd Mart, across various platforms for users. Jd Mart is an exclusive B2B portal for a new wholesaleexperience. B2B buyers can discover quality vendors offering a wide selection of products to choose from, spread across various categories tosuit all their B2B needs.Cochin Shipyard is joining hands with Dredging Corporation of India (DCI) and IHC Holland BV to make world-class dredgers. A Memorandum ofUnderstanding in this regard was signed on Wednesday.H.G. Infra Engineering informed that the company has been declared as L-1 bidder by NTPC

Coal India informed that a meeting of board of directors of the company will be held on 5 March 2021, to consider and approve payment of 2ndinterim dividend for 2020-21, if any.Tata Consumer Products will replace GAIL (India) in the Nifty50 Index from 31 March 2021.NTPC has executed Share Purchase Agreements with GAIL (India) on 23rd February, 2021, for purchase of GAIL's share (25.51%) in RatnagiriGas and Power (RGPPL) and sale of NTPC's share (14.82%) (on fully dilutive basis) in Konkan LNG (KLL). After transfer of shares as per theShare Purchase Agreements, NTPC will exit from KLL and NTPC's shareholding in RGPPL will become 86.49 %.Sanofi India's board of directors approved a final dividend of Rs 125 per share and a special dividend of Rs 240 per share for the year ended 31December 2020.Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders has executed a Memorandum of Understanding with Mumbai Port Trust to further the economic growth of the regionand the country under the Maritime India Summit 2021.SBI Cards and Payment Services said the company has approved the allotment of 5,500 Fixed Rate, Unsecured, Rated, Taxable, Redeemable,Senior. Non-Convertible Debentures ("NCDs") of the face value of Rs. 1.000,000 each, at par, under Series 23 aggregating to Rs. 550 crores onprivate placement basis.United Spirits is initiating a strategic review of selected Popular brands, continuing the strategy towards long-term profitable growth throughpremiumising the company's portfolio. The strategic review is expected to be completed by the end of the 2021 calendar year.

Reliance Industries (RIL) today, 23 February 2021 said that it is carving out its Oil-to-Chemicals (O2C) business into an independent subsidiary.RIL said it will retain 100% management control of the new subsidiary. All of its refining, marketing and petrochemical assets will be transferredto the O2C subsidiary. RIL said that the promoter group will continue to hold a 49.14% stake in the O2C business after the reorganisation andthat the process will result in no change in shareholding of the company.Bharti Airtel will meet global fixed income investors on or after 23 February 2021, following which and subject to market conditions, the companywill take a final decision with respect to the issuance of foreign currency bonds/ notes ('Issuance') and a deal may or may not follow. Accordingly,subject to such final decision, a duly authorized Special Committee of Directors may meet anytime on or after two working days to consider theIssuance and its detailed terms and conditions.Bharat Forge and Paramount Group announced a cooperation that will see them join the technologies, capabilities and expertise of both groups inorder to manufacture Armoured Vehicles in India. APL Apollo Tubes said that the company has allotted commercial paper worth Rs 75 crore toICICI Prudential Ultra Short Term Fund.IRB Infrastructure Developers said its board of directors has approved the allotment of unlisted, unrated, secured, redeemable, nonconvertibledebentures aggregating to Rs 2,184.55 crore on a private placement basis to India Toll Roads.

Indian Intraday Trading stocks like Bharti Airtel said that it will acquire a Warburg Pincus affiliate's 20% equity stake in its DTH arm Bharti Telemedia for a total consideration ofabout Rs 3126 crore which will be discharged primarily via issuance of 36.47 million equity shares of Bharti Airtel at a price of Rs 600 per share;and up to Rs 1037.80 crore in cash.The proposed transaction is part of Airtel's strategy to align the shareholding of its customer facing products, services and businesses under thesame holding group. A full control and ownership over Bharti Telemedia allows Airtel to offer differentiated and converged solutions to customersso as to promote “One Home” strategy.GAIL (India) said its share buyback will open on 25 February 2021 and close on 10 March 2021.Phillips Carbon Black said that the company has commissioned two specialty black lines at Palej, Gujarat for production of wide range of specialtyblack products totalling about 32,000 MTPA to service the growing needs of its customers.VA Tech Wabag has completed the Financial Closure for its Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) project received from Kolkata Metropolitan DevelopmentAuthority (KMDA).Dish TV India said the company's board approved raising funds through permissible modes and issue of permissible securities, for an amountupto Rs. 1,000 crores, in one or more tranches

