Markets Today: RBI Policy, FIIs, Sensex, GIFT Nifty; Ganesh Infraworld IPO

Pre-market update: RBI policy decision likely to set the equity market trend on Friday; Strong FIIs buying a positive; Ganesh Infraworld likely to witness a bumper listing on the NSE SME platform.

Stock Markets Today, Dec 6: All eyes will be on the Reserve Bank of India's Monetary Policy Committee decision on Friday as the 3-day meeting concludes. Market participants expect the Central Banker to keep rates untouched, but may provide some liquidity enhancing measures.  Despite GDP growth declining to 5.4 per cent in the July–September quarter, the RBI's six-member MPC is expected to maintain the current repo rate during its review meeting this week, according to a Business Standard survey.  So will the RBI deliver on expected lines or will it spring a surprise. The 5-day equity market rally seems to be optimistic of a favourable verdict from the Central Banker. The BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty 50 indices have rallied up to 3.5 per cent in the last five trading sessions.  At 7 AM, GIFT Nifty futures quoted around 24,803 levels, hinting at a likely quiet start to the day's trading action. Shares of interest rate sensitive sectors such as - auto, banking, financial services and real estate are likely to be in focus on Friday.    Technically, on the daily chart, the Nifty has formed a bullish candle, which indicates strength. Furthermore, the index has crossed the 24,575 obstacle and closed above it, indicating strength. As per this breakout, the Nifty could test 24,850 - 25,000 levels in the short term, said Hrishikesh Yedve, AVP Technical and Derivatives Research at Asit C. Mehta Investment Interrmediates.  Echoing similar views, Om Mehra, Technical analyst at SAMCO Securities said, the Nifty has formed a long-legged bullish candle, indicating strong buying momentum, while the previous resistance at 24,500 has now turned into strong support.  In other news, market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Thursday proposed a framework to convert 'In The Money' single stock option contracts into futures a day before the expiry.  “It is proposed that ITM (in the money) options instead of directly resulting into physical delivery obligation on expiry will initially devolve into stock futures on the day prior to expiry i.e., E-1 day. Thereafter, the resultant stock futures positions can be closed on the expiry day i.e., E day,” said Sebi.  IPO Market Update  Ganesh Infraworld and Suraksha Diagnostic to debut on the bourses today. The Grey Market Premium (GMP) indicated a likely bumper opening for Ganesh Infraworld IPO, with listing gains up to 90 per cent; while a likely tepid start for Suraksha IPO.  Meanwhile, bidding for Emerald Tyre Manufacturers SME IPO to continue on the NSE for the second day today. The issue was subscribed up to 39.5 times at the end of Day 1 yesterday.  Nisus Finance Services IPO to close today. The issue thus far had received bids up to 18.8 times of the issue size on the BSE.  FII, DII  On the institutional front, FIIs net bought shares worth Rs 8,539.91 crore on Thursday. Whereas, DIIs were net sellers of stocks to the tune of Rs 2,303.64 crore.    Stocks to Watch  Vodafone Idea: The Voda Idea board to consider a proposal to raise Rs 2,000 crore from entities belonging to promoter Vodafone Group through a preferential issue on December 9.  Hyundai Motor India: In an order to combat higher input costs, the Hyundai has announced a price hike of up to Rs 25,000 across its model range, effective January 1, 2025. The revised pricing will apply to all models from the MY25 line-up.  Canara Bank: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approved Canara Bank's stake sale in its mutual fund and insurance arms, by 13 per cent and 14.5 per cent, respectively, through an Initial Public Offering (IPO). The state-run bank's board had approved the stake sale in March this year.  Global cues  Equity markets in the Asia-Pacific region had declined up to 0.5 per cent in early deals on Friday mirroring a negative close on Wall Street. Japan's Nikkei, ASX 200, All Ordinaries and Straits Times were all down 0.5 per cent each.  Japanese's Yen weakened slightly versus the US dollar in spite of strong jobs data in the Asian neighbour.  Among others, China's Shanghai Composite, Kospi and Taiwan, however, hovered around the previous day's close.  Overnight in the US, benchmark indices - Dow Jones, the S&P 500 and NASDAQ slipped from record highs to end up to 0.6 per cent lower a day ahead of the key US jobs data. Market participants believe this data can shed light on Fed's likely action on interest rates later this month.  Commodity check  Key commodity prices too eased a wee bit. Crude oil futures dropped to near $68 per barrel, while Brent Crude futures were seen quoting a shade below the $72-mark.  Gold futures, too, declined to $2,645 per ounce.