10 things you need to know before the opening bell on January 8

SUMMARY

The Indian market is likely to open higher on Friday tracking a positive trend in international peers. At 7:30 am, the SGX Nifty was trading 57.50 points or 0.40 percent higher at 14,267.50, indicating a positive start for the Sensex and Nifty50.

By CNBC-TV18Jan 8, 2021 7:44:48 AM IST (Published)

1. Wall Street | US Stocks hit record levels on Thursday as investors bet a Democrat-controlled Congress will deliver more stimulus spending to help the U.S. economy overcome a steep pandemic-induced downturn. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 211.73 points, or 0.69 percent, to 31,041.13, the S&P 500 gained 55.65 points, or 1.48 percent, to 3,803.79 and the Nasdaq Composite added 326.69 points, or 2.56 percent, to 13,067.48.

2. Asian Stocks | Shares in Asia-Pacific rose in Friday morning trade following overnight gains on Wall Street that hit new record highs. South Korea’s Kospi led gains among major regional markets as it jumped 1.89 percent. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 1.48 percent while the Topix index gained 0.74 percent. Meanwhile, shares in Australia advanced, with the S&P/ASX 200 up around 0.4 percent. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.39 percent higher.

3. Indian Market | The Indian benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty, erased day's gains to end lower Thursday afternoon dragged by selling in FMCG, IT and pharma stocks. The Sensex ended 80.74 points or 0.17 percent lower at 48,093.32 while the Nifty eased 8.90 points or 0.06 percent to close at 14,137.35. Broader indices, the Nifty Smallcap100 and the Nifty Midap100 outperformed the benchmarks, ending over 1 percent higher each. Buying was seen in metals, realty, PSU Banks and financial stocks.

4. Crude Oil | Oil prices settled higher on Thursday, hitting 11-month peaks, as markets remained focused on Saudi Arabia's unexpected pledge to deepen its oil cuts and firmer equities, shrugging off political turmoil in the United States. Brent crude settled up 8 cents to $54.38 a barrel after touching $54.90, a high not seen since before the first COVID-19 lockdowns in the West. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) settled up 20 cents to $50.83, after hitting a session high at $51.28.

5. Rupee | The Indian rupee dived 20 paise to end at 73.31 against the US dollar on Thursday as a rebound in the American currency and rising crude oil prices weighed on investor sentiment. At the interbank forex market, the domestic unit opened flat at 73.10 against the greenback. It swung between a low of 73.31 and a high of 73.08 during the session. It finally settled at 73.31, down 20 paise against its previous close.

6. India's GDP to contract by 7.7% in 2020-21 | The country’s economy is projected to contract by 7.7 percent in the current fiscal year 2020-21, as per the first advance estimates of gross domestic product released by the National Statistical Office on January 7. The gross value added (GVA) estimate stood at -7.2 percent for FY21 against 3.9 percent in FY20.

7. US trade deficit | The US trade deficit jumped to USD 68.1 billion in November as a surge in imports overwhelmed a smaller increase in exports. The November gap between what America buys from abroad compared to what it sells abroad rose by 8 percent from the October deficit of USD 63.1 billion, the Commerce Department.

8. Reserve Bank of India | The RBI will conduct simultaneous purchase and sale of government securities under Open Market Operations (OMO) for Rs 10,000 crore each on January 14. The decision was taken after a review of current liquidity and financial conditions, it said in a statement. The RBI will purchase three government securities of different maturity dates aggregating to Rs 10,000 crore and sell two securities aggregating to the same amount using the multiple price auction method.

9. US Citizenship and Immigration Services | The US Citizenship and Immigration Services has modified the current H-1B cap selection process to prioritize wages. USCIS will change the lottery selection process to favour the highest-paid employees first.

10. India passenger traffic | Domestic passenger traffic growth in India was 49.6 percent lower in November last year as compared to the corresponding month in 2019, said global airlines body IATA on Thursday. “In India, domestic RPKs contracted by 49.6% year-on-year in November vs. 55.6% fall in October. A further improvement is expected in the near-term as more schools and businesses reopen,” said a report issued by the International Air Transport Association (IATA)