Nestle India reported 2.26% rise in standalone net profit to Rs 483.31 crore on 9.16% rise in net sales to Rs 3,417.52 crore in Q4 December2020 over Q4 December 2019. Nestle India said the board of directors recommended final dividend for the year 2020 of Rs 65.Infosys McCamish Systems, a US-based subsidiary of Infosys BPM, the Business Process Management arm of Infosys, announced the strategicpurchase of a state-of-the-art New Business and Underwriting platform from STEP Solutions Group LLC to ease the complexity of all types ofinsurance products such as Life, Annuity, and Health, for individuals and groups across North America.Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) completed the acquisition of 100% stake of Dighi Port (DPL) for Rs 705 crore on 15 February2021. APSEZ plans to invest over INR 10,000 Cr to develop the port into a multi-cargo port with world class infrastructure as well as investing inthe development of rail & road evacuation infrastructure for seamless and efficient cargo movement.ICICI Bank has entered into an agreement in relation to an Investment in the equity shares and compulsorily convertible preference shares('CCPS') of Thillais Analytical Solutions.IndusInd International Holdings (IIHL), the promoter company of IndusInd Bank, confirms that it has completed its capital raise through itsRights Issue which was oversubscribed. IIHL raised capital at an overwhelming premium of 1400% towards the subscription of this Rights issue.This reiterates the confidence of IIHL's global shareholders, spread across 34 countries, in the decision of IIFL and its subsidiary, IndusIndLimited, to redeem the balance of 75% of the warrants at the price of Rs. 1709/- per share, aggregating to Rs. 2021.45 crores.TVS Srichakra signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Government of Tamil Nadu to facilitate the investment program of Rs1,000 crore.Heritage Novandie Foods, a joint venture between Heritage Foods and Novandie Foods, a subsidiary of Andros, France, started in 2017,announced their entry in the Indian market with its first line of products.

 Intrdaing Trading stocks like Wipro announced a five-year strategic partnership with Telefónica Germany / O2, a leading provider of mobile telecommunications, broadbandand landline in Germany. As a part of this contract, Wipro will work with Telefónica Germany / O2 and its wider ecosystem to transform itsBusiness Support Systems and associated Quality Assurance to enable superior customer experience and growth in the B2B market segment.Tech Mahindra announced a strategic partnership with Telefónica Germany / O2, a leading telecommunications provider from Germany, to drivetheir end to end IT transformation. Through this digital transformation, Tech Mahindra will support Telefónica Germany / O2 to deliver fasterproduct launches and provide a more ‘human centered' experience to its customers in the mass market segment.Titan Company was informed by CaratLane Trading (CaratLane), a subsidiary of the company, that it had incorporated a wholly owned subsidiarynamely “StudioC Inc.” in the state of Delaware, USA and accordingly it has become a step down subsidiary of the company effective 11thFebruary 2021.SIS said the company's board of directors approved the proposal of buyback of upto Rs 99.99 crore worth of equity shares, at a price of Rs 550per share. The resultant equity shares to be bought back at the buyback offer price are 18,18,181 equity shares, representing 1.24% of the totalnumber of equity shares in the total paid-up equity capital of the Company as on March 31, 2020.Geojit Financial Services, through its Smartfolios platform, has tied up with Lotusdew, a SEBI and US SEC regulated firm, to offer a basket ofstocks that uses behavioural finance and AI to identify dominant market conviction. Through this partnership, Geojit will offer a new small andmid-cap basket of stocks called Lotusdew Prestige, which analyses corporate events like M&A announcements, earnings surprises, order bookwins, dividends, stock splits etc. to identify profitable stocks

Intraday Trading stocks like Tata Steel reported 54.03% drop in consolidated net profit to Rs 1,565.41 crore on 7.4% rise in total income to Rs 37,531.67 crore in Q3December 2020 over Q3 December 2019.Berger Paints India reported 50.7% surge in consolidated net profit to Rs 274.80 crore on 24.83% rise in total income to Rs 2,134.80 crore in Q3December 2020 over Q3 December 2019.Glenmark Pharmaceuticals said that the meeting of the board of directors of the company is scheduled on 12 February 2021, to considerrepurchase of foreign currency debt.The Phoenix Mills Limited (PML) said its wholly owned subsidiary Mindstone Mall Developers has announced acquisition of approximately 7.48acres of prime land in Alipore, Kolkata for a total consideration of Rs 300 crore. The land parcel is strategically located on Diamond HarbourRoad, Alipore, Kolkata.Mahanagar Gas reported 16.75% rise in net profit to Rs 217.21 crore on 11.16% fall in total income to Rs 686.79 crore in Q3 December 2020over Q3 December 2019.Raymond reported 88.89% slide in consolidated net profit to Rs 21.69 crore on 37.12% fall in total income to Rs 1,297.82 crore in Q3 December2020 over Q3 December 2019.

