Stock Market Today: Top 10 things to know before the market opens

Buzzing Stocks

The benchmark Sensex and Nifty indices are likely to open flat on December 26 as trends in the GIFT Nifty indicate a muted start for the broader index with a gain of 12 points.

The market ended higher for the second consecutive session on December 22 with the Nifty above 21,300 amid buying across the sectors, barring banks.

At close, the Sensex was up 241.86 points or 0.34 percent to 71,106.96, and the Nifty was up 94.40 points or 0.44 percent to 21,349.40. For the week, the BSE Sensex and the Nifty50 were down 0.5 percent each.

The pivot point calculator indicates that the Nifty is likely to see immediate resistance at 21,385, followed by 21,422 and 21,482 levels, while on the lower side, it can take support at 21,264, followed by 21,226 and 21,166 levels.

Stay tuned to Moneycontrol to find out what happens in the 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.

GIFT Nifty

Trends in the GIFT Nifty indicate a flat start for the broader index in India, with a gain of 12 points or 0.06 percent. The Nifty futures were trading around the 21,421 level.

Trade setup for Tuesday: Top 15 things to know before the opening bell

US Markets

US stocks gyrated to a mixed close on Friday as investors headed into the Christmas holiday weekend, having digested cooler-than-expected inflation data which firmed bets for Federal Reserve interest rate cuts in the new year.

All three indices turned less decisive in light trading as the afternoon progressed, after an initial rally on data showing inflation is easing closer to the US central bank's target.

The Nasdaq joined the S&P 500 in positive territory, while the blue-chip Dow finished nominally lower.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 18.38 points, or 0.05 percent, to 37,385.97, the S&P 500 gained 7.88 points, or 0.17 percent, at 4,754.63 and the Nasdaq Composite added 29.11 points, or 0.19 percent, at 14,992.97.

Asian Markets

Asian markets were subdued Tuesday, with Japan opening flat but still set to wrap up the year as one of the region’s top performers.

Several markets including Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong were shut on account of Boxing Day.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 and South Korea’s Kospi opened flat.

India's forex reserves jump $9.112 bn to $615.971 bn

India's foreign exchange reserves jumped $9.112 billion to $615.971 billion in the week ended December 15 and the quantum of increase is one of the highest for a week, according to RBI data. In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves had risen $2.816 billion to $606.859 billion.

In October 2021, the country's forex kitty reached an all-time high of $645 billion. The reserves took a hit as the central bank deployed the kitty to defend the rupee amid pressures caused majorly by global developments since last year. For the week ended December 15, the foreign currency assets, a major component of the reserves, increased $8.349 billion to $545.048 billion, as per the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data released on December 22.

US inflation decelerating in boost to economy

US prices fell in November for the first time in more than 3-1/2 years, pushing the annual increase in inflation further below 3 percent, and boosting financial market expectations of an interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve next March.

The report from the Commerce Department on Friday also showed underlying inflation pressures continuing to subside. Cooling inflation left more income at the disposal of households, helping to underpin consumer spending and the overall economy as the year winds down.

Inflation, as measured by the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, fell 0.1 percent last month, the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis said. That was the first monthly decline in the PCE price index since April 2020 and followed an unchanged reading in October.

India could be among fastest-growing nations in 2024-25, says Fitch

Rating agency Fitch expects India to be among the fastest-growing nations in the world in the next fiscal, with resilient GDP growth of 6.5 percent in 2024-25. In the current fiscal, Fitch pegs India’s GDP to grow 6.9 percent.

“Demand will remain strong for cement, electricity, and petroleum products, with high-frequency data in 2023 sustained at well above pre-Covid-19 pandemic levels,” Fitch Ratings said in a report released on December 22.

“India's rising infrastructure spending will also boost steel demand. Car sales will continue to rise, despite our expectation of moderation after robust growth in 2023,” it stated in the report.

At present, India is the world’s fifth-largest economy, coming after the United States, China, Germany, and Japan. By 2030, India's GDP is projected to exceed Japan's, making it the second-largest economy in the Asia-Pacific region.

Oil Prices

Oil prices were little changed on Tuesday as investors focused on geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and optimism the U.S. Federal Reserve would soon start cutting interest rates, lifting global economic growth and fuel demand.

Brent crude futures fell 26 cents, or 0.3%, to $79.13 a barrel by 0115 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $73.59 a barrel, up 3 cents.

Dollar

The dollar was trying to find a floor on Tuesday in holiday-thinned trade, pressured by signs that inflation in the world's largest economy is cooling that will likely give the Federal Reserve room to ease interest rates next year.

FII and DII data

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold shares worth Rs 2,828.94 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought Rs 2,166.72 crore worth of stocks on December 22, provisional data from the National Stock Exchange (NSE) showed.

Stock under F&O ban on NSE

The NSE has added National Aluminium Company to its F&O ban list for December 26, while retaining Ashok Leyland, Balrampur Chini Mills, Delta Corp, Hindustan Copper, India Cements, and SAIL in the list. Manappuram Finance, and RBL Bank were removed from the list.

With inputs from Reuters and other agencies