The Indian stock market is expected to open on a cautious note as trends on SGX Nifty indicate a flat opening for the index in India with a 16 points loss.
The BSE Sensex crossed the psychological 50,000 mark for the first time on January 21 but closed the session 167.36 points lower at 49,624.76, while the Nifty50 ended at 14,590.40, down 54.30 points after hitting a life high of 14,753.55.
According to pivot charts, the key support levels for the Nifty are placed at 14,487.17, followed by 14,384.03. If the index moves up, the key resistance levels to watch out for are 14,723.47 and 14,856.63.
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 at record highs on Thursday, propelled by optimism about more pandemic relief under the Biden administration to support the economy after data showed a tepid labor market recovery.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 12.37 points, or 0.04%, to 31,176.01, the S&P 500 gained 1.22 points, or 0.03%, to 3,853.07 and the Nasdaq Composite added 73.67 points, or 0.55%, to 13,530.92.
Asian Markets
Asian shares eased from record highs on Friday as investors took some money off the table after a recent rally that was driven by hopes a massive U.S. economic stimulus plan by incoming President Joe Biden will help temper the COVID-19 impact.
MSCI’s broadest gauge of Asia Pacific stocks outside of Japan was off 0.2% at 722.49 points, a whisker away from its all-time high of 727.31 touched on Thursday. Australia’s benchmark index was down 0.2% while Japan’s Nikkei eased 0.4%.
SGX Nifty
Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a flat opening for the index in India with a 16 points loss. The Nifty futures were trading at 13,627 on the Singaporean Exchange around 07:30 hours IST.
Japan's consumer prices fall at decade-fast pace, add to deflation fears
Japan’s core consumer prices slumped in December at the fastest annual pace in a decade, a sign of intensifying deflationary pressures that sharpen the case for the central bank to come up with better ways to combat the deepening impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The nationwide core consumer price index (CPI), which includes oil but excludes fresh food costs, fell 1.0% in December from a year earlier, government data showed, slightly less than a median market forecast for a 1.1% drop.
RBI remains net purchaser of US dollar in November, buys $10.261 billion
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) continued to remain a net buyer of the US currency in November after it bought USD 10.261 billion from the spot market, data showed.
During the reporting month, the central bank purchased $14.289 billion and sold $4.028 billion, according to the monthly bulletin released by the RBI for January.
Rupee gains 6 paise to close near 5-month high of 72.99 vs USD
Extending its gains for the third straight session, the Indian rupee added another 6 paise to settle at a near five-month high of 72.99 against the US dollar on Thursday, tracking a weaker American currency overseas and sustained foreign fund inflows.
At the interbank forex market, the rupee opened higher at 72.96 and touched the day’s high of 72.93 against the greenback before shedding some gains towards the fag-end of the session. It finally closed higher by 6 paise at 72.99 to the dollar, a level not seen since September 1, 2020.
RBI imposes Rs 2 crore monetary penalty on Standard Chartered Bank
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on January 21 imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 2 crore on Standard Chartered Bank for non-compliance with certain directions issued by the central bank. This pertains to directions contained in frauds classification and reporting rule by commercial banks, the RBI said.
“The penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers vested in RBI under the provisions of Section 47 A (1) (c) read with Section 46 (4) (i) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, for delays in reporting of frauds to RBI, revealed during the statutory inspection of the bank with reference to its financial position as on March 31, 2018 and March 31, 2019,” the RBI said.
US jobless claims decline to a still-high 900,000
Fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, lowering claims to 900,000, still a historically high level that points to further job cuts in a raging pandemic.
The Labor Department's report Thursday underscored that President Joe Biden has inherited an economy that faltered this winter as virus cases spiked, cold weather restricted dining and federal rescue aid expired. The government said that 5.1 million Americans are continuing to receive state jobless benefits, down from 5.2 million in the previous week. That signals that fewer people who are out of work are finding jobs.
European Central Bank keeps stimulus programs on track
With more than a trillion euros in stimulus still in the pipeline to the economy, the European Central Bank left its key bond-purchase program unchanged Thursday as the 19-country eurozone endures a winter economic slowdown due to the pandemic.
Attention will focus on post-decision remarks by bank President Christine Lagarde about the outlook for the recovery in the 19 countries that use the euro currency. The ECB faces potential concerns over political turbulence in heavily indebted Italy, where the government survived a confidence vote this week, and over the stronger euro, which can weigh on exports and growth.
Results today
Reliance Industries, Yes Bank, Gland Pharma, HDFC Life Insurance Company, SBI Life Insurance Company, ARSS Infrastructure Projects, Century Textiles, Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals, Fineotex Chemical, Gujarat Ambuja Exports, Indian Bank, India Grid Trust, JSW Steel, Kopran, Mangalam Organics, Oberoi Realty, Reliance Home Finance, Shiva Cement, Simplex Projects, Symphony and V-Mart Retail were among 41 companies to announce their quarterly earnings on January 22.
FII and DII data
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net bought shares worth Rs 1,614.66 crore, whereas domestic institutional investors (DIIs) net sold shares worth Rs 1,039.48 crore in the Indian equity market on January 21, as per provisional data available on the NSE.
3 stocks under F&O ban on NSE
Vodafone Idea, SAIL and Sun TV Network are under the F&O ban for January 22. 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.
Disclaimer: "Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd which publishes Moneycontrol."
With inputs from Reuters & other agencies