Intraday trading stocks like Britannia Industries reported 22.31% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 455.75 crore on 6.56% increase in total income to Rs 3,248.19 crore inQ3 December 2020 over Q3 December 2019.Maruti Suzuki India said its total production dropped to 160,975 units in January 2021 from 179,103 units in January 2020.Adani Enterprises said its wholly owned subsidiary Adani Airport Holdings (AAHL) has acquired 23.5% equity stake i.e. 28.20 crore shares ofMumbai International Airport (MIAL) from ACSA Global (ACSA) and Bid Services Division (Mauritius) (Bidvest) for Rs 1685.25 crore.Jindal Saw reported 26.56% fall in consolidated net profit to Rs 65.77 crore on 3.26% fall in total income to Rs 2,912.62 crore in Q3 December2020 over Q3 December 2019.Punjab National Bank reported net profit of Rs 506.03 crore in Q3 December 2020 as compared to net profit of Rs 492.28 crore in Q3 December2019. Total income rose 45.91% to Rs 23,298.53 crore in Q3 December 2020 over Q3 December 2019.Mrs Bectors Food Specialities reported 85.38% jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 20.67 crore on 11.29% increase in total income to Rs 226.97crore in Q3 December 2020 over Q3 December 2019.

Mahindra Lifespace Developers has successful launched Happinest Tathawade, a first-of-its-kind ‘Fusion Homes’ residential project in Pune. A pioneering residential format, ‘Fusion Homes’ at Happinest Tathawade cater to the full spectrum of living needs of each user. Innovative space utilisation at the project makes it easier for residents to seamlessly switch between their personal and professional lives, provides undisturbed personal space within a thriving community environment, caters to new age fitness needs and enables a deep connect to nature.
‘FusionZindagi’ features and amenities at Happinest Tathawade include designated ‘hobby rooms’ which residents can use to pursue personal passions, an open-air theatre and gym, pedalling seats with provision for workstations to enable an active work life, an organic farm for alternative, locally sourced food, and numerous outdoor adventure games and activities for inter-generational interaction amidst nature.
Mahindra Lifespace Developers is the real estate and infrastructure development business of the $19 billion Mahindra Group, and a pioneer of sustainable urbanization in India.

Zensar Technologies has been named a winner in the 2021 BIG Innovation awards for Technology. Its innovation hub, Zenlabs, has been recognized for its client-centric solution accelerators. This annual business award recognizes organizations, products, and people bringing new ideas to life in innovative ways. Zenlabs, which is the innovation research hub of Zensar, won this recognition for its work on building client-focused solutions across next-generation technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), distributed ledger technologies such as blockchain, Internet of Things (IoT), augmented (AR), and virtual reality (VR). The team at Zenlabs consists of PhDs, researchers, and scholars who work on applicative research, co-innovation, and accelerators to scale these technologies.
Zensar Technologies, formerly known as ICIL was acquired by the RPG group in 1989. It is a globally focused software and services company spread across eighteen countries across the world.

Tata Motors’ wholly owned subsidiary -- Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is planning to launch all electric SUV I-PACE in India on March 9. The company has already commenced bookings of the model in the country. This digital event will provide a peek into a future-facing urban metropolis that is practically designed from the perspective of a sustainable ecosystem, uses innovative technologies and supports efficient modes of mobility like electric vehicles.
Equipped with a 90 kWh lithium-ion battery, the Jaguar I-PACE produces 294 kW and 696 Nm torque, helping it accelerate from 0-100 km/h in just 4.8 seconds. The company has tied up with Tata Power to provide office and home charging solutions to customers of I-PACE.
Tata Motors is India’s largest automobile company. Through subsidiaries and associate companies, Tata Motors has operations in the UK, South Korea, Thailand, South Africa and Indonesia. Among them is Jaguar Land Rover, the business comprising the two iconic British brands.

