Opening Bell:
Gift Nifty is up by 23.0 points in the early morning trade, indicating a positive opening for Indian stock market.
On Thursday, Asian markets took a downward turn, primarily driven by Japan, which followed a significant drop in Wall Street indices overnight. Japan’s Nikkei 225 experienced a steep decline of 2.26%, with the Topix also slipping by 1.25% on the inaugural trading day of 2024. South Korea’s Kospi saw a decrease of 0.64%, accompanied by a 0.69% decline in Kosdaq. Meanwhile, there were indications of a potential rebound in Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 recorded a 0.5% loss amidst this market movement.
The US stock market indexes ended lower on Wednesday amid extended profit-taking after a strong finish to 2023, with minutes from the US Federal Reserve’s December meeting failing to cheer markets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.76%, while the S&P 500 declined 0.8%, The Nasdaq Composite ended 1.18%, lower.
European markets slumped Wednesday after a kickoff start to the year’s trading. The Stoxx 600 index fluctuated early but ended 1% lower by 4:00 pm London time. Food and beverage stocks rose 0.3%, while financial services dropped 2.5% and technology declined 2%.
Stocks News:
👉 State Bank of India: India’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) is looking to tap the US bond markets to raise $500-750 million. SBI is planning to raise funds through Regulation S bonds, and the roadshows could begin as early as next week. Bank officials have held discussions with about six bond arrangers.
👉 Adani Ports: Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited (APSEZ) on Wednesday said that its board of directors has approved raising up to ₹5,000 crore through a public issuance of non-convertible debentures. These debentures, each with a face value of ₹1,000, will be issued in one or more tranches, the company informed the exchange houses. Separately, the company has elevated CEO Karan Adani to the role of Managing Director, a position which was held by Chairman of Adani group Gautam Adani.
👉 Jio Financial Services: The joint venture entity of Jio Financial and BlackRock Financial Management has filed papers with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to launch mutual fund businesses in India. An update on mutual fund approval status from Sebi as of 31 December 2023, lists Jio Financial Services and BlackRock Financial Management among the applicants under consideration for a mutual fund licence.
👉 Vedanata Ltd: Has said that its total aluminium production rose 6% year-on-year to 599,000 tonnes in the third quarter of the current financial year. At Zinc International, total mined production declined 40% to 41,000 tonnes in the December quarter from 69,000 tonnes in the year-ago period.
👉 Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs 666.34 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) offloaded Rs 862.98 crore worth of stocks on January 3, provisional data from the NSE showed.
Domestic and International Events
- The pace of growth in India’s manufacturing activity fell to an 18-month low in December as output growth and new orders softened, a private survey said on Wednesday. According to the HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), compiled by S&P Global, India’s manufacturing PMI fell to 54.9 in December from 56 in November and 55.5 in October.
- The government Wednesday notified exports of 8,606 tonnes of raw cane sugar under tariff-rate quota (TRQ) to the US for 2024. The directorate general of foreign trade (DGFT) in a public notice said that this quantity has been notified under the TRQ scheme from October 1, 2023-September 30, 2024.
- Crude oil prices jumped following supply disruptions in Libya and increased tensions in the Middle East. Brent crude oil rose 0.22% to $78.42 a barrel, after climbing more than 3% on Wednesday, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained 0.40% to $72.99.
- Gold prices fell on Wednesday as the dollar firmed, while investors looked ahead to the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting and US jobs data for more clarity on potential interest rate cuts. Spot gold was down 1.2 percent to $2,033.85 per ounce. U.S. gold futures were down 1.5 to $2,042 per ounce.
Key Equity Indices
| EMERGING | LATEST | % 1D |
| Hang Seng | 16,646 | (0.9) % |
| Shanghai Composite | 2,967 | 0.2 % |
| DEVELOPED | LATEST | % 1D |
| Dow Jones | 37,430 | (0.8) % |
| DAX | 16,538 | (1.4) % |
| FTSE 100 | 7,682 | (0.5) % |
| Nikkei | 33,464 | (0.2) % |
| Straits Times | 3,199 | (0.9) % |
