The stock markets opened on a firm footing on January 4. The benchmark indices opened higher. At 09:16 AM, the Sensex was up 167.49 points or 0.28 percent at 59,350.71. The broader Nifty was up 48.10 points or 0.27 percent at 17,673.80. About 1808 shares have advanced, 309 shares declined, and 71 shares are unchanged.
At the opening bell, the early gainers were NTPC, Tata Steel, Maruti Suzuki, Axis Bank and Bajaj Finserv. The early losers were Tata Motors, Eicher Motors, HDFC Bank, Infosys and HDFC.
On January 3, Nifty began the new calendar year on a positive note. Nifty scored the biggest single day point gain in almost three weeks. At close Nifty was up 1.57 percent or 271.6 points at 17625.7. In the process, Nifty was the top performer in the Asian region.
Nifty has reached a key resistance level in the sharp upmove seen lately. 17,697-17,758 could be a key resistance area for Nifty while 17379 is a key support. Daily technical indicators are overbought and may need cooling down by consolidation/correction.
Asian stocks firm
Asian stocks were firmer on Tuesday following Wall Street's record highs on its first trading day of 2022, despite worries that the widespread Omicron COVID-19 variant could put the brakes on global economic recovery, Reuters said.
MSCI's gauge of Asia Pacific stocks outside Japan was up 0.67 percent in the morning sessions. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 climbed 1.15 percent, boosted by energy and mining stocks while Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 1.25 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index and China's benchmark CSI300 Index opened up 0.5 percent and 0.25 percent, respectively.
Asian stocks mostly rose at the open Tuesday after the S&P 500 closed at a record high on the first trading day of 2022.
S&P 500, Dow hit record highs
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 Index swept to record closes on Monday, driven by optimistic investors during the first day of trading in 2022, while joining the Nasdaq Composite in posting the biggest gains in a week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 246.76 points, or 0.68 percent, to 36,585.06, Reuters said. The S&P 500 gained 30.38 points, or 0.64 percent, at 4,796.56; and the Nasdaq Composite added 187.83 points, or 1.2 percent, at 15,832.80. The Dow added 18.7 percent for the year and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 21.4 percent. The S&P 500 posted 20 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 89 new highs and 55 new lows.
Financial markets were reflecting broad optimism that the economy can weather omicron, as well as rate hikes from the Fed. Bond yields jumped to start the year with the 10-year Treasury yield topping 1.63 percent.
Stocks to watch out for
Aviation industry stocks are in the watch-out category as aviation turbine fuel (ATF) price has been hiked by Rs 2,039.63 per kilolitre, or 2.75 per cent, to Rs 76,062.04 per kl in the national capital
Exports up 37% to $37.29 bn In December 2021
December, 2021 also saw the highest-ever level of monthly outbound trade for India at $37 billion. Exports in December, 2021 saw 37 percent growth over December 2020 and an increase of 37.5 percent over December 2019. Exports reached a cumulative $299.74 billion in April-December of FY22, an increase of 48.8 percent over the April-December period of FY21 and an increase of 25.8 percent over FY20.
Trade deficit widens
India's trade deficit widened to $21.99 billion. India's merchandise import in December 2021 rose to $59.27 billion, an increase of 38.06 per cent over $42.93 billion in December 2020. During April-December 2021 period the total import rose to $443.71 billion, an increase of 69.27 per cent over $262.13 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2020. The trade deficit in December 2021 was $21.99 billion, while it was $143.97 billion during April-December 2021.
China's December factory activity at fastest pace in 6 months
China's factory activity grew at its fastest pace in six months in December, driven by production hikes and easing price pressures, but a weaker job market and business confidence added uncertainty. The Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to 50.9 in December - its highest level since June.
Dollar starts off 2022 on higher note
The US dollar rose against a basket of major currencies on Monday, the first trading day of the new year, in sync with government bond yields as investors anticipate the Federal Reserve will stay on its path of interest rate hikes in 2022, Reuters said. While the surge in coronavirus cases caused by the Omicron variant continued to impact global travel and public services, investors remained optimistic that lockdowns would be averted.
The dollar index rose 0.552 percent, with the euro down 0.64 percent to $1.1295. The greenback was on track for its biggest daily percentage gain since December 17.
India's December jobless rate hits four-month high of 7.9%
India's unemployment rate hit a four-month high in December, data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) showed on Monday, Reuters said.
The unemployment rate rose to 7.9 percent in December from 7.0 percent in November, its highest since 8.3 percent in August. Urban unemployment rate rose to 9.3 percent in December from 8.2 percent in the previous month while the rural unemployment rate was up 7.3 percent from 6.4 percent, the data showed.
Fuel prices unchanged
Petrol and diesl prices remained unchanged today (January 4). The price of petrol in Delhi is Rs 95.41 per litre while a litre of diesel costs Rs 86.67 per litre on Monday. In Mumbai, the petrol and diesel stand at Rs 109.98 per litre and Rs 94.14 per litre, respectively.
In Kolkata, petrol and diesel cost Rs 104.67 per litre and Rs 89.79 per litre. In Chennai, they cost Rs 101.40 per litre and Rs 91.43 per litre respectively.
Fuel prices differ from state to state depending on the incidence of local taxes such as VAT and freight charges.
(With inputs from agencies)