Infosys has entered into strategic collaboration with Spirit AeroSystems, a leading aero structures manufacturer. Spirit has chosen Infosys as its lead technology integration partner to help drive and set up the end-to-end applications and infrastructure integration of a few of Bombardier’s former aerostructures and aftermarket services assets, which have been recently acquired by Spirit.
As the exclusive IT partner, Infosys will leverage its system integration expertise, ecosystem partners, and extensive knowledge of the aviation sector to develop a robust IT framework, which will be built on infrastructure solutions powered by Infosys Cobalt. Seamless IT integration is imperative for successful mergers and acquisitions. The partnership will enable Spirit AeroSystems to empower stakeholders by transforming business applications and facilitating agile, resilient operations on the cloud.

The company has reported 4-fold jumps in its net profit of Rs 2,829 crore for the quarter under review as against net profit of Rs 691 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. Total income of the company increased 22.05% at Rs 19,408 crore for Q3FY21 as compared Rs 15,902 crore for the corresponding quarter previous year.
On the consolidated basis, the company has reported over 12-fold jumps in its net profit attributable to owners at Rs 2,681 crore for the quarter under review as against net profit of Rs 211 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. Total income of the company increased by 21.03% at Rs 22,006 crore for Q3FY21 as compared Rs 18,182 crore for the corresponding quarter previous year.

The company has reported 3 fold jumps in its net profit at Rs 28.18 crore for the quarter under review as compared to net profit at Rs 9.23 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. Total income of the company increased by 6.57% at Rs 134.60 crore for Q3FY21 as compared Rs 126.30 crore for the corresponding quarter previous year.
On the consolidated basis, the company has reported over 3- fold jumps in its net profit attributed to owners at Rs 31.58 crore for the quarter under review as compared to net profit at Rs 10.17 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. Total income of the company increased 3.89% at Rs 137.32 crore for Q3FY21 as compared Rs 132.18 crore for the corresponding quarter previous year.

Nippon India Mutual Fund (MF) has launched the Nippon India Asset Allocator FoF, an open-ended fund of funds scheme investing in equity-oriented schemes, debt-oriented schemes and gold ETF of Nippon India Mutual Fund. The NFO opens for subscription on January 18, 2021 and closes on February 01, 2021. Entry load will be not applicable for the scheme. 10% of the units allotted shall be redeemed without any exit load, on or before completion of 12 months from the date of allotment of units. Any redemption in excess of such limit in the first 12 months from the date of allotment shall be subject to the following exit load. Redemption of units would be done on First in First out Basis (FIFO): 1% if redeemed or switched out on or before completion of 12 months from the date of allotment of units and Nil, thereafter. The minimum subscription amount is Rs 5000 and in multiples of Re 1 thereafter.
The scheme’s performance will be benchmarked against its performance to CRISIL Hybrid 50 + 50 - Moderate Index and its fund managers are Prashant Pimple and Ashutosh Bhargava.
The primary investment objective of the Scheme is to seek long term capital growth by investing in units of equity-oriented schemes, debt-oriented schemes and gold ETF of Nippon India Mutual Fund.

The intraday trading company has reported 15.48% rise in its net profit of Rs 2611.30 crore for the quarter under review as compared to net profit of Rs 2261.30 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. However, total income of the company marginally decreased by 0.17% at Rs 13195.10 crore for Q3FY21 as compared Rs 13217.10 crore for the corresponding quarter previous year.
On the consolidated basis, the company has reported 20.85% rise in its net profit attributable to equity holders of Rs 2968.00 crore for the quarter under review as against net profit of Rs 2455.90 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. Total income of the company increased by 1.52% at Rs 16324.10 crore for Q2FY21 as compared Rs 16080.20 crore for the corresponding quarter previous year.

Kotak Mahindra Mutual Fund (MF) has launched the Kotak Nifty Next 50 Index Fund, an open-ended scheme replicating/ tracking Nifty Next 50 index. The NFO opens for subscription on February 17, 2021 and closes on February 24, 2021. The Entry load and Exit Load will be nil. The minimum subscription amount is Rs 5,000 and in multiples of Rs 1 for purchase and Re 0.01 for switches.
The scheme’s performance will be benchmarked against the performance to Nifty Next 50 Index TRI and Devender Singhal and Satish Dondapati will be the Fund Managers for the Scheme.
The investment objective of the scheme is to replicate the composition of the Nifty Next 50 and to generate returns that are commensurate with the performance of the NIFTY Next 50 Index, subject to tracking errors.

