D-Street betting on Santa Claus rally & other top news

Hi there! Welcome to ETMarkets Morning, the show about money, business and markets. I am Saloni Goel, and here is what we have to start your day.

>> D-Street betting on Santa Claus rally
>> Sebi mulls capital requirement norms for brokers
>> Q2 GDP print likely to be promising
AND
>> FIIs hint at continued bullishness

And there is more. But first, a quick glance at the state of the markets...

>> Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange traded 13 points higher at 7 am (IST), signalling likely positivity on Dalal Street.

>> Asian shares fell slightly this morning, amid renewed doubts about a highly-anticipated Covid vaccine. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.07%. Australian shares were down 0.15%. Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.09%.

>> US markets were closed on Thursday for Thanksgiving.

>> Oil prices looked set to extend their declines from a seven-month high due to signs of oversupply. WTI crude dipped 1.71% to $44.93 a barrel.

>> The rupee appreciated 3 paise to close at 73.88 against the US dollar on Thursday, tracking positive domestic equities and sustained foreign fund inflows.

>> The dollar held steady in thin trade on Friday but was on track for weekly losses against a basket of major currencies. The pound traded near a three-month high, the Australian dollar looked firm but the euro was little changed

>> Bitcoin, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency, steadied at $17,180 on Thursday, but it tumbled by 8.4% in the previous session after failing to take out its record high of $19,666. Bitcoin has rallied around 140% this year, fuelled by demand for riskier assets.

>>Gold and silver gained in Indian markets on Thursday though the gains were moderate. On MCX, gold futures rose 0.4% to Rs 48,716 per 10 gm while silver advanced 0.34% to Rs 60,045 a kg. Spot gold was little changed at $1,809.51 per ounce following a 0.3% gain on Thursday.


All in all, the trade setup on Dalal Street looks good. On Thursday, Nifty50 tested the 12,800 level, before rebounding amid the November F&O expiry. The index formed an indecisive ‘Doji’ candle on the weekly scale as market participants turned indecisive at the higher levels.

LET ME NOW GIVE YOU A HEADS-UP on some of the top news we are tracking at this hour.

…Traders are betting on an early Santa Claus rally if the rollover trends in Nifty futures to the December series on Thursday — when the November contracts expired — is to go by. With the stock market run up so far in November pushing key indices to fresh records, there are concerns that the market may be overheated but few traders are willing to go against the current momentum. Analysts said the derivative positions in the December series suggest the Nifty could rise to 13,250-13500-levels. The index rose 1% to close at 12,987 on Thursday.

… India will be among those countries showing highest sequential economic improvement in the second quarter of 2020-21 over the previous quarter, though by the year-on-year measure followed in India, it will still show a deep contraction. Economists said the sequential improvement shows economy picked up pace in July-September quarter, but cautioned against getting carried away by the improvement as both recession and pandemic threat continue. A back-of-envelope calculation shows a 10% contraction in July-September quarter could mean a nearly 20% sequential rise over April-June quarter.

… Foreign institutional investors raised their aggregate net purchases of Nifty and Bank Nifty futures — index futures — by 21,685 contracts to 71,756 contracts on Thursday, hinting at continued bullishness as they continued to be buyers of shares worth a provisional Rs 2,027.31 crore. Analysts expect the market to test 13,252 level in the coming sessions.

…The pace of economic recovery is picking up momentum, and it is evident in the unusually large amounts of bond sales this month by the likes of mortgage lender HDFC and utilities company Tata Power. Railroad financier IRFC and NHAI are among the mega infrastructure lenders that have joined index heavyweights in raising funds recently through bonds. Large companies have together raised Rs 30,537 crore through debt issues in the past three weeks, data compiled by JM Financial showed.

MEANWHILE
… Sebi is considering a proposal to increase the net worth requirement for stock brokers by linking it to the risks undertaken by them. In principle, the measure is similar to capital adequacy at banks. Among other proposals discussed by a Sebi panel on Thursday were a reduction in the settlement cycle to T+1, needing banks to maintain a separate entity to become clearing members, and making fund accounts of clients in the books of brokers nil once in 90 days.

LASTLY, AN UPDATE ON ALL THE STOCKS BUZZING THIS MORNING

>> Tata Sons is in talks with Singapore Airlines to waive a non-compete clause and partner with it in a proposed bid for the beleaguered national carrier Air India.

>> Zydus Cadila is expected to introduce its Covid-19 vaccine by March next year “if all goes well”, a person with direct knowledge of the matter told ET.

>> Textile and apparels firm Raymond said its committee of directors has approved raising of Rs 40 crore through a private placement of non-convertible debentures.

>> Kapil Wadhawan, the erstwhile promoter of DHFL has moved NCLT against the RBI-appointed administrator and the Committee of Creditors of the bankrupt NBFC.

>> Future Retail has accused e-commerce giant Amazon of adopting a media strategy of “having every development reported and converted into a line of communication with stock exchanges” regarding the Amazon-Future Coupons’ arbitration proceedings in Singapore.

That’s it for now. For all the market news through the day, do track ETMarkets.com. Have a great day ahead! Bye-bye