Share markets in India are presently trading on a negative note.

The BSE Sensex is trading down by 333 points, down 0.7% at 45,220 levels.

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading down by 98 points.

Tech Mahindra and Bharti Airtel are among the top gainers today. Bajaj Finance and Tata Motors are among the top losers today.

The BSE Mid Cap index is trading down by 1.2%

The BSE Small Cap index is trading down by 1.3%.

On the sectoral front, stocks from the real estate sector are witnessing most of the selling pressure.

On the other hand, stocks from the telecom sector and software sector are witnessing most of the buying interest.

US stock futures are trading lower today, indicating a negative opening for Wall Street indices.

Nasdaq Futures are trading down by 28 points (down 0.2%) while Dow Futures are trading down by 160 points (down 0.5%).

The rupee is trading at 73.88 against the US$.

Gold prices are trading down by 0.3% at Rs 50,269 per 10 grams.

In global markets, gold prices rose today as the US House of Representatives passed a US$ 900 billion pandemic relief package that would finally deliver cash to businesses and individuals.

Tracking firm rates in international markets, gold prices edged higher in Indian markets. On MCX, gold futures edged 0.1% higher to Rs 50,465 per 10 grams. In the previous session, gold prices had edged 0.2% higher.

Note that even though gold has recovered from lows of below Rs 48,000, it remains significantly lower than the August highs of Rs 56,200.

Moving on to stock-specific news...

Among the buzzing stocks, today is Dr Reddy's.

Indian pharma major Dr Reddy's Laboratories will manufacture the Sputnik V vaccine for Covid-19, Russian envoy to India Nikolay Kudashev said on December 21.

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Russia's sovereign wealth fund, is investing in the production and promotion of the vaccine abroad.

As part of the partnership, RDIF shall supply 100 million doses of the vaccine to Dr Reddy's upon regulatory approval in India.

On August 11, Russia had registered Sputnik V, a coronavirus vaccine developed by the Gamaleya Research Institute. Then in September, Dr Reddy's and RDIF entered into a partnership to conduct clinical trials of Sputnik V vaccine and its distribution in India.

Sputnik V vaccine has shown 92% efficacy in preventing Covid-19, according to the interim trial results announced by the country's health ministry.

We will keep you posted on more updates from this space. Stay tuned.

At the time of writing, Dr Reddy's share price was trading flat on the BSE.

Here's an interesting data on Dr. Reddy's Lab, investing just Rs 100,000 in Dr. Reddy's Labs in 1992, it would have given a whopping Rs 48.9 million in 2014!

To know more, you can access Dr Reddy's latest quarterly results on our website.

Speaking of the stock markets, India's #1 trader, Vijay Bhambwani talks about how trading will change post the coronavirus pandemic, in one of his latest videos for Fast Profits Daily.

In the video Vijay shares how the old way of trading will be obsolete soon and will be replaced by a new, faster, and more tech-savvy way of making fast profits in the markets.

Moving on to news from the real estate sector...

Embassy REIT Raises US$ 501 Million Through Qualified Institutional Placement

The Blackstone Group and Embassy Group-backed, India's first listed Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), Embassy Office Parks REIT, has raised US$ 501 million or Rs 36.8 billion through a Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) of its units. The funds will be utilized to support the proposed US$ 1.3 billion acquisition of Embassy TechVillage, an integrated office park in Bengaluru.

Note that this is the first-ever institutional placement by a listed Indian REIT.

The issue was launched on December 15 and witnessed strong demand from both existing as well as new institutional investors, including global and domestic investors, pension funds, insurers, and alternative asset managers.

The placement issue price of Rs 331 per unit represents a discount of 5% to the applicable floor price of Rs 348.4 per unit. The Board of Directors of Embassy Office Parks Management Services, approved the issuance and allotment of 111.3 million new units through an institutional placement earlier today. Trading of these units is expected to commence on or around December 24, 2020, on the exchanges.

Embassy REIT is acquiring Embassy TechVillage from the Embassy sponsor, members of the Blackstone group, and other selling shareholders. The transaction is expected to close by the end of this month.