Opening Bell:
Gift Nifty is down by 17.0 points in the early morning trade, indicating a negative opening for Indian stock market.
Asia-Pacific markets started the week with slight gains. Key economic data and events are on the radar: Australia and Japan will reveal inflation figures, China will report trade balance and December’s inflation. Bank of Korea meets Thursday, likely keeping rates steady at 3.50%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.17%; Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures point to a slightly higher start. Japan’s markets were closed, reopening Tuesday. South Korea’s Kospi opened 0.34% higher; Kosdaq slipped 0.08%.
US stock market indexes closed slightly higher on Friday after experiencing their worst week in months. All three benchmarks saw their first weekly declines in ten weeks as investors exercised caution while awaiting clearer indications about the timing and pace of interest rate cuts. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up by 0.07%. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 climbed 0.18%, and the Nasdaq Composite ended 0.09% higher.
European markets ended lower on Friday to close a choppy first week of the year. The Stoxx 600 dropped 0.3%, with most sectors and major bourses in the negative. Retail stocks fell 1.1% due to German retail sales plunging unexpectedly in November, while banking stocks rose 0.5%.
Stocks News:
👉 Adani Wilmar: The company saw a 15% decrease in standalone sales compared to the previous year. However, in terms of volume, there was a notable resilience, with a 6% increase year-on-year. Despite facing various challenges, the company managed to maintain its growth trajectory, primarily fueled by the expanding market for its packaged oils and food products.
👉 Titan: The jewellery and watchmaker has registered a revenue growth of 22% in the December quarter. During the October-December period, it added 90 stores across verticals, taking the group’s retail presence to 2,949 stores. The jewellery division reported a 21% growth in the domestic market.
👉 Tata Steel: The Tata Group firm announced its provisional production and delivery volumes for the quarter ended December FY24. India’s production volume grew by 6.4% YoY to 5.32 mt (million tons) and delivery volumes increased by 3% to 4.88 mt, while Tata Steel Netherlands’ production volume fell sharply by 23% YoY to 1.17 mt and delivery volumes dropped 7.86% to 1.29 mt. Production volume in the UK for the quarter increased 1.4% to 0.73 mt, but delivery volumes declined 4.5% to 0.63 mt.
👉 Godrej Industries: The company has signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Gujarat. As part of the MoU, the company may plan to invest Rs 600 crore over the next four years in the significant expansion of Valia, with an employment of around 250.
👉 Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs 1,696.86 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold Rs 3,497.62 crore worth of stocks on January 5, provisional data from the NSE showed.
Domestic and International Events
- India’s economy is projected to grow at 7.3% in the ongoing financial year, as per the initial advance estimate report released by the National Statistical Office (NSO). At that pace, India will retain its crown as the fastest-growing major economy, following its 7.2% GDP growth in FY2022-23.
- India’s foreign exchange reserves expanded by $2.759 billion to $623.200 billion for the week ending December 29, the latest data by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed on Friday. Previously, forex reserves witnessed a surge of $4.47 billion to $620.44 billion for the week ending on December 22.
- Oil prices gained on Friday, as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken prepared to visit the Middle East to try and prevent the Israel-Gaza conflict from widening. Brent crude futures were up $1.42, or 1.83%, to $79.01 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose $1.78, or 2.47%, to $73.97.
- Gold held steady on Friday after swinging up and down a percent age point on mixed U.S. economic data, but bullion posted its first weekly decline in four weeks on an overall stronger dollar and higher Treasury yields. Spot gold rose 0.1% to $2,044.21 per ounce after falling and then rising by about 1% earlier in the session. Prices shed more than 1% for the week. US gold futures settled mostly unchanged at $2,049.80.
Key Equity Indices
| EMERGING | LATEST | % 1D |
| Hang Seng | 16,535 | (0.7) % |
| Shanghai Composite | 2,929 | (0.9) % |
| DEVELOPED | LATEST | % 1D |
| Dow Jones | 37,466 | 0.1 % |
| DAX | 16,594 | (0.1) % |
| FTSE 100 | 7,690 | (0.4) % |
| Nikkei | 33,377 | 0.3 % |
| Straits Times | 3,184 | 0.3 % |
