A collection of important news from across agencies in India and abroad.
Nifty, which started off on a muted note on December 20, recouped most of its losses and bounced back from its five-day exponential moving average placed at 10,899 to form a bullish candle for the fifth consecutive day in a row.
The index also managed to hold on to its crucial support placed at 10,900-10,950 which is a positive sign for the bulls and is on the way to touch 11,000 in 2018 itself, if the momentum remains intact.
It formed a bullish candle on an intraday basis as the closing level was higher than the opening level. The index also formed a two-candlestick pattern, similar to 'Piercing Line' on the daily charts.
Stay tuned to Moneycontrol to find out what happens in currency and equity markets today. We have collated a list of important headlines from across news agencies.
Asian markets
Stocks in Asia were lower, following the weak handover from Wall Street. The Nikkei 225 in Japan continued to fall eveni after 2.5 percent fall in the previous sessio. The Topix index fell 0.84 percent, while Kospi was down 0.17 percent.
Wall Street
U.S. stocks fell for a second day after the Federal Reserve raised benchmark interest rates and said that it would continue to let its massive balance sheet shrink at the current pace. Investors were also wary of a possible government shutdown, which sent stocks tumbling to new lows. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 464.06 points to 22,859.6, S&P 500 fell 1.5 percent to finish at 2,467.41, while Nasdaq Composite fell 1.6 percent and closed at 6,528.41.
SGX Nifty
Nifty futures on Singaporean exchange are trading lower, mirroring the subdued sentiment as Wall Street witnessed selling pressure. This weighed on other Asian indices as well.
The futures were trading at 10,976, a fall of 17 points on SGX Nifty.
Rupee update
The rupee strengthened by 69 paise, or about 1 per cent, against the dollar on Thursday. The currency rose by 74 paise against the US currency during the session, and closed at 69.70.
Govt to infuse additional Rs 41,000 cr into PSU banks
The government will infuse additional Rs 41,000 crore in to public sector banks (PSBs), making the total amount for bank recapitalisation at Rs 1.06 lakh crore in financial year 2018-19.
While the government has already infused Rs 23,000 crore into PSBs this year, the remaining Rs 83,000 crore will be provided in the remaining three months of 2018-19, finance minister Arun Jaitley said.
Department of financial services sought Parliament’s approval via second supplementary demand for grants for additional funds for banks’ recapitalization, over and above the budgeted estimate of Rs 65,000 crore.
Net equity mutual fund inflow hits 3-month low in November
Equity mutual fund schemes registered a net inflow of Rs 8,414 crore in November, making it the lowest in three months, mainly due to a volatile market.
With this, the total inflow in equities has reached over Rs 82,200 crore during the current financial year so far (April-November), according to data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi).
According to the data, equity and equity-linked saving schemes saw an inflow of Rs 8,414 crore in November, much lower than Rs 12,622 crore registered in the preceding month.
In September, such schemes had witnessed an inflow of Rs 11,172 crore and Rs 8,375 crore in August.
Sebi plans sandbox policy for tech cos
The Securities and Exchange Board of India on Thursday said it was planning a sandbox policy to support technology developments in financial markets.
The Sandbox policy will allow companies to test products in a closed environment, a particular geography or among a set of users, before they are allowed roll out commercially meeting all regulations.
The capital market regulator was also examining whether any change in law was required in terms of its dispensation, he said.
IL&FS to sell stake in education, wealth mgmt arms
Debt-laden Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) Group said that it has initiated a process to sell its stake in education business and in the alternative investment management business.
The Udak Kotak-led board of the crippled infra lender is selling the group's stake in IL&FS Education & Technology Services (IETS), along with other subsidiary businesses and IL&FS Investment Managers (IIML) along with all its associated fund management platforms, the company said in a statement.
The education business provides technology services to KG to XII class students through its proprietary digital content, devices, platforms and solutions, and offers job linked vocational skills programmes.
Bank credit grows by 15.07%, deposits by 9.66%
Bank credit rose at a healthy 15.07 percent to Rs 92.03 trillion in the fortnight to December 7, while deposits grew 9.66 percent to Rs 118.84 trillion, according to the latest RBI data.
In the year-ago fortnight, advances were at 79.98 trillion and deposits at Rs 108.37 trillion.
In the previous fortnight ended November 23, credit had risen by 15.09 percent to Rs 91.32 trillion, while deposits surged 9.43 percent to Rs 118.13 trillion.
RBI limits total outstanding ECBs to 6.5% of GDP
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced a cap on the outstanding stock of external commercial borrowings (ECB) at 6.5 percent of GDP at current market prices.
Based on the gross domestic product (GDP) figures at March-end 2018, the soft limit works out to $160 billion for the current financial year, the RBI said in a statement.
"The outstanding stock of ECB as on September 30, 2018, stood at $126.29 billion," it said.
The decision to have a "rule-based dynamic limit" for outstanding stock of ECB at 6.5 percent of GDP at current market prices has been taken in consultation with the government, the RBI added.
(With inputs from PTI, Reuters)
