10 things to know before the opening bell on December 24

SUMMARY

The Indian market is likely to open flat with a positive bias on Tuesday as the SGX Nifty, an indicator of the opening for the Nifty, was trading 1.50 points or 0.01 percent higher at 12,277.50, at 7 AM, hinting at a flat-to-positive start for the domestic market.

By CNBC-TV18Dec 24, 2019 7:36:59 AM IST (Published)

Asia markets were little changed in Tuesday morning trade following another record session on Wall Street. The Nikkei 225 in Japan was largely flat in early trade, while the Topix index was fractionally higher. In South Korea, the Kospi dipped slightly. Meanwhile, shares in Australia were little changed in morning trade, with the S&P/ASX 200 flat.

Wall Street's main indexes posted record closing highs on Monday after President Donald Trump said an initial U.S.-China trade pact would be signed soon, while Boeing gave the Dow a big boost after the planemaker ousted its chief executive officer. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 96.44 points, or 0.34 percent, to 28,551.53, the S&P 500 gained 2.79 points, or 0.09 percent, to 3,224.01 and the Nasdaq Composite added 20.69 points, or 0.23 percent, to 8,945.65.

Indian shares ended flat but in red on Monday, snapping four-day gaining streak, dragged by energy and FMCG stocks. Losses in index heavyweights like Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, SBI, ITC, and Nestle also pulled the indices lower. The BSE Sensex ended 39 points lower at 41,643 and the Nifty50 settled 9 points lower at 12,263. On the cash markets' front, foreign institutional investors bought Rs 1,463 crore while domestic institutional investors sold Rs 1,947 crore.

The rupee depreciated by 6 paise to close at 71.18 against the US dollar on Monday amid muted activity in domestic equities and a steady rise in crude oil prices. Forex traders said the rupee is trading in a narrow range amid a lack of cues from the global market. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the domestic currency opened weak at 71.15 and later fluctuated between a high of 71.11 and a low of 71.24. The domestic unit finally settled at 71.18, showing a fall of 6 paise over its previous close of 71.12 on Friday.

Oil prices were little changed on Monday as Russia said an OPEC-led producer group may consider easing output cuts next year, offsetting support from some investor optimism that an initial U.S.-China trade deal would be signed soon. Brent crude settled up 25 cents, or 0.4 percent, at $66.39 after a day of thin trading ahead of the Christmas holiday. West Texas Intermediate ended the session up 8 cents, or 0.1 percent, at $60.52 a barrel.

Industry chamber PHDCCI on Monday said the definition of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) on the basis of turnover will help in promoting the ease of doing business as the process of identification and dealings with such entities will become simpler and faster. In February last year, the Union Cabinet had approved amendments to the law to change the criteria for classifying MSMEs from 'investment in plant and machinery' to 'annual turnover'. The proposed definition defines a micro-enterprise as a unit where the annual turnover does not exceed five crore rupees; a small enterprise as a unit where the annual turnover is more than five crore rupees but does not exceed Rs 75 crore and a medium enterprise as a unit where the annual turnover is more than seventy-five crore rupees but does not exceed Rs 250 crore.

RBI on Monday purchased Rs 10,000 crore worth of long-term government securities and sold Rs 6,825 crore of four short-term securities through the special open market operations (OMOs). Last week, the RBI had announced the simultaneous purchase and sale of government securities under OMOs for Rs 10,000 crore each. In the OMO purchase of 6.45 percent GS 2029, which is benchmark security, the RBI received Rs 20,826 crore worth of bids from the participants but accepted Rs 10,000 crore of bids. "The RBI offered to purchase the 10-year benchmark security which is liquid and highly traded in the secondary market. The outstanding stock of this bond is around Rs

67,447.851 crore. This would have attracted the bidders to buy it through OMO purchase," said a bank treasurer at a state-run bank.

Net office space leasing rose by 40 per this year across seven major cities to an all-time high of 46.5 million sq ft, mainly driven by higher demand from IT/ITeS firms and co-working operators, according to property consultant JLL India. Office space absorption stood at 33.2 million sq ft in 2018 across seven major cities -- Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune and Kolkata. "India office market has set a new benchmark and recorded a historic high, both in net absorption and new completions. While 46.5 mn sq ft of space got absorbed, nearly 52-mn sq ft of Grade A office space was completed in 2019," JLL said in a statement. New supply also rose 45 percent to 51.6 million sq ft from 35.7 million sq ft, while vacancy reduced to 13 percent.

The government will soon come out with a white paper on steel industry that will focus on ways to reduce the tax-related expenditure in the sector and make it competitive, Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Monday. The task will be completed in three-four months with the help of NITI Aayog and other ministries concerned, he said at an industry event here. The steel minister said he will on behalf of his ministry assign a task to NITI Aayog and ask the think tank to discuss ways with all the government departments, especially the finance department, to make the steel industry competitive. "We (government) will come out with a white paper in three-four months. The steel ministry, respective ministries and government departments will be part of it," he said.

The government will have to do a tight ropewalk as it pursues a target of 24x7 electricity for all, and also attract investors in a sector where state power distributors continue to be in the intensive care unit (ICU) amid slipping demand. The agenda for the year 2020 is well laid out -- the launch of UDAY 2.0, installation of smart pre-paid meters, prompt payment by discoms, making coal available for short term and reviving gas-based plants.

Talking to PTI, Power Minister R K Singh said, "Now, we have taken a series of steps to make the power sector sustainable in India. We have connected every village and every house with electricity in India. We have implemented IPDS (integrated power development scheme) and Deen Dayal Gram Jyoti Yojna to make sure that the distribution faults are solved out. We have put in place regulatory mechanisms to ensure a 24X7 supply for all. And at the same time, we are sort of changing our generation mix and reducing our carbon footprints," he said.