What changed for the market while you were sleeping? Top 12 things to know

Dragged by index heavyweights, the market closed sharply lower on January 23. ITC was the leading contributor to the fall, losing more than 4 percent after its Q3 results missed analysts expectations.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 336.17 points at 36,108.47 while the Nifty50 fell 91.30 points to 10,831.50 and formed big bearish candle on the daily scale.

"The short term trend of Nifty is dicey. The overall chart pattern is now showing an indication of downside range breakout in Nifty," Nagaraj Shetti, Technical Research Analyst at HDFC Securities, told Moneycontrol.

All sectoral indices, barring metal and pharma, closed in the red. Nifty Bank, Auto, FMCG and IT indices were down 0.5-1.7 percent.

The broader markets outperformed frontliners as the Nifty Midcap and Smallcap indices were down only 0.11 percent and 0.28 percent respectively.

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.

Wall Street edges higher as upbeat earnings dampened by trade, shutdown woes

Wall Street ended slightly higher on Wednesday after a spate of upbeat earnings reports, but lingering concerns about trade tensions and the longest US government shutdown ever limited the advance.

All three major US stock indexes closed in positive territory, with the blue chip Dow Jones Industrial Average seeing the biggest gains on positive quarterly results from International Business Machines, Procter & Gamble Co and United Technologies.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 171.14 points, or 0.7 percent, to 24,575.62, the S&P 500 gained 5.8 points, or 0.22 percent, to 2,638.7 and the

Nasdaq Composite added 5.41 points, or 0.08 percent, to 7,025.77.

Asian shares edge up, ECB meeting in focus

Asian shares rose on Thursday after Wall Street managed to end higher, but gains were capped by political uncertainty in the United States and worries about weakening global economic growth.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.2 percent. It has gained 3.8 percent so far this month. Australian shares were 0.1 percent higher while Japan's Nikkei lost more than s0.3 percent in early trade.

SGX Nifty

Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a positive opening for the broader index in India, a rise of 26 points or 0.24 percent. Nifty futures were trading around 10,867-level on the Singaporean Exchange.

Piyush Goyal named interim Finance Minister

Piyush Goyal has been named the interim Finance Minister and interim Minister of Corporate Affairs during Arun Jaitley's indisposition. Goyal will retain his existing portfolios of coal and railways.

Jaitley will be designated as a minister without a portfolio during his period of indisposition. Goyal was earlier given additional charge of the Finance Ministry in May 2018 for a period of three months when Jaitley underwent a kidney transplant at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

Arun Jaitley will not present Budget as he faces surgery: source

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will not present the government’s crucial interim budget next week because he is expected to undergo surgery, according to a source familiar with the matter. He has been replaced on an interim basis by railways and coal minister Piyush Goyal.

The announcement is a blow to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as Jaitley is widely regarded as one of Modi’s best communicators of policies ahead of a general election that must be held by May.

Two sources familiar with the matter confirmed that Goyal will replace Jaitley in presenting the government’s Budget. One of the sources said that Jaitley was expected to undergo surgery as soon as Thursday in New York, Reuters reported.

Indian economy may grow 7.6% in FY20: UN report

India's economy is expected to grow at 7.4 percent during 2018-19 and improve to 7.6 percent in the next fiscal, said a UN report on Wednesday. The United Nations' World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) 2019 report also expects India's gross domestic product (GDP) to expand by 7.4 percent in 2020- 21.

"Growth continues to be underpinned by robust private consumption, a more expansionary fiscal stance and benefits from previous reforms," said the report.

Rupee clocks gain after 3 days, settles 11 paise higher vs US dollar

The Indian rupee on Wednesday snapped its three-day losing streak and settled higher by 11 paise at 71.33 against the US dollar on increased selling of the American currency by exporters and banks. Besides, the rupee upmove was supported by weaker greenback against its major rivals, although intense selling in domestic equities impacted traders sentiment, capping gains in the domestic currency value.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (forex) Wednesday, the rupee opened on a firm note at 71.19. It gained further to hit a high of 71.15 following dollar selling by exporters, before finally closing at 71.33, up 11 paise over its last close.

India's GDP growth may improve to 7.3% in FY20: Crisil

India's growth rate is likely to inch up to 7.3 percent in 2019-20, provided that there are normal rains and a stable political outcome of the general elections, Crisil Ratings said on Wednesday. India is expected to clock a growth rate of 7.2 percent in the current financial year, up from 6.7 percent in 2017-18.

"In fiscal 2020, Crisil expects GDP to grow 7.3 percent on assumptions- normal rains, oil prices lower than 2018, stable political outcome," the rating agency said in its 'India Outlook FY20'.

Cabinet approves $400 mn currency swap arrangement for SAARC nations

The Union Cabinet on January 23 approved amendments to the framework on currency swap arrangement for SAARC member countries by incorporating a stand-by facility of USD 400 million. The facility would enable India to provide a prompt response to the current request from SAARC member countries for availing the swap amount exceeding the present limit prescribed under the SAARC Swap Framework.

The Reserve Bank will negotiate the operational details bilaterally with the central banks of the SAARC countries availing the Standby Swap, an official

statement said.

"The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given ex-post facto approval for amendment to the 'Framework on Currency Swap Arrangement for SAARC Member Countries' to incorporate a 'Standby Swap' amounting to USD 400 million operated within the overall size of the Facility of USD 2 billion," the statement added.

SEBI asks exchanges to align trading, delivery lot size for commodity derivatives contracts

Markets regulator SEBI on January 23 asked stock exchanges to follow the policy of having uniform trading and delivery lot size for commodity derivatives contracts. Currently, exchanges keep different trading lot size and delivery lot size of some commodity derivatives contracts which, at times, put participants in disadvantageous positions.

In a circular, SEBI said "the exchanges shall follow the policy of having uniform trading and delivery lot size for the commodity derivatives contracts."

However, the regulator said that an exception may be provided on case to case basis, subject to the exchanges submitting detailed rationale including physical market practices, feedback from stakeholders for keeping different lot size for trading and delivery with respect to any contract, to SEBI for approval.

Investment through P-notes rises to Rs 79,513 cr till Dec-end

Fund inflow into the Indian capital market through participatory notes (P-notes) climbed to Rs 79,513 crore till the end of December 2018 in the current financial year, amid Sebi relaxing norms for clubbing of investment limits by FPIs.

P-notes are issued by registered foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) to overseas investors who wish to be part of the Indian stock market without registering themselves directly. They, however, need to go through a due diligence process.

According to data from Sebi, the total value of P-note investments in Indian markets - equity, debt, and derivatives - rose to Rs 79,513 crore till December-end from Rs 79,247 crore at November-end.

69 companies to report Q3 numbers today

As many as 69 companies will report results for the quarter ended December later today which include names like Biocon, Yes Bank, UltraTech Cements, Colgate Palmolive, PNB Housing Finance etc. among others.

3 stocks under ban period on NSE

Securities in ban period for the next day's trade under the F&O segment include companies in which the security has crossed 95 percent of the market-wide position limit.

For January 24, Jain Irrigation Systems, Reliance Capital and Jet Airways are present in this list.

With inputs from Reuters & other agencies