Opening Bell:
Gift Nifty is down by 13.0 points in the early morning trade, indicating a negative opening for Indian stock market.
Asian markets higher on Thursday, tracking Wall Street’s gains after the US Federal Reserve maintained steady interest rates and hinted at possible cuts in 2014. Japan’s Nikkei rose by 0.54%, South Korea’s Kospi surged 1.46%, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 hit levels unseen since August 1 with a 1.44% surge. However, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures indicated a lower opening.
The US stock market surged on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve kept interest rates steady and projected lower borrowing costs in 2024. The Dow Jones hit its first record closing high since January 2022, climbing 1.4%. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 rose 1.37%, and the Nasdaq Composite closed 1.38% higher.
Stocks News:
👉 State Bank of India: The banking major announced it will sign a a Line of Credit (LoC) agreement worth 70 million euros with German Development Bank KfW to support solar projects in India. The primary focus of this financial arrangement is to enhance solar photovoltaics projects in the country.
👉 Biocon: The biotechnology major said following the completion of Bicara Therapeutics Inc’s $165 million Series C financing round, Bicara is no longer an associate company of Biocon. This change occurred as a result of the Series C capital influx and the subsequent issuance of shares by Bicara, which led to Biocon’s shareholding in Bicara dropping to less than 20% on a fully diluted basis.
👉 Ultratech Cement: The cement and ready-mix concrete maker plans to increase the overall share of green energy in its total energy mix to 85% by 2030. The AV Birla Group company plans to increase its total green energy share from its current 22% to 60% by FY26.
👉 NBCC: The state-owned company has bagged a ₹1,500 crore project management consultancy contract for the construction of 1,469 warehouses and other infrastructure related to the agriculture sector. NBCC has bagged the work order from National Cooperative Development Corporation and Primary Agriculture Cooperative Society in various states.
👉 Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net bought shares worth Rs 4,711 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) offloaded Rs 958 crore worth of stocks on December 13, provisional data from the National Stock Exchange (NSE) showed.
Domestic and International Events
- The US Federal Reserve held rates steady at 5.25-5.5%, signalling a shift to a more dovish stance for 2024. Chairman Jerome Powell hinted at potential rate cuts of about 75 basis points next year, suggesting we might be nearing the peak of the tightening cycle. The Fed’s projections indicate rates ending 2023 at 4.5-4.75% and further decreasing to 3.5-3.75% in 2025, signalling a more cautious monetary approach.
- The Services Export Promotion Council (SEPC) announced that the country’s services exports have reached USD 192 billion this fiscal year and are projected to hit USD 400 billion by the end of 2023-24. Notably, sectors like telecom, computer, information, transport, and travel are showing robust growth rates. SEPC is actively devising strategies to further boost growth in this sector.
- In OPEC+ closely watched monthly report, OPEC kept its forecast for world oil demand growth in 2023 unchanged from last month’s assessment at 2.5 million barrels per day (bpd). This, therefore, boosted oil prices with Brent Crude trading at $75 per barrel, while WTI Crude was trading at $70 per barrel, up 0.8 percent each.
- Gold prices rose more than 1 percent after the US Fed flagged an end to its interest rate hike cycle and indicated possible rate cuts next year. Spot gold gained 1.3 percent to $2,004.79 per ounce, while US gold futures settled 0.2 percent higher at $1,997.30.
Key Equity Indices
| EMERGING | LATEST | % 1D |
| Hang Seng | 16,229 | (0.9) % |
| Shanghai Composite | 2,969 | (1.2) % |
| DEVELOPED | LATEST | % 1D |
| Dow Jones | 37,090 | 1.4 % |
| DAX | 16,766 | (0.2) % |
| FTSE 100 | 7,548 | 0.1 % |
| Nikkei | 32,926 | 0.3 % |
| Straits Times | 3,104 | 0.1 % |