Axis Mutual Fund has filed offer document with SEBI to launch an open ended equity scheme named ‘Axis Multicap Fund’. The New Fund Offer price is Rs 10 per unit. Entry load will be nil and Exit load If redeemed/ switched-out within 12 months - For 10% of investment: Nil; For remaining investment:1% If redeemed/switched out after 12 months from the date of allotment: Nil .The Scheme offers both growth and dividend Options for investment and seeks to collect a Minimum Target Amount of Rs 10 crore.
The performance of the scheme will be benchmarked by NIFTY 500 Multicap 50:25:25 Index. The minimum application amount for initial purchase is Rs 5,000/-and in multiples of Rs 1 thereof.
The investment objective of the Scheme is to  generate  long  term  capital  appreciation  by  investing  in  a  diversified  portfolio  of  equity  and equity related instruments across market capitalization.

PGIM India Mutual Fund (MF) has launched the PGIM India Balanced Advantage Fund, an open-ended dynamic asset allocation fund. The NFO opens for subscription on January 15, 2021 and closes on January 29, 2021. Entry load will not be applicable for the scheme. 10% of the units allotted may be redeemed/switched-out to debt schemes without any exit load within 90 days from the date of allotment. Any redemptions/switch-outs in excess of the abovementioned limit would be subject to an exit load of 0.50%, if the units are redeemed/switched-out to debt schemes within 90 days from the date of allotment of units; Exit load will be nil if the units are redeemed/ switched-out after 90 days from the date of allotment of units; No exit load will be charged for switches and STP into any open-ended equity scheme, hybrid scheme and fund of funds scheme. The minimum subscription amount is Rs 5000 and in multiples of Re 1 thereafter.
The scheme’s performance will be benchmarked against its performance to CRISIL Hybrid 50+50 Moderate Index and its fund manager are Aniruddha Naha, Kumaresh Ramakrishnan and Anandha Padmanabhan.
The investment objective of the scheme is to provide capital appreciation and income distribution to the investors by dynamically managing the asset allocation between equity and fixed income using equity derivatives strategies, arbitrage opportunities and pure equity investments. The scheme seeks to reduce the volatility by diversifying the assets across equity and fixed income.

Kotak Mahindra Mutual Fund (MF) has launched the Kotak NASDAQ 100 Fund of Fund, an open-ended fund of fund investing in units of overseas ETF’s and/or Index Fund based on NASDAQ 100 Index. The NFO opens for subscription on January 11, 2021 and closes on January 25, 2021. Entry load and Exit load will be nil for the scheme. The minimum subscription amount is Rs 5,000 and in multiples of Re 1 for purchase and Re 0.01 for switches.
The scheme’s performance will be benchmarked against its performance to NASDAQ 100 TRI and its fund managers are Arjun Khanna and Abhishek Bisen.
The investment objective of the scheme is to provide long-term capital appreciation by investing in units of overseas ETF’s and/ or Index Fund based on NASDAQ 100 Index.

HSBC Mutual Fund has filed offer document with SEBI to launch an open ended fund named ‘HSBC Global Equity Climate Change Fund. The New Fund Offer price is Rs 10 per unit. Entry load will be Nil and Exit load for In respect of each purchase / switch-in of Units, an Exit Load of 1% is payable if Units are redeemed / switched-out within 1 year from the date of allotment; No Exit Load will be charged, if Units are redeemed / switched-out after 1 year from the date of allotment. The Scheme offers both growth and dividend Options for investment and seeks to collect a Minimum Target Amount of Rs 10 crore.
The performance of the scheme will be benchmarked by MSCI AC World TRI. The minimum application amount for initial purchase is Rs 500 each and above per month.The investment objective of the Scheme is to provide long term capital appreciation by investing predominantly in units of HSBC Global Investment Funds – Global Equity Climate Change Fund (HGECCF). The Scheme may also invest a certain proportion of its corpus in money market instruments and / or units of overnight / liquid mutual fund schemes, in order to meet liquidity requirements from time to time.

Axis Mutual Fund (MF) has launched Axis Special Situations Fund, an open-ended equity scheme investing in companies based on special situations. The NFO opens for subscription on December 04, 2020, and closes on December 18, 2020. The Entry load is nil for the scheme. If redeemed/switched-out within 12 months, the exit load will be nil, for 10% of investment and 1% exit load for remaining investment. The exit load will be nil, if redeemed/switched out after 12 months from the date of allotment. The minimum subscription amount is Rs 5000 and in multiples of Re 1 thereafter.
The performance of the Scheme will be benchmarked against to Nifty 500 TRI index and the fund managers are Ashish Naik and Hitesh Das.
The investment objective of the scheme is to generate long-term capital appreciation by investing in mis-priced stocks facing special situations. The mis-pricing of stocks can occur due to companies facing special situations like regulatory/policy changes, management restructuring, technology led disruption and innovation or any temporary challenges in the operating environment.

