Stock Market LIVE Updates: Mobikwik lists at 58% premium, Vishal at 41%; Sensex 250 pts lower

Stock Markets Today LIVE: Benchmark Indian equity indices were trading marginally higher on Wednesday, ahead of the US Fed's policy rate announcement later tonight

Share Market Today: Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) net sold Indian equities worth Rs 6,409.86 crore on December 17, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) net bought shares worth Rs 2,706.48 crore on Tuesday. (Photo: Bloomberg)

Stock Market LIVE Updates, Wednesday, December 18, 2024: Benchmark Indian equity indices BSE Sensex and Nifty 50 opened lower on Wednesday, amid weak global cues.

At opening bell, the BSE Sensex was 101.13 points, or 0.13 per cent lower, at 80,582.97, and the Nifty 50 was at 24,299.15, down 36.85 points, or 0.15 per cent.

Following the lower start, 18 out of the 30 stocks on the BSE Sensex were trading lower, with lossed led by Tata Motors (down 2.07 per cent), followed by Power Grid Corp., Larsen & Toubro, Maruti Suzuki India, and Adani Ports & SEZ. On the flip side, gains were capped by Sun Pharma (higher by 1.32 per cent), followed by Tech Mahindra, HCLTech, ITC, and Titan Company.

On the Nifty 50, 22 out of the 50 stocks were trading higher, with gains led by Tech Mahindra (up 0.82 per cent), followed by Nestle India, Apollo Hospital Enterprises, Reliance Industries, and HDFC Bank, while losses were capped by Power Grid Corp. (down 1.33 per cent), followed by BPCL, JSW Steel, Trent, and IndusInd Bank.

Across sectoral indices, the Pharma index was the top sectoral gainer, climbing 0.64 per cent. Accompanying it in gains were the Healthcare, FMCG and IT indices, while the Media index was the top sectoral drag, falling 1.12 per cent, followed by PSU Bank, Auto, Realty, Oil, Nifty Bank and Financial Services.

In the broader markets, the Nifty Midcap 100 index was lower by 0.49 per cent and the Nifty Smallcap 100 was behind by 0.38 per cent. India's risk gauge, the India VIX index was higher by 3.15 per cent.

With foreign institutional investors turning risk averse ahead of the crucial policy rate announcement and commentary about future rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve later on wednesday, and selling Indian equities in favour of US stocks, markets in India are likely to continue to trade under pressure in the absence of any major domestic triggers. READ MORE

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) net sold Indian equities worth Rs 6,409.86 crore on December 17. Primary markets in India, however, are poised for an action-filled day, with shares of three mainline firms, including One Mobikwik Systems, Vishal Mega Mart, and Sai Life Sciences, along with Supreme Facility Management and Purple United Sales in the SME segment, scheduled to list on the bourses today.

Apart from that, Interational Gemmological Institute IPO will see its allotment today, while in the SME segment, NACDAC Infrastructure IPO will enter its second day of subscription today, and Identical Brains Studios, will open for subscription.

In other news, the market capitalisation (mcap) cutoff to qualify for mutual funds’ (MFs’) largecap universe is likely to go up for the fifth consecutive time to touch the Rs 1 trillion mark for the first time. READ MORE

Markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has notified rules governing specialised investment funds (SIF), which state that they will have the same expense structure as that of mutual funds (MFs). READ MORE

Not only that, the markets regulator has also revamped the norms governing investment advisors and research analysts (RAs). It has relaxed the requirements on minimum qualification, experience, and mandatory examination to be passed periodically, apart from their net worth requirements. READ MORE

Sebi, on Tuesday, also mandated granular disclosures on ownership and economic interest for offshore derivative instruments (ODIs), aligning the rules with that for foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) to prevent any regulatory arbitrage. READ MORE

The markets regulator is also likely to tighten rules around small and medium enterprises (SMEs) IPOs and widen the definition of unpublished price-sensitive information (UPSI) at its board meeting today, according to sources. READ MORE

On Tuesday, benchmark equity indices BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 witnessed a sharp sell-off, settling lower by over 1 per cent each, weighed down by selling across counters. The 30-share Sensex tumbled 1,064.12 points, or 1.30 per cent, to end at 80,684.45, while the Nifty 50 closed down by 332.25 points, or 1.35 per cent, to settle at 24,336.

