Opening Bell:
Gift Nifty is down by 13.5 points in the early morning trade, indicating a negative opening for Indian stock market.
Before the Bank of Japan’s interest rate decision, Asian markets were mixed. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan held steady below a four-month peak. Japan’s Nikkei 225 saw slight gains, contrasting with Topix’s 0.26% decline. South Korea’s Kospi dipped while the Kosdaq gained 0.67%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures hinted at a weaker start, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 climbed by 0.57%.
On Monday, the US stock market closed higher as investors anticipated crucial upcoming economic data and held onto hopes of future interest rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve. The Dow Jones Industrial Average remained steady at 37,306.02, while the S&P 500 rose by 0.45%. The Nasdaq Composite closed 0.61% higher. Notable movements included a 26.1% surge in United States Steel shares, a 0.9% decline in Apple shares, and a 7.8% drop in VF Corp shares.
Stocks News:
👉 Sun Pharma: The company has agreed to acquire a 16.7% stake in Massachusetts-based Lyndra Therapeutics for $30 million. Lyndra develops novel delivery technology for long-acting oral therapies.
👉 Biocon: Subsidiary Biocon Biologics has completed the transition of the acquired biosimilars business in around 120 countries across advanced and emerging markets, a year ahead of schedule. Over 10 emerging markets, along with Japan, Australia, and New Zealand, have transitioned in this final phase of the integration of the biosimilars business acquired from Viatris.
👉 Nestle India: The FMCG company has fixed January 5, 2024, as the record date for determining the entitlement of equity shareholders for sub-division of existing equity shares of the company. One equity share having a face value of Rs 10 each will be subdivided into 10 equity shares having a face value of Rs 1 each.
👉 Apollo Tyres: Warburg Pincus affiliate White Iris Investment may sell a 3% stake with an option to upsize, aiming to raise $100 million. The floor price is likely to be ₹440 a share, which is a 2% discount to Monday’s close.
👉 Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold shares worth Rs 33.51 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought Rs 413.88 crore worth of stocks on December 18, provisional data from the National Stock Exchange (NSE) showed.
Domestic and International Events
- India’s net direct tax collections from April 1 to December 17 (FY23-24) rose 20.7 percent on-year to Rs 13.70 lakh crore, according to provisional data shared by the Ministry of Finance. Within overall direct tax collections, corporate tax mop-up amounted to Rs 6.95 lakh crore, while personal income tax and securities transaction tax together came in at Rs 6.73 lakh crore.
- Before adjusting for refunds, gross direct tax collections for April 1-December 17 stood at Rs 15.96 lakh crore, up 17 percent on-year. Of this, gross corporate tax collections during the same period stood at Rs 7.90 lakh crore, while gross personal income tax and securities transaction tax stood at Rs 8.03 lakh crore, the ministry said on December 18.
- The government on Monday cut the windfall profit tax on crude oil produced in the country and on exports of diesel. The tax, levied in the form of Special Additional Excise Duty or SAED, on domestically produced crude oil has been reduced to Rs 1,300 from Rs 5,000 per tonne, according to an official notification. On
- SAED on the export of diesel has been reduced to Rs 0.50 a litre from Rs 1 per litre. However, the levy on export of jet fuel or ATF has been hiked to Rs 1 per litre from nil earlier. SAED on petrol will continue to be zero. The new tax rates will come into effect from Tuesday. India first imposed windfall profit taxes on July 1 last year, joining a growing number of nations that tax supernormal profits of energy companies.
- Crude oil prices traded near its highest close in two weeks on increasing supply concerns as more companies shun the Red Sea after a rise in attacks on vessels along the key shipping conduit. Brent crude oil prices rose 0.35% to $78.22 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained 0.21% to $72.62.
Key Equity Indices
| EMERGING | LATEST | % 1D |
| Hang Seng | 16,629 | (1.0) % |
| Shanghai Composite | 2,931 | (0.4) % |
| DEVELOPED | LATEST | % 1D |
| Dow Jones | 37,306 | 0.0 % |
| DAX | 16,651 | (0.6) % |
| FTSE 100 | 7,614 | 0.5 % |
| Nikkei | 32,759 | (0.6) % |
| Straits Times | 3,113 | (0.1) % |
