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

SUMMARY

The Indian market is likely to open lower on Wednesday on weak global cues as investors remained concerned about a new faster-spreading variant of the coronavirus. At 8:00 am, the SGX Nifty was trading 50.50 points or 0.37 percent lower at 13,432.50, indicating a negative start for the Sensex and Nifty50.

By CNBC-TV18Dec 23, 2020 8:09:04 AM IST (Published)

1. Wall Street | US stocks ended mostly lower over concerns the new COVID variation, which has halted movement in and out of the UK and sent vaccine makers scrambling to ensure their drugs are effective against it, could further hamper a softening economic recovery. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 200.94 points, or 0.67 percent, to 30,015.51, the S&P 500 lost 7.66 points, or 0.21 percent, to 3,687.26 and the Nasdaq Composite added 65.40 points, or 0.51 percent, to 12,807.92.

2. Asian stocks | Asian shares were set for choppy trade on Wednesday as the investor focus swung between concerns about a new faster-spreading variant of the coronavirus and hopes that more US fiscal aid would propel an economic recovery. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.60 percent in early trading, following three-straight days of losses. Japan's Nikkei 225 futures were down 0.13 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index futures were down 0.05 percent. MSCI's index of global stocks was off 0.15 percent.

3. Indian market| Indian indices ended higher after a volatile session on Tuesday led mainly by gains in IT and pharma stocks. The Sensex ended 453 points higher at 46,006 while the Nifty rose 138 points to settle at 13,466. Broader markets were in-line with benchmarks with the midcap and smallcap indices up around 1 percent each. All sectors were in the green for the day.

4. Crude oil | Oil fell in early trade on Wednesday after industry data showed U.S. crude oil stocks rose last week, defying expectations for a decline, and US President Donald Trump rattled markets by threatening not to sign a long-awaited COVID-19 relief bill. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 46 cents, or 1 percent, to $46.56 a barrel, while Brent crude futures dropped 46 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $49.62.

5. Rupee | The rupee furthered its losses by another 5 paise to close at 73.84 against the US dollar on Tuesday in line with weaker Asian peers amid concerns over a new coronavirus strain. At the interbank forex market, the domestic unit opened at 73.95 against the US dollar and witnessed an intra-day high of 73.82 and a low of 73.95. The local unit finally closed at 73.84 against the American currency, registering a fall of 5 paise over its previous close.

6. US GDP | The US economy grew at a record pace in the third quarter, fueled by more than $3 trillion in pandemic relief, the government confirmed on Tuesday, but appears to have lost momentum as the year drew to an end amid raging new COVID-19 cases and dwindling fiscal stimulus. Gross domestic product rebounded at a 33.4 percent annualized rate last quarter, the Commerce Department said in its third estimate of GDP. That was revised slightly up from the 33.1% pace reported last month and reflected more robust consumer and business spending than previously estimated. The economy contracted at a 31.4% rate in the April-June quarter, the deepest since the government started keeping records in 1947.

7. US consumer confidence | US consumer confidence dropped for a second straight month in December as a deterioration in the labor market amid renewed business restrictions to slow the raging pandemic offset the rolling out of a vaccine for COVID-19. The decline in confidence to a four-month low reported by the Conference Board on Tuesday was the latest indication that the economic recovery from the pandemic was losing steam, also because of delays by Congress to approve another rescue package.

8. IBC extension | The government has again extended the suspension of fresh proceedings under the insolvency law by three more months amid the disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic. A notification for a three-month extension of the suspension, which was to end on December 24, was issued by the corporate affairs ministry on Tuesday. The three-month period would be from December 25.

9. COVID vaccine | India is likely to approve Oxford/AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine for emergency use by next week after its local manufacturer submitted additional data sought by authorities, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Tuesday. Sources said Indian health officials were in direct contact with their British counterparts over the AstraZeneca shot and that there were “strong indications” an approval would come by next week.

10. FII and DII data | The Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net bought shares worth Rs 1,153 crore, whereas domestic institutional investors (DIIs) net sold shares worth Rs 661.51 crore in the Indian equity market on December 22, as per provisional data available on the NSE.