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

The Indian stock market is expected to open in the green as trends on SGX Nifty indicate a positive opening for the index in India with a 53 points gain.

The S&P BSE Sensex closed above 46,000 while the Nifty 50 ended above 13,600 on December 11.

According to pivot charts, the key support levels for the Nifty are placed at 13417.97, followed by 13322.13. If the index moves up, the key resistance levels to watch out for are 13594.47 and 13675.13.

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 closed with modest declines on Friday, as uncertainty over fresh economic stimulus dented confidence, although strong gains from Walt Disney helped the Dow Industrials eke out a gain.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 47.11 points, or 0.16%, to close at 30,046.37, the S&P 500 lost 4.64 points, or 0.13%, to 3,663.46 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 27.94 points, or 0.23%, to 12,377.87.

Asian Markets

Stocks started a busy week with guarded gains as investors gauged the chance of added U.S. fiscal and monetary stimulus, while the British pound rose in relief as a last-gasp extension to Brexit talks dodged a hard divorce.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged up 0.1%, having hit a string of record highs last week. Japan’s Nikkei added 0.4% as a survey showed the mood among hard-hit Japanese businesses had improved in the December quarter.

SGX Nifty

Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a positive opening for the index in India with a 53 points gain. The Nifty futures were trading at 13,587 on the Singaporean Exchange around 07:30 hours IST.

Oil prices edge up

Oil prices rose on Monday, pushing Brent back above $50 a barrel, buoyed by hopes that a rollout of coronavirus vaccines will lift global fuel demand, while an extension of Brexit talks eased jitters on that front for now.

Brent crude futures for February rose 8 cents, or 0.2%, to $50.05 a barrel by 0137 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures for January were up 4 cents, or 0.1%, at $46.61 a barrel.

US says states will start getting COVID-19 vaccine from Monday

The nation's first COVID-19 vaccine will begin arriving in states Monday morning, United States officials said Saturday, after the government gave the final go-ahead to the shots needed to end an outbreak that has killed nearly 300,000 Americans.

Trucks will roll out Sunday morning as shipping companies UPS and FedEx begin delivering Pfizer's vaccine to nearly 150 distribution centers across the states, said Army Gen. Gustave Perna of Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administration's vaccine development program. An additional 425 sites will get shipments Tuesday, and the remaining 66 on Wednesday.

No specific plan needed for invoking Resolution Framework: RBI

The Reserve Bank on December 12 said that borrowers opting for resolution of COVID-related stressed loans are not required to submit any specific plans.

On submission of the request, the lending institutions will take an in-principle decision as per their Board-approved policy on invoking the Resolution Framework, it said. After the invocation of the Resolution Framework, the specific contours of the resolution plan to be implemented will be decided by the lending institutions, in consultation with the borrower, the RBI said.

Serum Institute 'hopeful' of EUA by December-end, India vaccination drive could begin from January: Adar Poonawalla

The Serum Institute of India (SII) is “hopeful” of getting emergency use authorisation (EUA) for its vaccine by December-end, as per CEO Adar Poonawalla.

“We might get emergency license by this month-end, but licence for wider use might come at a later date. But, we are confident that if the regulators give a nod, India's vaccination drive can start by January 2021,” Poonawalla said.

NBFCs asset under management to grow at 5-6% in FY22: Crisil

The asset under management (AUM) of non-banking finance companies, including housing finance companies, is likely to see a positive growth but will be muted at 5-6 percent in the next financial year, according to Crisil Ratings.

"Navigating a raft of headwinds for over two fiscals culminating in de-growth in the current fiscal assets under management (AUM) of non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) is set to grow again although at a relatively subdued 5-6 percent next fiscal," the agency said in a report.

SEBI floats consultation paper on compliance standards for index providers

Markets regulator Sebi on Friday said it has come out with a consultation paper on compliance standards for index providers to ensure quality and integrity of the indices.

Based on IOSCO (International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) principles, practices observed internationally and suitability for domestic markets, the paper has provided a suggestive framework for index providers in India under three heads, Sebi said in a statement.

India's forex reserves surge by $4.525 billion to record $579.346 billion

The country's foreign exchange reserves surged by $4.525 billion to touch a record high of $579.346 billion in the week ended December 4, the RBI data showed. In the previous week ended November 27, the reserves had declined by $469 million to $574.821 billion.

In the reporting week, the increase in reserves was on account of a rise in foreign currency assets (FCA), a major component of the overall reserves. FCA rose by $3.932 billion to $537.386 billion, the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) weekly data showed. Expressed in dollar terms, the foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US units like the euro, pound and yen held in the foreign exchange reserves.

FII and DII data

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net bought shares worth Rs 4,195.43 crore, whereas domestic institutional investors (DIIs) net sold shares worth Rs 2,359 crore in the Indian equity market on December 11, as per provisional data available on the NSE.

2 stocks under F&O ban on NSE

Canara Bank and Punjab National Bank are under the F&O ban for December 14. Securities in the ban period under the F&O segment include companies in which the security has crossed 95 percent of the market-wide position limit.