After opening the day higher, Indian benchmark indices remained positive as the session progressed and ended the day on firm footing.

The benchmark equity indices BSE Sensex ended the week's last trading session in positive territory..

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood higher by 759 points (up 0.9%).

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty closed higher by 216 points (up 0.9%).

Cipla, Sun Pharma, M&M are among the top gainers today.

Nestle, Apollo Hospital, and Shriram Finance on the other hand, were among the top losers today.

The GIFT Nifty was trading at 24,303 up by 183 points at the time of writing.

The BSE MidCap index ended 0.3% higher and the BSE SmallCap index ended 0.8% higher.

Barring the realty sector, all other sectoral indices were trading positively with stocks in the oil & gas sector, telecom sector,r and energy sector witnessing the most buying speer.

CAMS, Praj Industries, and Laurus Labs hit their respective 52-week highs today.

The rupee is trading at 84.52 against the US$.

Gold prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading 0.8% higher at Rs 77,163 per 10 grams.

Meanwhile, silver prices were trading 1.3% higher at Rs 91,339 per 1 kg.

Here are the three key factors that drive the market's momentum.

#1 Positive Global Cues

Asian shares slipped on Friday while the yen was aiming for its best week in four months as strong local inflation data had traders favoring an imminent rate hike from the Bank of Japan.

Overnight, trading in US equities and Treasuries was closed due to the Thanksgiving holiday, leaving little lead for Asia. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.3% and was down 0.5% for the week.

#2 DII Buying

On the institutional front, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers, offloading equities worth Rs 117.6 bn on 28 November, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) were net buyers, purchasing equities worth Rs 87.2 bn.

#3 Crude Oil

Oil prices were mixed on Friday following a potential renewal of supply risk as Israel and Hezbollah traded accusations of ceasefire violations, and as a delay to an OPEC+ meeting left investors awaiting a decision on its output policy.Brent crude futures fell by 7 cents, or 0.1%, to $73.21 a barrel by 0232 GMT
 

Premiumisation Drives HUL's Growth

In news from the FMCG sector, FMCG major HUL has identified six long-term bets and said it sees the potential of 2-4x growth across key categories, sharing the presentation of its Capital Market Day with analysts on 29 November. Shares of HUL are higher by over 1.5% in mid-day trade.

The company aims to achieve double digit EPS growth, driven by topline, with over 80% of the delta coming from 'future core and market maker' products.

The 'future core' are brands that the companies say are at the sweet spot of premiumization, such as Surf Excel, Vim, Dove, Ponds. 'Market makers' are products that are the leading trends in the market.

The categories that are seeing volume-led growth include skin care, hair care, laundry, lifestyle nutrition, and tea. In these businesses, HUL said the company has significant market leadership, and multi-fold scale compared to the second largest player. The hair care segment for HUL has seen very strong market share, with 3x growth in hair care relative market share compared to the nearest rival.

In terms of long-term opportunities, HUL has set its sight on categories like premium face wash and body wash, hair care, home care and condiments, along with prestige & well-being category. These are multi-year markets in the making, and seeing high double-digit growth.

Sigachi Industries shares surge 10%

Moving on to news from the pharma sector, shares of Sigachi Industries surged by 10% on November 29 following the company's announcement regarding its submission of a Certificate of Suitability (CEP) filing for Propafenone Hydrochloride.

Trimax Biosciences Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of Sigachi, received communication from the European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines & Health Care (EDQM) on this filing. This certification will allow Sigachi to export the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) product to Europe and other countries that accept the CEP.

Propafenone Hydrochloride, a key treatment for cardiac arrhythmias, is a high-demand API with a current global market size of US$ 1.2 billion.

This market is expected to grow to US$ 2.1 bn by 2032, with a CAGR of 7%, due to the increasing prevalence of cardiovascular diseases, growing adoption of generic medications, and rising healthcare expenditure globally.

Trimax Biosciences, based in Raichur, Karnataka, specialises in the development and manufacturing of APIs.

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