10 things that you need to know before the opening bell on December 23

SUMMARY

Indian benchmark indices BSE Sensex and NSE’s Nifty50 are expected to open little changed on Monday tracking mixed trends in Asian peers amid US-China trade optimism. At 7:30 AM, the SGX Nifty was trading at 12,294, up 2 points or 0.002 percent, indicating a flat start for the Sensex and Nifty. Here are the key things to know before the market opens:

By CNBC-TV18Dec 23, 2019 8:14:15 AM IST (Updated)

Asian Stocks: Asian markets were mixed in early trade amid greater trade optimism between the U.S. and China after U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said he had “a very good talk” with China’s leader Xi Jinping about the so-called phase one trade deal they struck in mid-December. Over in Singapore, the country’s consumer inflation data is set to be released on Monday.

US Markets: A year-end rally in global equity markets extended gains on Friday, helped by data showing relatively strong U.S. growth, while sterling posted its worst week in more than two years on concerns over how Britain will leave the European Union. MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.33 percent to a record high, while Wall Street's three key equity indexes also notched new intraday and closing highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 78.13 points, or 0.28 percent, to 28,455.09. The S&P 500 gained 15.85 points, or 0.49 percent, to 3,221.22 and the Nasdaq Composite added 37.74 points, or 0.42 percent, to 8,924.96.

Indian markets: On Friday, Indian equity benchmarks closed at fresh all-time highs for the fourth consecutive day. The gains, however, were nominal as the Sensex climbed only 8 points to 41,681.54 while the Nifty rose 12 points to close at 12,271.80. Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors bought Rs 338.86 crore while the domestic institutional investors sold Rs 285.41 crore in the cash market.

Rupee: The rupee fell by 9 paise to settle at 71.12 against the US dollar on Friday amid a steady rise in crude oil prices and strengthening of the greenback overseas. Forex traders said the rupee was weighed down against the US dollar after the RBI said it will conduct a special OMO in a move seen by market participants as an attempt to bring long-term yields lower. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the domestic currency opened weak at 71.15, then went on to hit a low of 71.23 against the US dollar during the day. (Stock Image)

Crude Oil: Oil prices were little changed on Monday morning. Brent crude and U.S. crude futures were flat, to $66.11 and $60.42 respectively.

Sensex rejig: Titan Company, UltraTech Cement, Nestle India will be included in BSE Sensex with effect from December 23. On the other side, Tata Motors, Tata Motors DVR, Vedanta and Yes Bank will be removed from the index. Along with Sensex, there would also be addition and deletion in BSE Sensex 50, BSE Sensex Next 50, BSE 500, BSE 100, BSE 200, BSE 150 Midcap index, BSE 250 Smallcap index, BSE 250 LargeMidcap index, BSE 400 MidSmallcap index, BSE 100 Largecap TMC, BSE Sensex 50 TMC, BSE Sensex Next 50 TMC, BSE Carbonex and BSE 100 ESG indices on same day.

F&O expiry: The December month futures and options (F&O) contracts will expire on Thursday, December 26, and traders will roll over their positions to next month. Consistent buying interest has pushed the Sensex and Nifty to record closing highs last week.

FPI inflow: The foreign portfolio investors seem to have flocked to the Indian capital market in a big way in 2019 with a net inflow of over Rs 1.3 lakh crore, including Rs 97,250 crore in equities -- the highest in last six years. As the year draws to a close, the debt market has seen a net inflow of nearly Rs 27,000 crore by FPIs, while a further amount of Rs 9,000 crore found its way to the hybrid instruments, shows the capital market data compiled by depositories.

RBI on OMO: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said it would simultaneously purchase and sell government securities worth Rs 10,000 crore under a special Open Market Operation (OMO) on Monday. Such exercises are done by the central bank when the proceeds from sale of short-term securities are used to buy long-term government securities or bonds in a bid to bring down interest rates on long-term securities.

Here are CNBC-TV18's top stocks to watch out for on December 23