Sensex sprints 970 pts, ends atop 71,450; Nifty holds 21,450; IT, PSBs jump

Closing Bell on December 15, 2023: Among sectors, the Nifty IT index zoomed 4.5 per cent, the Nifty Metal gained 2.13 per cent, and the Nifty PSU Bank index 2.39 per cent

SI Reporter New Delhi

bull, markets, shares, stocks, bse, growth, sensex, nse

8:20 AM

Gift Nifty :: Index ruling 93 points higher at 21,421

8:17 AM

ECB and BOE are reluctant to join Fed in pivoting toward rate cuts

>> Europe's central bankers are in no hurry to join the US pivot toward interest-rate cuts — even as investors keep insisting that they'll need to embrace easier monetary policy soon enough.

>> In the wake of Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell’s signal on Wednesday that officials are turning to focus on reducing borrowing costs, peers from Frankfurt to London declared that further slowing in inflation can't be taken for granted.

>> Whatever financial markets may be betting, they signaled that easing isn't on the agenda for now.

>> Powell’s signal doesn’t get echoed by Lagarde or Bailey; European central bankers are shifting stance only slowly.

Source: Bloomberg

8:14 AM

10-year US Treasury yields break below 4%

>> Benchmark US Treasury yields sank to an over four-month low in Asian trade on Thursday, after the Federal Reserve said it was done raising interest rates and flagged deeper-than-expected rate cuts in 2024.

>> 10-year Treasury yields sank 1.4% to 3.976%, falling below 4% for the first time since late July.

>> 2-year yields fell 2.3% to 4.378%, while 5-year yields sank 2% to 3.922%- a six-month low.

>> The 10-year rate, which is a key indicator of safe haven demand and bond market sentiment, had shot up to an over 20-year high of 5% in October.

Source: Agencies

8:10 AM

US mortgage rates drop under 7% for the first time since August

>> Mortgage rates fell under 7% for the first time since mid-August this week.

>> It is the seventh straight week that rates have dropped

>> With the Fed signaling in its most recent meeting that rate cuts may be coming in 2024, mortgage rates are expected to continue falling.

>> The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate fell to an average of 6.95% in the week ending December 14, down from 7.03% a week before, according to data from Freddie Mac.

>> A year ago, the average 30-year fixed-rate was 6.31%.

Source: CNN

8:07 AM

China's central bank boosts liquidity offering via policy loans, rate unchanged

>> China's central bank ramped up liquidity injection but kept the interest rate unchanged when rolling over maturing medium-term policy loans on Friday, matching market expectations.

>> Despite the steady policy rate, market participants widely expect China to maintain an accommodative monetary stance and possibly unleash further stimulus including interest rate cuts and reserve requirement ratio reductions into the new year to boost the economy.

Source: Reuters

8:04 AM

Australia's private activity contracts at a softer pace in December

>> Australia’s private sector activity remained in contraction territory in December, but contracted at a softer pace, according to flash estimates from Judo Bank.

>> The composite purchasing managers’ index for the country stood at 47.4, compared with the 27-month low of 46.2 in November.

>> The bank said that demand conditions remained under pressure in December, but inflation for input costs eased. Overall employment also continued to grow and companies’ optimism improved from November.

Source: Agencies

8:02 AM

Japan's factory activity contracts for seventh straight month in December

>> Japan’s manufacturing activity contracted in December for the seventh straight month.

>> A flash reading of the au Jibun Bank Japan manufacturing purchasing managers' index shrank to 47.7 in December from 48.3 in November, signaling the quickest deterioration in manufacturing business conditions for ten months.

>> The au Jibun Bank flash services PMI, however, was 52.0 in December versus 50.8 in November, the fastest gain in the three months.

Source: Agencies

7:59 AM

China reports fastest industrial output growth in nearly two years

>> China posted its biggest industrial output expansion in November since February 2022.

>> China’s industrial output grew 6.6% in November, outpacing expectations for 5.6% in a Reuters poll and a 4.6% rise in October.

>> Retail sales climbed 10.1% in November, way below expectations of 12.5%, following a 7.6% rise in October.

>> Retail sales growth figure underwhelmed expectations pointing to a patchy recovery.

Source: CNBC

7:57 AM