Nippon India Mutual Fund (MF) has launched the Nippon India Passive Flexicap FoF, an open-ended Fund of Funds Scheme investing in units of ETFs/Index Funds of Nippon India Mutual Fund. The NFO opens for subscription on December 10, 2020 and closes on closes on December 24, 2020. No Exit load and Entry load will be applicable for the scheme. The minimum subscription amount is Rs 5000 and in multiples of Re 1 thereafter.
The scheme’s performance will be benchmarked against Nifty 500 TRI and its fund manager is Mehul Dama.
The investment objective of the Scheme is to seek to long term capital growth by investing in units of ETFs/Index Funds of Nippon India Mutual Fund.

Nippon India Mutual Fund (MF) has launched the Nippon India ETF Nifty CPSE Bond Plus SDL-2024 Maturity, an open-ended Target Maturity Exchange Traded CPSE Bond Plus SDL Fund predominately investing in constituents of Nifty CPSE Bond Plus SDL Sep 2024 50:50 Index. The NFO opens for subscription on November 03, 2020 and closes on November 09, 2020. No Exit load and Entry load will be applicable for the scheme. The minimum subscription amount is Rs 5000 and in multiples of Re 1 thereafter.
The scheme’s performance will be benchmarked against its performance to Nifty CPSE Bond Plus SDL Sep 2024 50:50 Index and its fund manager is Prashant Pimple.
The investment objective of the scheme is to provide investment returns closely corresponding to the total returns of the securities as represented by the Nifty CPSE Bond Plus SDL Sep 2024 50:50 Index before expenses, subject to tracking errors.

With easing prices of some food items, retail inflation of India based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) fell sharply to 4.59 per cent in December 2020 as compared to 6.93 per cent in November 2020 and 7.35 per cent in December 2019. The December CPI data has come within the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) upper margin of 6 per cent. The government has mandated the central bank to keep retail inflation within the range of 4 per cent with a margin of 2 per cent on either side.
The National Statistical Office (NSO) under Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation in its data has showed that the Rural CPI (General) in December stood at 4.07 per cent as against 7.20 per cent in November. The Urban CPI (General) stood at 5.19 per cent in December as against 6.73 per cent in November. The index value for Rural, Urban and Combined CPI (General) stood at 158.5, 156.0 and 157.3, respectively, in December 2020.
The Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI) or the inflation in the food basket eased to 3.41 per cent in the month of December, down from 9.50 per cent in November. The data indicated that the Rural CFPI stood at 3.11 per cent in December as compared to 9.64 per cent in November. The Urban CFPI stood at 4.08 per cent in December as against 9.23 per cent in November. The index value for Rural, Urban and Combined CFPI stood at 159.1, 163.4 and 160.6, respectively, in December 2020.
The 3.41 per cent growth in the food basket was due to a fall in vegetable prices that slipped (-) 10.41 per cent on-year rise in December. Apart from vegetables, other prices were however positive. The oils and fats segment saw a rise of 20.05 per cent, while that of eggs rose 16.08 per cent and pulses and products prices gained 15.98 per cent. The meat and fish segment also witnessed a rise of 15.21 per cent.

Minister of State for Food and Consumer Affairs has projected a fall in Indias sugar output by 18% Y-o-Y, at 27.3 million tonne (MT) for ongoing 2019-20 season compared to 33.13 in last sugar season 2018-19. According to the industry body Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA), the country has produced 19.48 MT of sugar till February of the marketing year 2019-20 (October-September).
Sharp dip in the yield of sugarcane in the major sugar-producing states of Maharashtra and Karnataka, due to drought in some parts and heavy rains and floods in some other parts of these states, has resulted in the overall dip in sugar output.
Even though, the carry-over stock of about 14.5 MT of the previous sugar season and estimated production of about 27.3 MT in the current sugar season, the availability of sugar will be sufficient to meet the domestic consumption of about 26 MT. While, the ISMA, stated that contracts for exports have been made for a quantity of over 3.5 MT. The government has given 6 MT of sugar export quota for mills in the current season.

