Top 10 things to know before the market opens today

The Indian stock market is expected to open in the green as trends on the SGX Nifty indicate a gap-up opening for the index in India with a 143-point gain.

On December 21, the BSE Sensex rallied more than 1,000 points intraday, but due to profit-booking at higher levels, it closed off the day’s high.

The index was up 497 points or 0.89 percent to close at 56,319, while the Nifty50 rose 156.60 points or 0.94 percent to 16,770.80, and formed a Doji pattern on the daily charts.

Stay tuned to Moneycontrol to find out what happens in the currency and equity markets today. We have collated some developments from across news platforms which could impact Indian as well as international markets.

US Markets

Wall Street’s main indices closed sharply higher on Tuesday, with strength in travel and tech shares as well as in Nike and Micron Technology, following their earnings, as stocks rebounded from a Coronavirus-fuelled rout the session before.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 560.54 points, or 1.6 percent, to 35,492.7, the S&P 500 gained 81.21 points, or 1.78 percent, to 4,649.23 and the Nasdaq Composite added 360.14 points, or 2.4 percent, to 15,341.09.

Asian Markets

Asian share markets were gaining ground on Wednesday as the risk appetite of global investors rises heading into the year-end, despite the surging number of Omicron variant cases around the world.

SCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.6 percent, after US stocks ended the previous session with gains.

Australian shares were down 0.1 percent which, analysts said, was the result of a higher US dollar overnight that weakened the appetite for commodities and the sector’s related stocks.

Japan’s Nikkei stock index was 0.1 percent higher.

SGX Nifty

Trends on the SGX Nifty indicate a positive start for the index in India with a 58.50 points gain. The Nifty futures were trading at 16,886.50 on the Singaporean Exchange around 7:30am.

Metro Brands to debut today

Mumbai-based footwear retailer Metro Brands will make its debut on the bourses on December 22, making it the 60th listing in 2021.

Metro Brands has mobilised Rs 1,367.5 crore through its public issue of 2.73 crore equity shares at Rs 500 per share. The offer comprised of a fresh issue of Rs 295 crore, and an offer-for-sale of Rs 1,072.5 crore by the promoters.

The public issue of the company saw lower-than-expected subscription demand as the offer was subscribed 3.64 times between December 10 and 14. Qualified institutional buyers showed the most interest among investors, as their reserved portion was subscribed 8.49 times. Non-institutional investors had put in bids for 3.02 times the allotted quota, while the retail portion was subscribed 1.13 times.

NSE launches framework for higher corporate governance standards in listed companies

The National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) on December 21 launched NSE Prime, a framework that prescribes higher standards of corporate governance for listed companies than those required by regulations.

This initiative will require companies to meet additional disclosure requirements to provide for higher quality of public information and greater transparency, NSE said in an official release.

YES Bank board approves Rs 10,000 crore fundraising plan

The YES Bank board on December 21 approved raising funds up to Rs 10,000 crore, the lender informed in a regulatory filing.

The private sector lender stated in the regulatory filing that pursuant to this, YES Bank will be seeking approval from its shareholders, which in effect would result in seeking an extension on the current shareholder approval that is set to expire on February 28.

The YES Bank board had earlier in June 2021 given its nod to raise another Rs 10,000 crore through the issuance of debt securities.

No Cabinet decision on privatisation of two PSBs: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

The Cabinet has not taken any decision on privatisation of two Public Sector Banks (PSBs), which the government had announced in Budget 2021-22, Parliament was informed on Tuesday.

In the Union Budget for financial year 2021-22, the government had announced its intent to take up privatisation of two PSBs in the year and approval of a policy of strategic disinvestment of public sector enterprises, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

RBI likely to consider extension of deadline on tokenisation rules; final decision yet to be taken

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is likely to extend the deadline on new tokenisation rules, given the discomfort expressed by various stakeholders in meeting the December 31 deadline, according to two people familiar with the development.

“The RBI may extend it for 3-4 months so that the system can prepare in a better way to avoid a massive disruption,” said one of the persons quoted above.

However, there is no final decision taken on this yet, said the persons quoted above.

Earlier, the industry lobby of banks, Indian Banks Association (IBA), had made representation to the RBI for an extension of the tokenisation deadline. That apart, some banks too had approached the regulator, seeking an extension.

FII and DII data

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold shares worth Rs 1,209.82 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) net bought shares worth Rs 1,404.89 crore in the Indian equity market on December 21, as per provisional data available on the NSE.

Stocks under F&O ban on NSE

Three stocks – Escorts, Indiabulls Housing Finance, and Zee Entertainment Enterprises – are under the F&O ban for December 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.

With inputs from Reuters & other agencies