Opening Bell:
Gift Nifty is up by 7.0 points in the early morning trade, indicating a positive opening for Indian stock market.
Asian markets traded mixed Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.33%, holding at its highest level since late April 2022. The index is set to end the year decidedly higher at 7.7%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.69% at open, after closing more than 1% higher in the previous session. The broader Topix index shed 0.45%. Retail sales data from Japan showed a 5.3% growth in November, higher than a Reuters poll forecast of 5%.
US stock market indices ended slightly higher on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones notching a new record closing high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.3%, while the S&P 500 rose 0.14%, The Nasdaq Composite ended 0.16%.
European markets closed higher on Wednesday to kick off the final trading week of 2023, as major indexes around the world hovered near record highs. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index closed up 0.27%. Energy and technology were the leading sectors, gaining around 0.61%and 0.7%.
Stocks News:
👉 Reliance Capital: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved the acquisition of the stake in Reliance Capital by IndusInd International Holdings Limited, IIHL BFSI (India) Limited, and Aasia Enterprises LLP. Reliance Capital is undergoing insolvency resolution proceedings initiated under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.
👉 Tata Power Company: The Tata Group company has signed a share purchase agreement and acquired a 100%equity stake in Bikaner III Neemrana II Transmission, a project special purpose vehicle. The acquisition cost is Rs 18.6 crore. The special-purpose vehicle formed in June 2023 will build, own, operate, and transfer an electrical power transmission system between Bikaner and Neemrana in Rajasthan.
👉 Exide Industries: The company has invested Rs 40 crore in the equity shares of the wholly owned subsidiary Exide Energy Solutions. With this investment, the total investment made by the company in Exide Energy Solutions stands to Rs 1,820.01 crore. There is no change in the shareholding%age of the company in Exide Energy Solutions post acquisition of shares.
👉 Canara Bank: The public sector lender has given approval to initiate the process of listing its mutual fund subsidiary, Canara Robeco Asset Management Company, on the stock exchanges via an initial public offering (IPO). The modalities of listing will be decided in due course.
👉 Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) turned net buyers for the first time in the last seven consecutive sessions, buying shares worth Rs 2,926.05 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) turned net sellers after six-day of consistent buying, offloading Rs 192.01 crore worth of stocks on December 27, provisional data from the NSE showed.
Domestic and International Events
- The Centre for Economics and Business Research CEBR predicts India to be the world’s third-largest economy by 2032, surpassing China and the US eventually. With an average growth of 6.5% from 2024 to 2028, India is set to overtake Germany by 2027 and Japan by 2032. Factors like a large youthful population, a growing middle class, entrepreneurial vigor, and global integration drive this growth. However, the report highlights challenges in poverty reduction, inequality, infrastructure, human capital, and environmental sustainability that India needs to address.
- In a move to address the soaring inflation rate of rice, the government has announced its plan to sell rice under the Bharat brand at an affordable price of Rs 25 per kilogram. This decision was confirmed by a senior government official. To implement this initiative, the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (Nafed), National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation (NCCF), and Kendriya Bhandar outlets will be responsible distributing the rice to consumers.
- Oil prices steadied after recent gains on Wednesday as the Red Sea situation was monitored. Brent crude futures dipped 55 cents to $80.52, while US West Texas Intermediate crude fell 74 cents to $74.83 a barrel. The previous session saw over 2% increases due to Red Sea shipping concerns and expectations of U.S. interest rate cuts, potentially boosting economic growth and demand.
- Gold prices steadied on Wednesday as trading was muted in the last week of the year, but bullion was headed for its best year in three on expectations the Federal Reserve will cut rates in the first quarter of 2024. Spot gold was flat at $2,067.14 per ounce, not far from an over two-week high of $2070.39 hit on Friday. Bullion was on track to mark an over 10%gain this year — its best since 2020. US gold futures rose 0.5%to $2,079.20 per ounce.
Key Equity Indices
| EMERGING | LATEST | % 1D |
| Hang Seng | 16,625 | 1.7 % |
| Shanghai Composite | 2,915 | 0.5 % |
| DEVELOPED | LATEST | % 1D |
| Dow Jones | 37,657 | 0.3 % |
| DAX | 16,742 | 0.2 % |
| FTSE 100 | 7,725 | 0.4 % |
| Nikkei | 33,681 | 1.1 % |
| Straits Times | 3,171 | 1.0 % |
