Opening Bell:
Gift Nifty is down by 17.5 points in the early morning trade, indicating a negative opening for Indian stock market.
Asia-Pacific markets had a mixed start to the year, as China’s manufacturing PMI contracted further in December 2023, signaling a need for additional policy support. Japan assessed the aftermath of a New Year’s Day earthquake, forcing evacuations and causing at least one reported death. Japan’s Nikkei 225 concluded 2023 as Asia’s top-performing market with gains exceeding 28%. Private factory activity surveys for China, Australia, and South Korea, along with Singapore’s Q4 GDP readings, are anticipated in the coming days. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.4%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures indicated a stronger open. South Korea’s Kospi dipped 0.15%, but the Kosdaq edged up by 0.56%.
Overnight trading showed flat stock futures as the market prepared to start the new year after a robust 2023, where the S&P 500 surged by 24%. Technology giants, including Apple (+48%), Microsoft (+57%), and Nvidia (+239%), spearheaded last year’s growth. The Nasdaq Composite, dominated by tech, closed with a remarkable 43.4% increase, its strongest performance since 2020. The Dow Jones Industrial Average marked a 13.7% gain and achieved new record highs throughout 2023.
European stocks ended Friday’s session in the green, marking a positive end to a solid year. The regional Stoxx 600 index provisionally finished 2023 up 12.64% on the year. It follows a fall of 12.9% in 2022. On Friday, the Stoxx ended the day provisionally 0.1% higher, with almost all sectors up amid thin trade. London markets closed early, with the FTSE 100 in the green as the FTSE 250 dipped.
Stocks News:
👉 Vodafone Idea: News reports claim that the government could sell its 33% stake in Vodafone Idea to tech-billionaire Elon Musk and his satellite internet venture Starlink collaborating with the carrier. Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has sought a clarification from India’s third-largest telecom service provider on the development.
👉 UltraTech Cement: The country’s largest cement company has recorded a 6% YoY (2% QoQ) growth in consolidated sales volume at 27.32 million metric tons, with India sales volume growing 5% YoY (2% QoQ) to 26.06 million metric tons.
👉 Bharti Airtel: As a part of group restructuring, subsidiary Bharti Airtel Services has entered into an agreement for the acquisition of 49,45,239 equity shares, representing a 97.1% stake in another Bharti Group company, Beetel Teletech. Beetel Teletech also has a 49% stake in a joint venture with two manufacturing facilities that produce telecom and networking products, including those qualifying for the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme.
👉 TVS Motor Company: The two-and-three-wheeler company recorded monthly sales of 3,01,898 units in December 2023, with a growth of 25% as against 2,42,012 units in the same month last year. The total exports grew by 8% year-on-year to 85,391 units in December 2023.
👉 Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs 855.80 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased Rs 410.46 crore worth of stocks on January 1, provisional data from the NSE showed.
Domestic and International Events
- In December 2023, the government’s Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections increased by 10% year-on-year to Rs 1.65 lakh crore, as per the Ministry of Finance. Though slightly lower than November’s Rs 1.68 lakh crore by 2%, this marks the tenth consecutive month surpassing the Rs 1.5-lakh-crore milestone. The yearly average for 2023-24 stands at Rs 1.66 lakh crore. GST collections have shown a steady rise, moving from under Rs 1 lakh crore per month in its inaugural year of 2017-18 to an average of Rs 1.51 lakh crore in 2022-23 following the pandemic-hit year of 2020-21.
- In December, despite usual inventory clearances, the Passenger Vehicle (PV) industry saw a 4.4% YoY increase to 2,87,904 units, up from 2,75,653 units in December 2022. From April to December this fiscal year, sales reached 30,90,026 units, marking a 7.6% rise from the previous year’s 28,71,695 units. In 2023, total sales hit 41,08,000 units, an 8.3% increase from 2022, signifying the first time the domestic PV market crossed the 40-lakh sales mark in a calendar year.
- US crude oil closed out the year more than 10% lower as bearish sentiment has taken over due to worries that the market is oversupplied from record production outside OPEC. The West Texas Intermediate contract for February shed 12 cents, or 0.17%, to settle at $71.65 a barrel on Friday. The Brent contract for March lost 11 cents, or 0.14%, to settle at $77.04.
- Gold prices held steady on Friday as they notched their best year since 2020 at levels comfortably above $2,000 an ounce, buoyed by hopes the US Federal Reserve could cut interest rates as early as March. Spot gold was at $2,062.59 per ounce, unchanged from the previous session. US gold futures settled 0.6% lower at $2,071.80, closing the year 13.45% higher to cinch its first positive year in three.
Key Equity Indices
| EMERGING | LATEST | % 1D |
| Hang Seng | 17,047 | 0.0 % |
| Shanghai Composite | 2,975 | 0.7 % |
| DEVELOPED | LATEST | % 1D |
| Dow Jones | 37,690 | (0.1) % |
| DAX | 16,752 | 0.3 % |
| FTSE 100 | 7,733 | 0.1 % |
| Nikkei | 33,464 | (0.2) % |
| Straits Times | 3,240 | 0.8 % |
