STATE OF THE MARKETS
SGX Nifty signals gap-up start
Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange traded 132 points, or 0.96 per cent, higher at 13,975, in signs that Dalal Street was headed for a gap-up start on Friday.
Tech View: Doji on Nifty raises rebound hope
Nifty50 on Thursday formed a ‘Doji’ candle on the daily chart, as buying emerged at lows, helping the index settle above the 13,800 mark. While it is an indecisive candle, a Doji after a sharp drop gives hope of a trend reversal. A confirmation, though, will still be needed. Thursday’s low of 13,713 now becomes the near-term support.
Asian shares rise in early trade
Asian stocks rose on Friday after US shares rallied and the dollar eased overnight, as fears of social-media driven hedge fund selling abated and the US earnings season got off to a strong start. In early Asian trade, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 benchmark was up 1.15 per cent, Japan’s Nikkei futures rose 0.26 per cent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index climbed 1.19 per cent.
US stocks settled 1% higher
Major US indices on Thursday clawed back some of the ground they lost a day earlier in their biggest loss since October. The S&P 500 rose 36.61 points, or 1 per cent, to 3,787.38. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 300.19 points, or 1 per cent, to 30,603.36. The Nasdaq Composite rose 66.56 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 13,337.16.
IRFC to make market debut
Shares of IRFC will list on stock exchanges today. The IPO, which was sold in Rs 25-26 per price band, was subscribed 3.49 times The offer had received bids for 4,35,22,57,225 shares against 1,24,75,05,993 shares on offer.
Sun Pharma, TechM to report Q3 results
Sun Pharma, Tech Mahindra, Dabur India, IOC, Tata Motors, Dr Reddy’s Labs, Cipla, DLF, IndusInd Bank, Vedanta, UPL, SAIL, LIC Housing and Siemens are among major companies which will announce their December quarter results today.
FIIs sell Rs 1,688 crore worth stocks
Net-net, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) were sellers of domestic stocks to the tune of Rs 1,688.22 crore, data available with NSE suggested. DIIs were net sellers to the tune of Rs 3.38 crore, data suggests.
MONEY MARKETS
Rupee: Snapping its six-session rising streak, the rupee depreciated by 13 paise to end at 73.05 against the US dollar on Thursday, tracking muted domestic equities and a strengthening American currency overseas.
10-year bonds: India 10-year bond yield fell 0.35 per cent to 5.93 after trading in 5.93-5.95 range.
Call rates: The overnight call money rate weighted average stood at 3.23 per cent, according to RBI data. It moved in a range of 1.9-3.5 per cent.
DATA/EVENTS TO WATCH
- Q3 Earnings: Cipla I Dabur I DLF I Dr Reddy’s I IndusInd Bank I IOC I JSW Energy I Tata Motors I TechM I
- India Infrastructure Output YoY Dec (05:00 pm)
- India Deposit/Loan Growth YoY Jan/15 (05:00 pm)
- India Foreign Exchange Reserves 22/Jan (05:00 pm)
- India Government Budget Value Dec (05:00 pm)
- BoJ Summary of Opinions (05:20 am)
- Japan Industrial Production YoY Prel Dec (05:20 am)
- Japan Consumer Confidence Jan (10:30 am)
- UK Nationwide Housing Prices YoY Jan (12:30 pm)
- Euro Area Loans to Households YoY Dec (02:30 pm)
- US Pending Home Sales YoY Dec (08:30 pm)
MACROS
Economic Survey to be tabled today
The Budget session of the Parliament kicks off on January 29 with the presentation of the Economic Survey. The survey is typically presented a day before the Union Budget. But this year it is being brought earlier than usual because the day-before-budget this time is a Sunday.
Gopinath backs cash support for the poor… The 11.5% growth projected by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for India in FY22 will largely be mechanical as the economy normalises from the estimated 8% contraction in the ongoing fiscal, Gita Gopinath, IMF chief economist, said. Days ahead of the budget, Gopinath suggested that India should continue its direct cash support schemes to the poor in 2021, including the expanded employment guarantee scheme, while prioritising public infrastructure spending.
Bond spreads set to widen… ICICI Bank, one of India’s top corporate bond arrangers, expects spreads on the highest-rated local notes to widen further as the central bank begins to withdraw emergency liquidity. The extra yield investors demand to hold AAA rated company notes due in one year over comparable government securities jumped to the highest since October last week and remains near that level. That came after the Reserve Bank of India on Jan. 8 announced plans to drain excess cash from markets.
HUL chief against tax hikes… HUL Chairman Sanjiv Mehta said the government should not increase taxes in the forthcoming budget, fearing it could hit consumer demand, which just started reviving a quarter ago. “What the business needs is certainty of policies and certainty of tax rates,” Mehta told ET in an interview. “So I would certainly urge the government not to increase the tax rates, because we don’t want the sentiments to get dampened.”
Indian banks set to shift to SOFR… After the smokestack industries, it is time for India’s bulge-bracket banks to up the ‘atmanirbhar’ quotient. What would that entail? For starters, ditching a London benchmark to fix overnight rates in Mumbai. So, the Secured Overnight Funding Rate (SOFR) will likely be the new bellwether for Indian companies/banks pricing overseas money market/derivative deals or loans. That would replace the age-old London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR), a global borrowing gauge likely on its last legs.
Apple’s India biz doubles… Apple’s India business doubled in the last quarter of 2020 from the year earlier, said CEO Tim Cook. While the brand’s market share was low in the country, the smartphone maker’s business growth was on a “good” trajectory, he said. “India is one of those, where our share is quite low. It did improve from the yearago quarter. Our business roughly doubled over that period of time. And so, we feel very good about the trajectory,” Cook said in an earnings call on Thursday
SA won’t partner Tatas in AI bid… Singapore Airlines (SIA) won’t partner the Tata Group in its bid for state-owned Air India, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Tata had hoped to rope in SIA and make the bid through their Vistara joint venture. The Singaporean carrier has, however, waived their nocompete clause, allowing Tata to go ahead with a solo bid for the stricken carrier. Tata had been trying to persuade SIA to join it on the Air India bid for months.
Dalio calls Bitcoin ‘one hell of an invention’… Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio said Bitcoin is “one hell of an invention” and he’s considering cryptocurrencies as investments for new funds offering clients protection against the debasement of fiat money. “To have invented a new type of money via a system that is programmed into a computer and that has worked for around 10 years and is rapidly gaining popularity as both a type of money and a storehold of wealth is an amazing accomplishment,” Dalio wrote in a note to clients and later posted on Bridgewater’s website. “There aren’t many alternative gold-like assets at this time of rising need for them.”
