10 things you need to know before the opening bell on December 16

SUMMARY

The Indian market is likely to open higher Wednesday following a positive trend in Asian peers. At 7:50 am, the SGX Nifty was trading 56.00 points or 0.41 percent higher at 13,634.50, indicating a positive start for the Sensex and Nifty50.

By CNBC-TV18Dec 16, 2020 7:55:33 AM IST (Published)

1. Wall Street | US stocks ended sharply higher Tuesday, with the Nasdaq Composite reaching a new record, as optimism grew over the prospect of more stimulus. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 337.76 points, or 1.1%, to end at 30,199.31; S&P500 added 47.13 points, or 1.3%, ending at 3,694.62 while the Nasdaq Composite surged 155.02 points, or 1.3% to settle at a record 12,595.06.

2. Asia | Asian stocks rose on Wednesday as hopes of effective coronavirus vaccines and the growing prospect of more US fiscal stimulus cheered investors ahead of the Christmas holiday season. MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside of Japan added 0.6% after two straight days of losses. Australian and New Zealand shares jumped over 1% each while South Korea's KOSPI and Japan's Nikkei were each up about 0.3%. Chinese shares started firm with the blue-chip CSI 300 index adding 0.25%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index climbed 0.8%.

3. Closing Bell | Indian markets trimmed losses to end flat on Tuesday led by gains in heavyweights like Bajaj and HDFC twins. However, the decline in RIL, ICICI Bank, HUL, and TCS capped the gains. The Sensex ended 9.7 points higher at 46,263.17 while Nifty50 index closed at 13,567.85, up 9.7 points. Broader markets outperformed the benchmarks, by ending nearly half a percent higher. Among sectors, the Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty FMCG dragged while auto, metal and fin services indices settled higher, nearly a percent higher.

4. Crude Oil | Oil prices rose 1% on Tuesday, as investors kept their focus on the rollout of coronavirus vaccines, looking past the tightening of lockdowns in Europe and forecasts for a slower-than-expected recovery in fuel demand. Brent crude gained 43 cents, or 0.9% to $50.72 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 55 cents, or 1.2%, to $47.73.

5. Rupee | The Indian rupee depreciated by 8 paise to settle at 73.63 against the US dollar on Tuesday, taking cues from weaker Asian peers against the American currency. At the interbank forex market, the domestic unit opened at 73.62 against the US dollar and witnessed an intra-day high of 73.59 and a low of 73.67. The local unit finally closed at 73.63 against the American currency, registering a fall of 8 paise over its previous close.

6. Parliamentary Panel recommends 10% GST cut for auto sector| Parliamentary panel on industry recommends a 10% GST reduction for the auto sector to boost demand. The panel has expressed concern about the slowdown in the auto sector that has led to a loss of 3.45 lakh jobs and a loss of 2300 crore per day during the COVID-19 lockdown

7. Reserve Bank of India | Soured loans and weak capital positions mean Indian banks cannot cut their interest rates in step with the central bank's main policy rate, reducing the effectiveness of monetary policy, the Reserve Bank of India said in a working paper on Tuesday. The paper, co-authored by RBI monetary policy committee member Janak Raj and three others, said concerns about asset quality must be addressed and lenders' capital positions strengthened to ensure policy actions have their full impact.

8. United States | US import prices rebounded less than expected in November as an increase in the cost of petroleum products was offset by cheaper food and motor vehicles, supporting views that inflation could remain moderate amid a resurgence in new COVID-19 infections and rising unemployment. The Labor Department said on Tuesday import prices edged up 0.1% last month after dipping 0.1% in October. In the 12 months through November, import prices decreased 1.0% after falling by the same margin in October.

9. S&P betters India growth forecast to (-) 7.7 this fiscal | S&P Global Ratings on Tuesday raised India’s growth projection for the current fiscal to (-) 7.7 percent from (-) 9 percent estimated earlier on rising demand and falling COVID infection rates. ”Rising demand and falling infection rates have tempered our expectation of COVID’s hit on the Indian economy. S&P Global Ratings has revised real GDP growth to negative 7.7 percent for the year ending March 2021, from negative 9 percent previously,” S&P said in a statement.

10. COVID-19 Vaccine | Moderna Inc's COVID-19 vaccine appeared set for regulatory authorization this week after U.S. Food and Drug Administration staff endorsed it as safe and effective in documents released Tuesday. An FDA decision on whether to issue a so-called emergency use authorization for the Moderna vaccine will be made after a panel of outside advisers meets Thursday. The FDA typically follows the advice of the panel, but is not required to do so.