Broader markets also mirrored the benchmarks, with the Nifty Midcap 100, and the Nifty Smallcap 100 indices ending lower by 0.57 per cent and 0.68 per cent, respectively.

The fear index, India VIX, which gauges volatility in markets, ended higher by 3.31 per cent at 14.49 points. All the sectoral indices also ended in the red, barring Nifty Media, which ended higher by merely 0.02 per cent. Among others, all the banking indices on the NSE, along with Auto, Financial Services, Consumer Durables, and OMCs, ended down by 1 per cent each.

Meanwhile, markets in the Asia-Pacific region were mostly higher, with only Japan's Nikkei trading with some losses on Wednesday. Investors in Asia assessed trade data out of Japan ahead of a Bank of Japan rate decision this week.

The country’s exports grew 3.8 per cent in November year-on-year, beating expectations of a 2.8 per cent increase by economists polled by Reuters. Meanwhile, imports fell by 3.8 per cent, coming in far below expectations of a 1 per cent expansion.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 was down 0.28 per cent, while the broad-based Topix was up 0.24 per cent.

South Korea’s Kospi was up 0.92 per cent, while the small-cap Kosdaq was 0.15 per cent lower. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was trading higher by 0.22 per cent.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was ahead by 0.95 per cent, while the CSI 300 was higher by 0.13 per cent, and the Shanghai Composite had climbed 0.56 per cent.

US stocks, however, closed lower on Tuesday and crude prices fell as investors parsed economic data and girded themselves for a series of central bank decisions, including an expected rate cut from the Federal Reserve.

Bitcoin forged new record highs and benchmark US Treasury yields steadied ahead of what is expected to be a "hawkish cut" from the US central bank.

The blue-chip Dow ended in negative territory for the ninth consecutive session, marking its longest losing streak since 1978.

Aside from the Fed, central banks Japan, Britain, Sweden and Norway, are all slated to meet this week. The BOJ, the Bank of England and Norges Bank are expected to stand pat, while the Riksbank is seen cutting rates.

Members of the Federal Open Market Committee convened on Tuesday for their two-day monetary policy meeting, which is widely seen culminating on Wednesday with a 25 basis-point cut to the key Fed funds target rate.

Markets will scrutinize the accompanying Summary of Economic Projections, which is expected to temper Fed policy expectations for the coming year in light of sticky inflation and robust economic data.

A better-than-expected retail sales report underscored US economic strength, which contrasted with weak retail sales from China, which raised the specter of softening global demand.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 266.93 points, or 0.61 per cent, to 43,450.55, the S&P 500 fell 23.45 points, or 0.39 per cent, to 6,050.63 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 64.83 points, or 0.32 per cent, to 20,109.06.

European stocks fell to two-week lows, weighed down by energy and healthcare stocks ahead of central bank decisions and as downbeat data from China stoked demand concerns.

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe fell 3.86 points, or 0.44 per cent, to 863.98.

The STOXX 600 index fell 0.42 per cent, while Europe's broad FTSEurofirst 300 index fell 7.75 points, or 0.38 per cent.

Emerging market stocks fell 9.32 points, or 0.84 per cent, to 1,093.89. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed lower by 0.63 per cent, to 579.66, while Japan's Nikkei fell 92.81 points, or 0.24 per cent, to 39,364.68.

Yields on 10-year Treasuries backed away from three-week highs ahead of the Fed's rate decision and economic projections.

The yield on benchmark US 10-year notes fell 0.4 basis points to 4.395 per cent, from 4.399 per cent late on Monday. The 30-year bond yield fell 2.6 basis points to 4.5837 per cent from 4.61 per cent late on Monday.

The 2-year note yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations for the Federal Reserve, fell 0.6 basis points to 4.245 per cent, from 4.249 per cent late on Monday.

The dollar inched higher against a basket of world currencies as better-than-expected retail sales data suggested economic momentum as investors digested the likelihood that the Fed would slow its easing to a more gradual pace in the coming year.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, rose 0.18 per cent to 106.98, with the euro down 0.22 per cent at $1.0487.

Bitcoin touched yet another record high, as cryptocurrencies continue to coast on the prospect of a strategic bitcoin reserve proposed by US President-elect Donald Trump. Bitcoin gained 0.52 per cent to $106,635.28. Ethereum declined 2.83 per cent to $3,933.80.

