What changed for the market while you were sleeping? Top 10 things to know

The Indian stock market is expected to open on a cautious note as trends on SGX Nifty indicate a negative opening for the index in India with a 22 points loss.

The BSE Sensex rose 505.72 points to 44,655.44 on December 1 while the Nifty50 rose 140 points to 13,109. According to pivot charts, the key support levels for the Nifty is placed at 13,005.07, followed by 12,901.13. If the index moves up, the key resistance levels to watch out for are 13,170.67 and 13,232.33.

Stay tuned to Moneycontrol to find out what happens in currency and equity markets today. We have collated a list of important headlines across news platforms which could impact Indian as well as international markets:

US Markets

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indexes closed at record highs on Tuesday, with investors betting a COVID-19 vaccine will be available soon, and more confident about a speedy economic recovery following upbeat Chinese factory data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.63% to end at 29,823.92 points, while the S&P 500 gained 1.13% to 3,662.44. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.28% to 12,355.11.

Asian Markets

Asian markets were set to climb on Wednesday after Wall Street indexes closed at record highs as investors grow increasingly hopeful about a vaccine to combat rising COVID-19 cases and an economic recovery.

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.09%. In early trade, Australia's S&P ASX 200 also rose about 0.11%. The futures contract for the Nikkei 225 index rose 0.15% on Wednesday while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index futures rose 0.31%.

SGX Nifty

Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a negative opening for the index in India with a 22 points loss. The Nifty futures were trading at 13,129 on the Singaporean Exchange around 07:30 hours IST.

Oil prices drop

Oil prices extended losses on Wednesday, hit by a surprise build in oil inventories in the United States and as OPEC and its allies left markets in limbo by delaying a formal meeting to decide whether to increase output in January.

Brent crude oil futures were down by 27 cents, or 0.6%, at $47.15 a barrel by 0131 GMT, while West Texas Intermediate crude was down by 29 cents, or 0.7%, at $44.26.

Corporate bond issuance up 25% to Rs 4.4 lakh crore in first half of FY21: Finance Ministry

Total corporate bond issuances during the first half of the current fiscal rose by 25 per cent to Rs 4.43 lakh crore despite economic contraction due to the COVID-19 pandemic, an official statement said on Tuesday. During the same period last year, corporates had issued bonds worth Rs 3.54 lakh crore.

"COVID-19 has drastically affected the investment climate in all economies of the world, causing a sharp decline in the demand and supply equilibrium everywhere. India has been no exception to this unprecedented economic shock. "Yet, investment sentiment in the Indian economy has been buoyed by the frequent and active intervention of the Government of India despite being hit by a world-wide pandemic," the finance ministry said.

Sebi eases compliance norms for brokers, depository participants

Markets regulator Sebi on Tuesday relaxed compliance requirements for brokers and depository participants with regards to submission of reports pertaining to internal as well as system audit in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The decision comes after receiving representation from stock exchanges and depositories, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said in a circular.

The capital markets watchdog has given time till December 31 to brokers to submit half-yearly networth certificate (as on September 30), reports on internal audit as well a system audit for half year ended on September 30, 2020. Also, brokers have been give time till January 31 to submit report on cybersecurity and cyber resilience audit for half year ended on September 30.

Freight records highest loading for the fiscal with 109.68 MT in November: Indian Railways

Indian Railways' freight loading of 109.68 MT for the month of November crossed last year's loading and earnings for the same period and also registered its highest loading for the current fiscal, a statement from the Railways said Tuesday.

In November 2020, the Railways loading was 109.68 million tonnes which is nine percent higher compared to last year's loading for the same period (100.96 million tonnes). In this period Indian Railways earned Rs 10,657.66 crore from freight loading which is also Rs 449.79 crore (4 percent) higher as compared to last year's earnings for the same period (Rs 10,207.87 crore).

India's unemployment rate declines to 6.51% in November: CMIE

India’s urban as well rural areas saw a drop in joblessness in November, lead to a fall in the overall unemployment rate to 6.51 percent during the month from 6.98 percent in October, hinting at an improvement in economic activity.

According to data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), the urban unemployment was at 7.07 percent in November, a shade lower than 7.15 percent in the previous month.

FII and DII data

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net bought shares worth Rs 3,242 crore, whereas domestic institutional investors (DIIs) net sold shares worth Rs 1,043.21 crore in the Indian equity market on December 1, as per provisional data available on the NSE.