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

The Indian stock market is expected to open lower as trends on SGX Nifty indicate a negative start for the index in India with a loss of 69 points.

Moderna Inc’s coronavirus vaccine on Friday became the second to receive emergency use authorization (EUA) from the US Food and Drug Administration, welcome news to a nation with a staggering COVID-19 death toll of over 307,000 lives lost.

Fed keeps countercyclical capital buffer at zero

The US Federal Reserve Board voted Friday to keep its countercyclical capital buffer at zero percent, saying it would not order banks to hold additional capital to protect against losses in a future economic downturn.

The Fed said it made the decision after consulting with other bank regulators.

Trump signs bill that could kick Chinese firms off US stock exchanges

President Donald Trump on Friday signed legislation that would kick Chinese companies off US stock exchanges unless they adhere to American auditing standards, the White House said, giving the Republican one more tool to threaten Beijing with before leaving office next month.

Bank credit grows by 5.73%, deposits by 11.34%: RBI data

Bank credit grew by 5.73 percent to Rs 105.04 lakh crore while deposits increased by 11.34 percent to Rs 145.92 lakh crore in the fortnight ended December 4, the RBI data showed. In the fortnight ended December 6, 2019, bank credit had stood at Rs 99.35 lakh crore and deposits at Rs 131.06 lakh crore.

In the previous fortnight ended November 20, credit grew by 5.82 percent to Rs 104.34 lakh crore and deposits by 10.89 percent to Rs to Rs 143.70 lakh crore. In October, non-food credit growth decelerated to 5.6 percent compared to a growth of 8.3 percent in the same month of the previous year.

India's forex reserves down by $778 million to $578.568 billion

The country's foreign exchange reserves declined by $778 million to $578.568 billion in the week to December 11, RBI data showed on December 18. In the previous week, the reserves had touched a lifetime high of $579.346 billion after increasing by $4.525 billion.

In the reporting week, the reserves declined due to a fall in foreign currency assets (FCAs), a major component of the overall reserves. FCAs dropped by $1.042 billion to $536.344 billion, as per the weekly data by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

India allows 8,424 tonne raw sugar exports to US under tariff-rate quota

The government on December 15 permitted export of 8,424-tonne raw sugar under its tariff-rate quota (TRQ) to the US, which enables shipments to enjoy relatively low tariff.

TRQ is a quota for a volume of exports that enter the US at relatively low tariffs.

"The quantity of raw sugar 8,424 MTRV (metric ton raw value) to be exported to the US under TRQ up to September 30, 2021, is notified," the directorate general of foreign trade (DGFT) said in a public notice. India exports duty-free sugar to the US for up to 10,000 tonnes annually under preferential quota arrangement.

Govt exploring setting up bad bank, all other options: DEA Secretary Tarun Bajaj

The government is exploring all options, including setting up of a bad bank, to improve the health of the country's banking sector, Economic Affairs Secretary Tarun Bajaj said on December 18. He also said the government has recapitalised public sector banks and continue to pump in capital as per requirements.

"We are looking at various options, including the option you mentioned (of bad bank), and it is still in the works… The RBI has been asking us, and we ourselves also feel that we need to recapitalise. We have recapitalised to a large extent and this year too, we have kept some money for recapitalisation so that commitment is there…," he said.

CBI detects two new bank frauds worth Rs 8,239.79 crore; firms in Hyderabad, Chennai booked

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on December 18 registered two separate cases of alleged bank fraud worth Rs 8,239.79 crore.

While Canara Bank filed a complaint of fraud to the tune of Rs 7,926 crore against Hyderabad-based Transstroy (India) Ltd, State Bank of India has filed a complaint of fraud of Rs 313.79 crore against Chennai-based Agnite Education Ltd.

Both the accounts have become non-performing assets (NPAs). Following the complaints, the CBI conducted searches at various locations including Hyderabad, Guntur, and Chennai, among other places and seized some documents.

Indians may get first COVID-19 vaccine shot in January 2021: Health Minister

Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan said on December 20 that Indians may get their first COVID-19 vaccine shot in January 2021.

Speaking to news agency ANI, the Health Minister said: “Our first priority has been safety & effectiveness of vaccines. We don't want to compromise on that. I personally feel, maybe in any week of January, we can be in a position to give first COVID vaccine shot to people of India.”

FPIs invest Rs 54,980 crore in Indian equities in December so far

Foreign portfolio investors (FPI) pumped in Rs 54,980 crore in Indian markets in December so far amidst availability of excess liquidity in global markets and expectation of fresh stimulus package by various central banks, among others.