Opening Bell:
Gift Nifty is down by 6.0 points in the early morning trade, indicating a negative opening for Indian stock market.
Asian markets closed mostly higher on the last trading day of 2023, led by gains in Chinese stocks. This year looks to be the best for Asian shares since 2020, largely due to expectations of a more dovish US Federal Reserve. Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.16%, while Topix edged up 0.12%. South Korea’s Kospi surged 1.60%, Kosdaq gained 0.79%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures hinted at a positive start. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index eased by 0.37%.
Thursday saw a mixed close for US stock market indices, where the Dow achieved its second consecutive record-high closing level. All three indexes stayed on course for monthly, quarterly, and annual gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed marking a 0.14% increase. The S&P 500 edged up by 0.04%, Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite closed 4.04 points lower at 15,095.14, a decrease of 0.03%.
European stocks closed lower on Thursday as global markets searched for new record highs to close out the year. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index provisionally closed down about 0.1%, with health care stocks adding 0.6% while banks dropped 0.5%.
Stocks News:
đ Tata Steel: The Uttar Pradesh State Pollution Control Board has imposed an environmental damage compensation of Rs 6.75 lakh with respect to the company’s Sahibabad plant. The company has paid the environmental damage compensation on a non-prejudice basis.
đ Hindustan Petroleum: Shares of Indian oil marketing companies are on an uptrend and scored record-high levels on Thursday. Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) surged significantly and were locked at 10% upper circuit to hit a 52-week high mark of âš425.45 apiece on the BSE. HPCL emerged as one of the top gainers on BSE on Thursday.
đ J B Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals Ltd: JB Chemicals looks to continue its growth momentum, driven by the geographical expansion of legacy brands, scale-up in Sanzyme, Azmarda, and Razel franchises, MR productivity improvement, scale-up of contract manufacturing business and new product launches across markets. The shares closed lower at âš1,614 on Thursday.
đ Federal Bank: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has given its approval to ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company (ICICI AMC) for acquiring up to 9.95% of the paid-up share capital or voting rights of Federal Bank.
đ Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs 4,358.99 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased Rs 136.64 crore worth of stocks on December 28, provisional data from the NSE showed.Â
Domestic and International Events
- The RBI’s Financial Stability Report on December 28 stated that scheduled commercial banks in India are well-capitalized to handle macroeconomic shocks over the next year. In the baseline scenario, the combined CRAR of 46 major banks is expected to decrease from 16.6% in September 2023 to 14.8% by September 2024, remaining above minimum requirements even in stress scenarios (13.5% in medium stress and 12.2% in severe stress by September 2024).
- The Indian finance ministry issued compliance notices to nine offshore Virtual Digital Assets service providers, including Binance, for operating in the country without following local money laundering laws. They’ve asked the information technology ministry to block their URLs. The statement on December 28 emphasizes that these providers must register with Financial Intelligence Unit-India and comply with the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
- Oil prices fell around 1% on Thursday due to reduced worries about shipping issues in the Red Sea, despite ongoing tensions in the Middle East. Brent crude futures for February were down 1.1% at $78.75, while the more active March contract dropped 0.9% to $78.85. US WTI crude futures fell by about 1.1% to $73.31 a barrel, following a nearly 2% decline on Wednesday as major shipping firms resumed operations in the Red Sea.
- Gold prices steadied on Thursday, after hitting a more than three-week high earlier, as an uptick in U.S. bond yields undermined the support from expectations of rate cuts by the Federal Reserve early next year. Spot gold lost 0.15% to $2,073.98 per ounce, after earlier rising as high as $2,088.29, the most since Dec. 4, when bullion hit its all-time peak. U.S. gold futures were down 0.4% to $2,083.9.
Key Equity Indices
| EMERGING | LATEST | % 1D |
| Hang Seng | 17,044 | 2.5 % |
| Shanghai Composite | 2,955 | 1.4 % |
| DEVELOPED | LATEST | % 1D |
| Dow Jones | 37,710 | 0.1 % |
| DAX | 16,702 | (0.2) % |
| FTSE 100 | 7,723 | (0.0) % |
| Nikkei | 33,540 | (0.4) % |
| Straits Times | 3,214 | 1.4 % |