World Steel Association (worldsteel) in its latest report has stated that crude steel output of India has dipped by 3.26% to 9.288 million tonnes (MT) in January 2020 as compared to same month last year`s 9.591 MT. Meanwhile, the overall crude steel production from 64 countries reporting to the association was at 154.4 MT in January 2020, up by 2.1 % as against January 2019.
China, the world`s largest steel producing country, reported a rise in crude steel production in month of January 2020 by 7.2% at 84.3 MT as against last year same month. However, Japan has reported fall in its crude steel output during the period under consideration, by about 1.3% compared to last year same period. South Korea`s crude steel production was 5.8 MT in January 2020, a decrease of 8% from the corresponding period last year.
worldsteel represents steel producers, national and regional steel industry associations, and steel research institutes. As many as 64 major steel producing countries report data to the body which represents around 85% of global steel production.

Indias coal imports have increased by 8.6% to 21.83 million tonnes (MT) during the month of November 2019 from a year earlier, after previous three straight months of decline.
As per estimates of Coal Ministry, thermal coal, which is been used for electricity generation, imports peaked to 17.65 MT by about 12.3% increase as against previous year same month. While, shipping in of coking coal into the country fell by 5% to 4.18 MT as compared to last year same month.
During August to October, Indian thermal coal imports had marked declines, registering their longest losing streak in over two years. Mainly, the broader economic slowdown worries had weighed on the industrial investments.

The Gem Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) stated that Indias exports of gems and jewelry slipped 8.45% to Rs 21,146.59 crore in January 2020, as against previous year same month`s Rs 23,099.57 crore. The country`s exports during April 2019 to January 2020, witnessed a fall of 4.78% to Rs 2,16,076.06 crore as against previous year same period`s 2,26,933.91 crore.
Shipment of cut and polished diamonds (CPD) in the month of January also dropped by 4.92% to Rs 11,757.08 crore as against previous year same month`s Rs 12,365.89 crore. While for the first 10 months of FY20 the CPD slipped by 16.04% to Rs 1,14,982.97 crore as against previous year same period`s Rs 1,36,941.69 crore.
The overall gold exporting in January also dipped by 2.21% to Rs 6,337.12 crore as against previous year same month`s Rs 6,480.26 crore. Although, overall gold jewelry exporting during April 2019 to January 2020 has marked a gain of 5.33% to Rs 71,981.43 crore as against previous year same period`s Rs 68,340.74 crore.

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has said potato production of India increased 51% to 52.5 million tonnes (MT) in over a decade. Its production had stood at 34.7 MT in 2008. He pegged the potato output to grow about 3% annually till 2050. He added that the production of potato rose 34 times in seven decades while the area under cultivation grew by 9.3 times.
India is the second-largest producer of potato after China in the world. Together, both the countries contribute 38% to the world`s total potato production. Tomar further said the country also needs to increase the crop`s exports.
He expressed concerned over crop losses, saying the damage to the crop currently stands at 16 per cent that needs to be reduced. He also said that experts and researchers will have to find a way out to develop high-quality and disease-resistant variety of potato seed which would consume less water and meet the challenges of global warming.

The Economic Survey 2019-20 has showed that India produced 64.3 million tonne (MT) of crude steel and 59.73 MT of finished steel during April-October, 2019-20. The Survey also noted that the steel sector achieved a growth of 5.2 per cent during April-November period of the ongoing financial year as compared to 3.6 per cent in the year-ago period.
As per the survey, India produced 109.2 MT of crude steel during 2018-19 and in the current financial year (FY) till October 2019, crude steel production was 64.3 MT, displaying a growth of 1.5 per cent over corresponding period of last year with utilization capacity of 77.4 per cent. Similarly, it noted that production of finished steel was 137.2 MT in 2018-19 and 59.73 MT during April-October 2019.
The Survey further said as per RBI studies on corporate performance, demand conditions for the manufacturing sector weakened in second quarter of 2019-20, with a contraction year-on-year in nominal sales. It added that petroleum products, iron and steel, motor vehicles and other transport equipment companies were the major contributors to slowdown.

Indias gold imports has dipped by 6.77% to $23 billion during April-December 2019 as against last year same period`s $24.73 billion. This has contributed to trim the countrys current account deficit (CAD) to $118 billion during the period, compared to last year`s $148.23 billion.
India, the largest importer of gold, imports about 800-900 tonne of gold annually in volume terms. The government had increased import duty on the metal to 12.5% from 10%, to mitigate the negative impact of gold imports on trade deficit and CAD.
Meanwhile, gems and jewelry exports declined 6.4% to $27.9 billion in April-December this fiscal. The country`s imports in terms of value dipped by 3% to $32.8 billion in 2018-19. According to RBI data, the CAD narrowed to 0.9% of gross domestic product or $6.3 billion in July-September 2019 from 2.9% or $19 billion in corresponding period previous year.

