Market Live Updates Today: Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a positive opening for the index in India with a 82 points gain

FII and DII

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold shares worth Rs 3,407 crore while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) net bought shares worth Rs 1,553 crore in the Indian equity market yesterday, as per provisional data available on the NSE.

Dollar holds tight as investors look beyond Fed

The dollar paused for breath on Thursday, having given up a brief rally after the US Federal Reserve said it would end pandemic-era bond purchases in March, as investors awaited imminent decisions from other major central banks.

Oil prices rise as fuel demand surges in top consumer United States

Oil prices rose on Thursday as the US implied consumer petroleum demand surged to a record high in the world's top oil consumer even as the Omicron variant of the coronavirus threatens to dent oil consumption globally.

Australia jobs surge by record in November

Australian employment blew past all expectations in November as lockdowns were lifted, driving the unemployment rate sharply lower in a major boost to the economic outlook.

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed employment jumping a record 366,100 in November, eclipsing market forecasts of a 205,000 rebound.

A sharp 4.5% increase in hours worked also pointed to a strong rebound in economic growth after a Delta-driven contraction in the third quarter.

Japan's November exports speed up as auto demand improves

Japan's exports growth sped up in November, government data showed on Thursday, suggesting the trade-reliant economy is overcoming supply constraints and staging a solid rebound although the expansion was a bit slower than expected.

Exports rose 20.5% in November from a year earlier, the ninth straight month of increase, versus a median market forecast for a 21.2% rise. It followed a 9.4% gain in the previous month.

RBI allows payments banks and small finance banks to conduct government business

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) yesterday said it has allowed payments banks and small finance banks (SFBs) to conduct government business. "It has now been decided in consultation with the ministry of finance to make scheduled payments banks and scheduled small finance banks eligible to conduct government agency business," the RBI said in a notification.

"Any payment bank or small finance bank that intends to undertake government agency business may be appointed as an agent of RBI upon execution of an agreement with the central bank, provided that the overarching regulatory framework prescribed for these banks is complied with," the RBI added.

ICRA downgrades forecast for passenger vehicle industry

Ratings agency ICRA on Wednesday revised downwards its growth forecast for the domestic passenger vehicles industry to 8-11% in the ongoing fiscal from the earlier 14-17% on account of the ongoing semiconductor shortage.

Similarly, for the two-wheeler segment, it said the volumes are expected to contract 1-4% in financial year 2021-22 against an earlier prediction of 6-8% growth as affordability and demand sentiments of target clientele have been hit sharply by the second wave of the pandemic.

Global economy hostage to Omicron uncertainty: RBI

The global economy remains hostage to heightened uncertainty, with the Omicron strain of the coronavirus sparking fresh containment measures, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said.

The Indian economy bounced back strongly in the second quarter of 2021-22, with the gross domestic product (GDP) surpassing its pre-pandemic levels and inflation broadly aligning with the target, the central bank said in its monthly bulletin released on December 15.

"A host of incoming high-frequency indicators are looking upbeat and consumer confidence is gradually returning. Aggregate demand conditions point to sustained recovery, although with some signs of sequential moderation," the bulletin said.

Fed signals three rate hikes

The Federal Reserve said on Wednesday it would end its pandemic-era bond purchases in March and pave the way for three quarter-percentage-point interest rate hikes by the end of 2022 as the economy nears full employment and the US central bank copes with a surge of inflation.

"The economy no longer needs increasing amounts of policy support," Fed chair Jerome Powell said in a news conference in which he contrasted the near-depression conditions at the onset of the pandemic in 2020 with today's environment of rising prices and wages and rapid improvement in the job market.

India's GDP to grow 8.2% in FY23, RBI to hike rates by 100bps: Bank of America

The new year will herald the return of normalcy and witness the growth momentum gaining steam, an American brokerage said on Wednesday, pegging real GDP growth at 8.2% for financial year 2022-23.

Bank of America said the country had entered 2021 on an optimistic note with economic growth recovering and inflation well-contained but the second wave of the pandemic led to the return of supply shortages and exerted pressure on prices.

"We see 2022 as the year of much-awaited normalcy and normalisation for India. We expect growth recovery to gain steam, driven by consumption,” the brokerage said in its outlook for the new year.