Nifty closes weak near key support ahead of the Fed policy
Welcome to Aftermarket Report, a newsletter where we do a quick daily wrap-up of what happened in the markets—both in India and globally.
Follow Market Alerts by Zerodha on X (Twitter) to get instant summaries of key exchange filings as soon as they happen. These alerts are delivered in real-time by Tijori.
Market Overview
Nifty opened 38 points lower at 24,297.95 and initially gained nearly 100 points, touching the day’s high of 24,394.45. However, the market quickly turned bearish, falling 170 points to test 24,225. It made another attempt to reclaim 24,300 but reversed sharply, dropping 150 points to breach last Friday’s low and test 24,150 near 12:45 PM.
In the final three hours, Nifty traded within a narrow 50-point range between 24,170 and 24,220, before closing at 24,198.95, down 0.56% for the day. The US Fed interest rate decision and the upcoming weekend GST meeting are key events that the market is closely watching.
Broader Market Performance:
The broader market weakened further compared to yesterday, with 878 stocks advancing (down from 953) and 1,922 stocks declining (up from 1,854), reflecting negative market breadth on the NSE.
Sectoral Performance:
Sectoral trends were mostly negative, with Media, PSU Banks, and Metals taking the largest losses. Banks fell by nearly 1.3%, and Autos declined by 0.75%. However, the Pharma sector rose over 1%, and IT gained nearly 0.25%, showing strength ahead of the Fed's interest rate policy announcement.
Note: The above numbers for Commodity futures were taken around 4 pm.
Note: Today’s numbers are not yet released by the exchanges.
Change in OI for the day
The following is the change in OI for Nifty contracts expiring on 19th December:
The maximum Call OI is at 24,500, closely followed by 24,300 and 24,400, while the maximum Put OI is at 24,000, followed by 23,900.
There has been a massive addition of 79L and 85L contracts in Call OI at the 24,200 and 24,300 strikes, indicating a possible cap on the upside for this expiry.
Immediate downside support is seen at the 24,000 level, followed by the 23,900 range. On the upside, immediate resistance lies at the 24,350–24,400 range, with 24,500 being the key resistance level for tomorrow’s expiry.
With the US Fed interest rate decision tonight, these levels need to be closely watched.
Note: OI is subject to multiple interpretations but generally, in a falling market if there is an increase in the call OI, it indicates resistance, and in a rising market, if there is an increase in the put OI, it indicates support.
Source: Sensibull
Tijori is an investment research platform, and they have constructed niche indices for various themes and sub-sectors. They help you get a sense of the market performance of narrow slices of the market. You can also track the Promoter buying and other interesting stuff like Capex activity by the companies in the Tijori App’s idea dashboard.
What’s happening in India
Vishal Mega Mart, Mobikwik, and Sai Life Sciences made their debut today on the stock exchanges with impressive gains. Vishal Mega Mart opened at ₹104, marking a 33.33% increase, and closed at ₹111.93, gaining 43.5%. Mobikwik surged 89.25%, reaching ₹528.00, and Sai Life Sciences gained 39.28%, reaching ₹764.65. The market responded positively to these listings, reflecting strong investor confidence.
The Indian rupee hit a record low of 84.9 per USD in December, pressured by capital outflows, lower growth, and expectations of an RBI rate cut. Policy changes in China also led investors to shift funds away from India. Dive deeper
Marico has received relief after the Supreme Court decided that coconut oil in small packs will be taxed as edible oil, which has a 5% GST rate, instead of the higher 18% rate for hair oil. This ruling ends a long dispute and benefits both manufacturers and consumers of pure coconut oil in small packs. Dive deeper
Edelweiss Financial Services Ltd.'s share price rose after the Reserve Bank of India lifted restrictions on two group companies, ECL Finance Ltd. and Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Co., following satisfactory remedial measures. Dive deeper
Kalpataru Projects International Limited (KPIL) has raised approximately ₹1,000 crore through a Qualified Institutions Placement (QIP). The funds will strengthen the company's balance sheet and support its growth in the power transmission and civil infrastructure sectors. Dive deeper
Gensol Engineering Ltd. secures a 22 MW solar project worth INR 88 Crore from a leading steel company in Punjab, marking a significant expansion in India’s renewable energy sector. Dive deeper
Va Tech Wabag shares declined by nearly 11% after the company announced the cancellation of its Rs 2,700 crore order for a seawater desalination plant in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Water Authority notified participants on December 16, 2024, that the tender was canceled due to internal procedures. Dive deeper
Powergrid has approved raising Rs. 4,250 crore through the issuance of unsecured, non-convertible, redeemable, taxable bonds on a private placement basis. The bonds will have a 10-year tenure, with interest paid annually, and will be listed on BSE and NSE. The coupon rate will be decided after bidding. Dive deeper
KFin Technologies has joined BlackRock’s Aladdin Provider Network to enhance its fund administration services, enabling improved data integration and operational efficiency for asset managers. This partnership supports KFintech’s goal of delivering streamlined, data-driven solutions to the asset management industry. Dive deeper
