10 things to know before the opening bell on December 4

SUMMARY

The Indian market is expected to open lower on Wednesday, following losses in global markets over uncertainties around US-China trade talks. At 7:01 am, the SGX Nifty was trading 52.50 points or 0.44 percent lower at 11,998.50, indicating a negative start for the Sensex and Nifty50.

By CNBC-TV18Dec 4, 2019 7:27:50 AM IST (Updated)

1. Asia: Asian shares extended their losses on Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump said a trade deal with China might have to wait until after the 2020 presidential election, dashing market hopes for a quick preliminary agreement. Investors turned to safe-haven assets, boosting bond prices and sending gold to a one-month high, while MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.4 percent. Japan's Nikkei dropped 1percent in early trade. Australia's S&P/ASX200 was down 1.6 percent, having shed almost 4 percent since closing on Monday.

2. US: A comment by President Donald Trump that a deal to end the US-China trade war might not come until after the November 2020 election weighed on global stock markets on Tuesday, sending investors to the safety of bonds. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 280.23 points, or 1.01 percent, to 27,502.81, the S&P 500 lost 20.67 points, or 0.66 percent, to 3,093.2 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 47.34 points, or 0.55 percent, to 8,520.64.

3. Markets At Close On Tuesday: Indian shares ended lower on Tuesday with the Nifty below 12,000 levels dragged by banking, metal and auto stocks. Losses in index heavyweights like HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, L&T, and IndusInd Bank majorly contributed to the fall. The Sensex ended 127 points lower at 40,675, while the Nifty50 index ended 54 points lower at 11,994. Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors sold Rs 1,131.12 crore in the cash market while domestic institutional investors bought Rs 963.97 crore.

4. Crude Oil: Oil steadied on Tuesday, settling narrowly mixed as expectations of output cuts from OPEC and allied producers helped prices bounce after a slide following comments from U.S. President Donald Trump that a trade deal with China may be delayed. Brent crude futures fell 10 cents to settle at $60.82 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 14 cents to settle at $56.10 a barrel.

5. Rupee: The Indian rupee closed on a steady note against the US dollar on Tuesday as the domestic forex market turned cautious ahead of the RBI monetary policy outcome. Besides, participants also took note of the developments on the global trade canvas, here US President Donald Trump announced the imposition of tariffs on imports from Brazil and Argentina as well as indicated that a deal with China might not be happening till next year's US presidential polls. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 71.66 against the US dollar. During the day, the domestic unit fluctuated between a high of 71.52 and a low of 71.79. The domestic unit finally settled at 71.66, unchanged from its previous closing price.

6. S&P Maintains India's Ratings: Global rating agency S&P has reaffirmed sovereign rating of India with a stable outlook, Economic Affairs Secretary Atanu Chakraborty said on Tuesday. The rating action comes weeks after another global agency Moody's Investors Service lowered the country's rating outlook to "negative" from "stable". "S&P has reaffirmed sovereign rating of India at BBB- with a stable outlook. They have stated that India's economy continues to achieve impressive long-term growth rates despite a recent deceleration," Chakraborty said in a tweet.

7. Goldman Sachs On FY20 Growth, Equities Forecast: Wall Street brokerage Goldman Sachs has joined peers in sharply slashing growth estimate, but has predicted an 8.5 percent gains in equity indices next year despite elevated valuations. The brokerage attributed the evident dichotomy between GDP growth estimates and the benchmark target to the easy monetary policy that the central bank has been pursuing since the beginning of the year.

8. Government On 10 PSBs: The government on Tuesday assured the Rajya Sabha that the merger of 10 public sector banks will not lead to any job losses and employees' interest will be protected. In August, the government announced a mega plan to merge 10 public sector banks into four with a view to creating fewer and stronger global-sized lenders with robust balance sheets that can be used to boost credit and spur growth. During the Question Hour, Minister of State for Finance Anurag Singh Thakur said lending and other banking services to eastern states will be improved after two Kolkata-based banks are merged.

9. Arcil On Banks' Balance Sheet Clean-Up: The government should ensure that the money being pumped into state-run banks, which have been saddled with the bad loan mess for years, must be used to clean up their balance sheets, says the head of the oldest asset reconstruction company Arcil. "I believe that the recapitalisation of banks to a certain extent if it linked more towards a clean-up, would have served a better purpose as there is an urgency to clean up their books," Asset Reconstruction Company (Arcil) managing director Vinayak Bahuguna said at a function.

10. Telcos' Data Tariff Proposal To TRAI: Telecom operators have proposed sector regulator Trai to fix a minimum price for mobile internet as no company on its own is in a position to decide on it due to fierce competition in the market, industry body COAI said on Tuesday. However, private telecom operators want call rates to continue to remain unregulated.