Opening Bell:
Gift Nifty is up by 15.0 points in the early morning trade, indicating a positive opening for Indian stock market.
Asia-Pacific stocks, including Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 reaching a near two-year high, saw a bounce as markets returned from the Christmas break. Australia’s index gained 0.8%, eyeing yearly gains of over 7%. The optimism in Aussie stocks is fueled by expectations that the Reserve Bank of Australia may not raise interest rates, following the Federal Reserve’s dovish stance. Japan’s Nikkei 225 opened nearly 1% higher, and the Topix index is on track for its fourth consecutive day of gains. The Nikkei 225 is Asia’s top-performing index in 2023, having gained over 27%. South Korea’s Kospi and Kosdaq also posted gains, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index is expected to open higher on its first trading day of the week.
The US stock market extended its rally on Tuesday led by megacap stocks and chip shares, with the S&P 500 touching its highest intraday level since January 2022. All the three indices are on track for monthly, quarterly and annual gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.43%, while the S&P 500 rose 0.42%, The Nasdaq Composite ended 0.54%.
European stocks rose slightly Friday, after US stocks strongly rebounded from their worst session in months. The Stoxx 600 index inched up 0.114% in London, as the technology sector dropped 1.3%. Oil and gas stocks rose on Friday, as investors continue to digest news that Angola is quitting the OPEC alliance.
Stocks News:
👉 Aditya Birla Capital (ABCL): The company has made investments of Rs 850 crore on a rights basis in Aditya Birla Finance (ABFL) and Rs 50 crore in Aditya Birla Capital Digital (ABCDL). After the said investments, there is no change in the percentage shareholding of ABCL, and both ABCDL and ABFL continue to be wholly owned subsidiaries of the company.
👉 Power Grid Corporation of India completed the “evacuation of renewable energy in Tirunelveli and Tuticorin wind energy zone (Tamil Nadu) 500 MW” project on December 24, receiving commercial operation notification on December 26. Additionally, they acquired Vataman Transmission and Koppal II Gadag II Transmission projects to establish transmission systems for renewable energy integration, spending Rs 18.19 crore and Rs 18.45 crore respectively.
👉 Axis Bank has approached the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) with a plea seeking insolvency proceeding against Zee Learn, the education services provider said on December 26.
“This is to inform you that a petition under Section 7 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 has been filed by Axis Bank Limited to initiate Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) of the Company, before the Hon’ble National Company Law Tribunal, Mumbai,” a regulatory filing stated.
👉 Adani Green Energy’s board approved issuing promoters warrants worth Rs 9,350 crore at Rs 1,480.75 per share on December 26. The company plans to use these funds for reducing debt and expediting capital spending. With secured land and capacity, they aim to reach their 2030 target of 45 GW, having 20.6 GW capacity already locked in.
👉 Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold shares worth Rs 95.20 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought Rs 167.04 crore worth of stocks on December 26, provisional data from the National Stock Exchange (NSE) showed.
Domestic and International Events
- India’s current account deficit (CAD) narrowed to $8.3 billion in the second quarter of 2023-24, according to data released on December 26 by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). As per the data, the CAD in July-September amounted to 1.0% of India’s GDP. “Underlying the lower current account deficit on a year-on-year basis in July-September 2023 was the narrowing of merchandise trade deficit to $61.0 billion from $78.3 billion in July-September 2022,” the RBI said. The CAD in April-June 2023 was $9.2 billion, or 1.1% of GDP. In July-September 2022, the deficit stood at a huge $30.9 billion, or 3.8% of GDP.
- The production-linked incentive (PLI) schemes for 14 sectors have attracted over Rs 95,000 crore in investment till September this year, an official statement said on Tuesday. According to the Commerce and Industry Ministry, as many as 746 applications have been approved till November 2023 under these schemes. In the Union Budget 2021-22, the government announced an outlay of Rs 1.97 lakh crore for the schemes.
- Oil jumped over 2% to a nearly one-month high on Tuesday, driven by Middle East tensions and optimism about potential U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate cuts. Brent crude hit $81.23, the highest since December 1, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate rose to $75.45. Last week’s 3% gains were fueled by Houthi attacks disrupting global trade and the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. Limited trading occurred due to public holidays in some markets.
- Gold prices rose on Tuesday, helped by a weaker US dollar and lower Treasury yields on expectations that the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates next year. Spot gold was up 0.4% at $2,062.63 an ounce near 7:30am ET after hitting a more than two-week high of $2,070.39 in the previous session. US gold futures rose 0.2% to $2,073.20.
Key Equity Indices
| EMERGING | LATEST | % 1D |
| Hang Seng | 16,340 | (1.7) % |
| Shanghai Composite | 2,899 | (0.7) % |
| DEVELOPED | LATEST | % 1D |
| Dow Jones | 37,545 | 0.4 % |
| DAX | 16,706 | 0.1 % |
| FTSE 100 | 7,698 | 0.0 % |
| Nikkei | 33,306 | 0.2 % |
| Straits Times | 3,140 | (0.0) % |