Shriram Finance Limited (SFL) has raised USD 1.277 billion equivalent in multiple currencies through a syndicated External Commercial Borrowing (ECB) loan, marking a significant milestone for the company. The loan, structured as a Social Loan, will support small entrepreneurs and vulnerable groups across India. Dive deeper
Shares of NMDC Ltd. fell around 6% following reports that the Karnataka state government plans to increase the iron ore mining duty. Karnataka, which contributes to 35% of NMDC's iron ore, aims to collect ₹10,000 crore this year. The state's recent approval of the tax bill and the Supreme Court's ruling allowing retrospective mining taxes could result in significant financial implications. Dive deeper
ABB India’s integrated gas analyzer systems, manufactured in Bengaluru, have achieved significant success, with 85% of the production exported to international markets. These systems are crucial for ensuring safety, reliability, and efficiency in sectors like oil and gas. Dive deeper
Poonawalla Fincorp has appointed Mr. Rajeev Sardana as Non-Executive Independent Director and re-appointed Mr. Sanjay Kumar for a second term. The company also increased its borrowing limit to ₹50,000 Crores and approved the creation of charges on its assets. Shareholder approval will be sought at the Extraordinary General Meeting on January 9, 2025. Dive deeper
Shares of Sanghi Industries fell around 12.35% to a 52-week low of ₹67.01 after the company announced its merger with Ambuja Cements. As per the merger, Ambuja will issue 12 shares for every 100 Sanghi shares, pending regulatory approvals. Dive deeper
What’s happening globally
Honda and Nissan are in early talks to form a joint venture to compete more effectively in the growing electric vehicle (EV) market. The potential partnership would allow the automakers to share resources and technology. Mitsubishi may also join the alliance. This development comes as both companies face challenges in the EV sector and market share losses in China. However, no official decisions have been made yet. Dive deeper
UK annual inflation rose to 2.6% in November 2024, up from 2.3% in October. This increase was mainly driven by higher prices in recreation, housing, and food. Services inflation remained steady at 5%, while the core Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 3.5% year-on-year, slightly below expectations. On a monthly basis, CPI edged up 0.1%. Dive deeper
Microsoft has significantly outpaced its rivals, purchasing 485,000 of Nvidia’s "Hopper" chips this year, surpassing Meta and others. This large investment supports Microsoft’s AI infrastructure, particularly for its Azure cloud platform, which powers OpenAI’s models. Despite strong competition from companies like ByteDance, Tencent, Amazon, and Google, Microsoft’s chip orders are substantially higher. Dive deeper
The Bank of Thailand kept its key interest rate at 2.25% in its final meeting of 2024, following a 25 bps cut in October. Inflation rose to 0.95% in November, nearing the lower end of the target range. The economy grew 3% in Q3 2024, supported by government spending and tourism, with projected GDP growth of 2.7% in 2024 and 2.9% in 2025. Inflation is expected to be 0.4% in 2024 and 1.1% in 2025, though recovery remains uneven in some sectors. Dive deeper
Japan's exports grew 3.8% year-on-year to JPY 9,152.38 billion in November 2024, exceeding expectations. Growth was driven by a 23.2% rise in "other" goods, including scientific instruments, and a 5.1% increase in machinery shipments. However, transport equipment exports fell 6%. Exports to China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, India, and Russia rose, while shipments to the US, Germany, and the EU declined. Dive deeper
Management chatter
In this section, we pick out interesting comments made by the management of major companies and policymakers of the Indian and Global Economy.
Sandhya J, Group Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Narayana Health
Affordability is being solved through government schemes & Insurance
Inflation is high in the medical industry
Government schemes don’t do meaningful price hikes
Invested in robotic capabilities across hospitals
Robotic surgeries are not yet margin accretive. - Link
R Mukundan, MD & CEO, Tata Chemicals on costs in European and US markets for chemical companies
The difference between Europe and the US is very simple. In the US, we have low energy costs and low variable costs. Maybe the fixed costs are very similar to Europe. But Europe has a combination of high fixed costs and high variable costs, so extremely difficult for chemical companies to survive unless they get access to lower energy, which they used to have pre-war in Europe and that has gone.
Even if settlement of the war happens, I do not know how that energy game is going to play out, which is one of the reasons why Tata Chemicals has completely pivoted to value-added products. - Link
Rushank Shah, Promoter, Hubtown
We have an extremely large land bank. One of the key advantages of our land bank is all of it is within city limits, especially within MMR limits and a lot of it is in South Bombay which is where a lot of the demand has been coming from. Since it has been historical and our cost basis is much lower than our competitors, obviously that gives us a leg up as we move forward. We will be monetizing all of this land parcel all within city limits over the next four to five years to bring down that debt and to grow the company's bottom line. - Link
Calendars
In the coming days, we have the following major events and corporate actions:
That’s it from us. Do let us know your feedback in the comments and share it with your friends to spread the word.
We’re now on Telegram, follow us for interesting updates on what’s happening in the world of business and finance. Join the conversation on today’s market action here.