Oil prices slid amid renewed demand worries in the wake of economic data from Germany and China. US crude fell 0.89 per cent to $70.08 per barrel, while Brent slid to $73.19 per barrel, down 0.97 per cent on the day.

Gold pulled back under pressure from a strong dollar as investors lowered their expectations for the pace and extent of interest rate cuts in the coming year. Spot gold fell 0.32 per cent to $2,643.84 an ounce. US gold futures fell 0.48 per cent to $2,638.80 an ounce.

(With inputs from Reuters.)

10:10 AM

Stock Market LIVE Updates: Sai Life Sciences shares list at 20% premium on BSE, outperforms GMP trend

Stock Market LIVE Updates: Sai Life Sciences shares made a decent debut on Dalal Street on Wednesday, December 18, 2024. The company's stock listed at Rs 660 apiece, reflecting a premium of Rs 111 or 20.2 per cent against the issue price of Rs 549.

On the NSE, the stock was listed at Rs 650, a premium of Rs 101 or 18.3 per cent against the issue price. READ MORE

10:05 AM

Stock Market LIVE Updates: Mobikwik shares list at 58% premium on BSE, NSE; follow IPO GMP trend

Stock Market LIVE Updates: One Mobikwik Systems shares made a stellar debut on D-Street on Wednesday, December 18, 2024. Mobikwik shares listed at Rs 442.25 apiece on the BSE, reflecting a premium of 58.51 per cent over the IPO allotment price of Rs 279.

On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), Mobikwik shares listed at Rs 440, reflecting a slightly lower premium of 57.70 per cent per share against the issue price. READ MORE

10:01 AM

Stock Market LIVE Updates: 10 AM market update - Sensex, Nifty trade lower

Stock Market LIVE Updates: Benchmark Indian equity indices BSE Sensex and Nifty 50 were trading lower on Wednesday, amid weak global cues.

At 10:03 AM, the BSE Sensex was 245.13 points, or 0.30 per cent lower, at 80,439.45, and the Nifty 50 was at 24,261.15, down 74.20 points, or 0.3 per cent.

9:55 AM

Stock Market LIVE Updates: Aditya Birla Real Estate gains 3% as arm acquires Rs 104-cr land in Boisar

Stock Market LIVE Updates: Aditya Birla Real Estate shares advanced 3.1 per cent in Wednesday's trade, logging an intraday high at Rs 2,797.6 per share on NSE. The stock saw demand after the company arm Birla Estates acquired a land parcel covering 70.92 acres in Boisar for Rs 104.3 crore.

However, around 9:27 AM, Aditya Birla Real Estate share price pared some gains and was up 1.04 per cent at Rs 2,741.45 per share on NSE. In comparison, the Nifty was down 0.2 per cent at 24,288.40. READ MORE

9:45 AM

Stock Market LIVE Updates: Aurobindo Pharma climbs nearly 2% as US FDA inspects co unit's API making plant

Stock Market LIVE Updates: The US FDA completed an inspection of Unit-V, the API manufacturing facility of Aurobindo Pharma's wholly-owned subsidiary, Apitoria Pharma Private Ltd, issuing two procedural observations.

9:42 AM

Stock Market LIVE Updates: Sanghi Industries drops 12% as Ambuja Cement approves amalgamation scheme with co

Stock Market LIVE Updates: Ambuja Cements approved a scheme of arrangement for the amalgamation of Sanghi Industries and Penna Cement Industries with itself. According to the approved terms, Sanghi Industries' shareholders will get 12 shares of Ambuja Cements for every 100 shares of Sanghi Industries they hold.

9:38 AM

Stock Market LIVE Updates: Not Asian Paints, Berger and Indigo Paints may shine in H2FY25, says Nuvama

Stock Market LIVE Updates: Domestic brokerage Nuvama Institutional Equities is turning its attention to smaller players in the paint industry, signaling a shift in preference from industry giant Asian Paints Ltd. (APL) to Berger Paints Ltd. and Indigo Paints Ltd.

The brokerage sees brighter prospects for these emerging contenders in the second half of FY25 (H2FY25), citing several headwinds for Asian Paints that could limit its growth. READ MORE

9:27 AM