10 things you need to know before the opening bell on January 20

SUMMARY

Indian shares are expected to open higher on Monday, tracking positive global markets. Additionally, investor sentiment will be lifted on strong Q3 earnings of heavyweights like Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank. At 7:17 am, the SGX Nifty was trading 25.50 points or 0.21 percent higher at 12,408, hinting at a positive opening for the Sensex and Nifty50.

By CNBC-TV18Jan 20, 2020 7:27:54 AM IST (Published)

1. Asia: Stocks in Asia inched higher in Monday morning trade, with the People’s Bank of China set to announce the monthly fixing of its loan prime rate later in the day. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.11% in early trade while the Topix index also advanced 0.38 percent. South Korea's KOSPI added 0.46 percent.

2. US: Reports from Netflix, Intel and Texas Instruments next week may hint at what is to come in the December quarterly earnings season, with some investors wary of possible danger signs that could knock Wall Street after its latest surge to record highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.17 percent to end at 29,348.1 points, while the S&P 500 gained 0.39 percent to 3,329.62. The Nasdaq Composite added 0.34 percent to 9,388.94.

3. Markets At Close On Friday: Indian shares ended Friday's trade flat as investors avoided riskier bets ahead of third-quarter earnings of IT bellwether Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and index heavyweight oil-to-telecom-retail conglomerate Reliance Industries after market hours. The Sensex ended nearly 13 points higher at 41,945 while the Nifty settled 3 points down at 12,352. Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors bought Rs 264 crore while the domestic institutional investors sold Rs 500 crore in the cash market.

4. Crude Oil: Oil prices steadied on Friday as sluggish economic growth in China, the world’s biggest crude importer, raised concerns over fuel demand and countered optimism from the signing of a China-U.S. trade deal. Brent crude futures gained 23 cents to settle at $64.85 per barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained 2 cents to settle at $58.54.

5. Rupee Close: The Indian rupee furthered its losses for the second day, dropping 15 paise to close at 71.08 against the US dollar on Friday amid strengthening of the American currency overseas and rising crude prices. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened lower at 70.98 to the US dollar and lost further momentum to touch a low of 71.10. It finally settled the day at 71.08, showing a fall of 15 paise over its previous close. During the week, the domestic unit lost 14 paise.

6. Finance Minister On Nominal GDP Target: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is likely to stay conservative about the nominal gross domestic product (GDP) growth and set it at 9.5-10 percent in the FY21 budget as the time for 'picking optimistic target' experiments are over, say sources. "This year, there will be a realistic assessment of the nominal GDP," said a source. Revenue estimates and fiscal deficit targets are also likely to be circumspect as not to face a situation of failing to meet them as the Finance Ministry is already fighting two perceptional issues -- transparency in disclosing budget data, and not to set ambitious tax revenue and fiscal deficit targets.

7. Nitin Gadkari On Economy: Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Saturday that the goal of making India a USD 5 trillion economy by 2024 was

"difficult but not impossible". It can be achieved by increasing domestic production

and reducing dependence on imports, he said at the 29th International Management Conclave of the Indore Management Association here. "Strong political will is very important to achieve any goal. Manifesting the same will, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set ourselves the goal of making the country a USD 5 trillion economy," Gadkari said.

8. Government On MSMEs: The government is working "vigorously" on import substitution to promote micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and encourage local manufacturing, a senior official said on Friday. Additional Secretary in MSME Ministry Ram Mohan Mishra also said that MSMEs have a bright future. "We are working very vigorously on import substitution not in a negative sense, but so that we have our own manufacturing and services by which we can serve our domestic market," Mishra said.

9. Steel Industry Seeks Duty Cut: The domestic steel industry is seeking reduction in basic customs duty on key raw materials such as coking coal, pet coke, limestone and dolomite in the upcoming Budget. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is scheduled to present the Budget for the financial year 2020-21 on February 1. "Anthracite coal, coking coal, coke, limestone, dolomite are vital inputs for the steel industry. The availability of these items in good quality is declining in the country and the industry has to depend on imports on a regular basis," industry body Ficci said in its Budget recommendations for the Indian steel sector.

10. CII On Corporate Tax Cut: The Confederation of Indian Industry has urged the Centre to converge multiple corporate tax rates to 15 percent by April 2023 without any exemptions, and make the announcement in the upcoming Budget to facilitate investment decisions. "The Union Budget could announce a roadmap for convergence of all corporate tax rates to 15 percent, with no exemptions and incentives, by April 1, 2023. Signaling to this effect could help further boost investor sentiment and encourage investments," CII President Vikram Kirloskar said. According to the industry body, the desired impact of the reduction in corporate taxes on the ground is still far from satisfactory. It said one of the reasons behind this has been the multitude of tax rates.