Indian equity intraday trading market  ended 2 percent higher on Wednesday, tracking strong buying in financial stocks with the Nifty Bank surging over 1,400 points, after trading hours were extended till 5:00 PM following a technical glitch at NSE. Today, the markets are likely to make gap-up start following a rally in global markets. There may be some volatility in the markets ahead of the February F&O expiry. Traders will be taking encouragement with a private report that India's economy is likely to have returned to growth in the December quarter due to the easing of restrictions on movement after the first wave of the coronavirus epidemic peaked. Some support will come as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced yet another round of Open Market Operations (OMO) or simultaneous purchase and sale of gilts on March 4. Under this, the RBI will buy Rs 15,000 crore worth bonds in four different papers and sell Rs 150,000 crore worth bonds in two different securities. However, there may be some cautiousness as India’s count of active cases once again topped the 150,000 mark. On Wednesday, the country registered 17,106 fresh Covid-19 cases, taking its the caseload tally to 11,046,432. India continues to be second-most-affected globally, and ranks 14th among worst-hit nations by active cases. Banking stocks will be in focus as bank unions under the umbrella body All India Bank Employees' Association (AIBEA) opposed the government's decision to allow all private sector lenders in government-related business, saying it was unfair and to the disadvantage of public sector banks (PSBs). The finance ministry, in a statement, said all private sector banks can now participate in government-related businesses like collection of taxes, pension payments and small savings schemes. There will be some reaction in PSU stocks as Prime Minister Narendra Modi made his strongest pitch for privatisation of non-strategic public sector units (PSUs), saying the government has no business to be in business and sustaining loss-making units on taxpayers' money drains resources that could otherwise have been spent on public welfare schemes. Aviation stocks will be in limelight as global airline industry body IATA warned that the outlook for airlines had weakened since its December forecasts, and due to tightening travel restrictions it now expected the sector to still be bleeding cash by the fourth quarter of this year. There will be some buzz in pharma and IT hardware stocks as extending the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme to more sectors, the Union Cabinet approved Rs 15,000 crore for incentives to domestic manufacturing of pharmaceuticals and Rs 7,350 crore for production of laptops, tablets, all-in-one personal computers and servers in India. Meanwhile, the 100-crore Nureca initial public offering (IPO), which received nearly 40 times subscription, is set to make its share market debut on Thursday. During February 15-17, 2021. The home healthcare and wellness products seller issue was sold in the price band of Rs 396-400 apiece.
The US markets ended higher on Thursday shaking off early weakness after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s comments calmed inflation worries. Asian markets are trading in green on Thursday after US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reaffirmed interest rates would stay low, calming market fears that higher inflation might prompt the central bank to tighten the monetary spigot.
Back home, Indian equity benchmarks ended significantly higher on Wednesday after trading hours were extended following a technical glitch at NSE. Markets made optimistic start, as traders took encouragement with a private report that India's GDP may turn positive at 1.3 percent in the third quarter of 2020-21, having witnessed contraction in the previous two quarters due to the coronavirus pandemic, as the number of cases is falling and public spending has started rising. Some support also came in as Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said that the government's decision to increase the agriculture credit target to Rs 16.5 lakh crore for the next fiscal will help in easing the liquidity crunch of farmers.  However, trading has been halted on NSE due to a technical glitch as the live price quotes of spot Nifty and Bank Nifty indexes have stopped updating. Post resumption of trade, benchmark indices shot up specularly in an unprecedented extended session, as private banks edged higher after Centre lifted the embargo on grant of government business to private banks, enabling banks to participate in all developmental activities. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that Private Banks can now be equal partners in development of the Indian economy, furthering the government's social sector initiatives and enhancing customer convenience. Traders also took some support with Union Minister Sadananda Gowda’s statement that the chemicals and petrochemicals sector has huge potential and can contribute significantly towards achieving the government's target of $5 trillion economy. He also said India has potential to become a global petrochemical hub & factors like high GDP growth, presence of skilled manpower, big domestic market makes India an attractive platform for investment in the sector. Traders took a note of Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant’s statement that India now needs to get into cutting edge technology in order to boost its exports which will benefit sectors such as telecom, automobiles, battery storage devices, and solar energy, among others. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 1030.28 points or 2.07% to 50,781.69, while the CNX Nifty was up by 274.20 points or 1.86% to 14,982.00.

       COPPER: -850 MT

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       ALUMINIUM: -13575 MT

LME Cancelled Warrants

       COPPER: -[0.05]

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