Opening Bell:
Gift Nifty is down by 51.0 points in the early morning trade, indicating a negative opening for Indian stock market.
Asia-Pacific markets, including Japan’s Nikkei, saw declines on Tuesday. The Nikkei fell by 0.72% after Japan’s corporate goods price index showed a flat year-on-year figure, contrary to the expected 0.30% decrease. The Topix also dropped by 0.80%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.11%, South Korea’s Kospi declined by 1.08%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropped by 0.66%. The mainland Chinese CSI 300 index was down by 0.33%.
Stock futures edge lower as Wall Street awaits key data and bank earnings for insights into the American consumer’s health; Dow futures down 0.1%, S&P 500 futures dip over 0.1%, Nasdaq 100 futures shed 0.2% ahead of Wednesday’s December retail sales report.
European stocks closed lower Monday as investors in the region gear up for the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The Stoxx 600 index provisionally ended down 0.5%, with major bourses and most sectors in negative territory. Household goods fell 1% as travel stocks climbed 0.9%.
Stocks News:
👉 Jio Financial Services: The company recorded a consolidated profit of ₹293.82 crore for the December quarter, against ₹668.2 crore in the previous quarter. Revenue from operations came in at ₹413.6 crore against ₹608 crore during the previous one as the company had no dividend income in the quarter, against ₹216.85 crore in the previous one.
👉 NALCO & Hindustan Copper: Khanij Bidesh India Ltd (KABIL), a joint venture between NALCO, Hindustan Copper, and Mineral Exploration Co. Ltd, has signed an agreement with Argentina’s CAMYEN SE to explore and mine lithium. This is the first lithium exploration and mining project by an Indian PSU. KABIL will start exploring and developing five lithium brine blocks covering 15,703 hectares in Argentina’s Catamarca province at a cost of ₹200 crore.
👉 Angel One: The retail stock-broking firm recorded a net profit of ₹260.3 crore in the December quarter, up 14.2% from the previous year. Revenue from operations rose 41.5% year-on-year to ₹1,059 crore.
👉 Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd: RVNL has emerged as the lowest bidder for a ₹251 crore project from Madhya Pradesh Vidyut Vitran Co, which is expected to be completed in 24 months.
👉 Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs 1,085.72 crore after consistent selling in previous four consecutive sessions, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold Rs 820.69 crore worth of stocks on January 15, provisional data from the NSE showed.
Domestic and International Events
- India’s merchandise trade deficit narrowed to $19.8 billion in December 2023 compared to $23.14 billion in the same month last year, the commerce ministry said on January 15. After contracting for the last few months, goods exports growth entered the positive territory coming in at $38.45 billion in December 2023 compared to $38.08 billion in the same month last year, whereas merchandise imports fell 4.9% on-year.
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday issued a draft circular on reviewing the regulatory framework for housing finance companies (HFCs) to harmonize regulations applicable to mortgage financiers and other non-bank lenders. The central bank has proposed higher liquid assets to back deposits at HFCs, smaller aggregate deposits as a proportion of their own capital, and allowing them to issue co-branded credit cards.
- Japan’s wholesale inflation remained flat in December from a year ago, data showed. The reading for the corporate goods price index (CGPI) compared with a median market forecast for a 0.3% decrease and followed a 0.3% increase in November.
- Oil prices dropped on Monday as traders monitored the potential for supply disruptions in the Middle East. Strikes by U.S. and British forces aimed at preventing Houthi militia attacks on ships in the Red Sea led to a decline in Brent crude futures by 0.4%, settling at $77.98 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.4% to $72.36 a barrel after a nearly 1% gain in the previous session.
- Gold prices edged up on Monday, holding above the $2,050 level on safe-haven appeal from elevated tensions in the Middle East and on renewed bets for an early rate cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve. Spot gold was up 0.2% at $2,053.69 per ounce, as of 0435 GMT, after marking its biggest daily gain since Dec. 12 on Friday. U.S. gold futures rose 0.3% to $2,057.70.
Key Equity Indices
| EMERGING | LATEST | % 1D |
| Hang Seng | 16,216 | (0.2) % |
| Shanghai Composite | 2,886 | 0.2 % |
| DEVELOPED | LATEST | % 1D |
| Dow Jones | 37,593 | (0.3) % |
| DAX | 16,622 | (0.5) % |
| FTSE 100 | 7,595 | (0.4) % |
| Nikkei | 35,902 | 0.9 % |
| Straits Times | 3,199 | 0.2 % |
