The headline equity benchmarks continued to trade with significant losses in mid-morning trade. The Nifty slipped below the 24,650 mark. Oil & gas shares declined after advancing in the past trading session.

At 11:29 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, dropped 456.34 points or 0.54% to 81,676.78. The Nifty 50 index fell 134.65 points or 0.54% to 24,633.65.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 0.30% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.25%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2,287 shares rose and 1,652 shares fell. A total of 149 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

The HSBC Flash India Composite Output Index registered a value of 60.7 at the end of December 2024. This marked an increase from the final reading of 58.6 in November, indicating the strongest growth rate observed in four months. The rise was driven by faster growth in both the manufacturing and services sectors.

The HSBC Flash India Manufacturing PMI stood at 57.4 in December as compared with 56.5 in November 2024, this pointed to an improvement in manufacturing sector conditions that was substantial and stronger than seen on average across the series history.

The HSBC Flash India Services PMI Business was at 60.8 in December 2024 as against 58.4 in November 2024.

Ines Lam, Economist at HSBC, said, “In this flash release, the small rise in the headline manufacturing PMI in December was mainly driven by gains in current production, new orders and employment. The expansion in new domestic orders quickened, suggesting a pick-up in growth momentum in the economy. In addition, sustained increases in input costs have pushed manufacturers to continue to raise selling prices. The output price index rose to its highest level since February 2013.”

Meanwhile, India’s foreign exchange reserves dropped by $3.235 billion to $654.857 billion, a five-month low, for the week ended December 6, data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) revealed on Friday.

Foreign currency assets, a major component of the reserves, decreased by $3.228 billion to $565.623 billion for the week ended December 6, 2024, as per the data.

Meanwhile, gold reserves dropped by $43 million to $66.936 billion in the week under consideration. The Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) increased by $25 million to $18.031 billion, RBI data showed.

India’s reserve position with the IMF rose by $12 million to $4.266 billion in the reporting week.

IPO Update:

The initial public offer (IPO) of Inventurus Knowledge Solutions received bids for 3,76,65,111 shares as against 1,03,66,780 shares on offer, according to stock exchange data at 11:10 IST on 16 December 2024. The issue was subscribed to 3.63 times.

The issue opened for bidding on 12 December 2024 and it will close on 16 December 2024. The price band of the IPO is fixed between Rs 1,265 and Rs 1,329 per share. An investor can bid for a minimum of 11 equity shares and in multiples thereof.

The initial public offer (IPO) of International Gemmological Institute (India) received bids for 1,83,39,825 shares as against 5,85,60,902 shares on offer, according to stock exchange data at 11:10 IST on 16 December 2024. The issue was subscribed to 0.31 times.

The issue opened for bidding on 13 December 2024 and it will close on 17 December 2024. The price band of the IPO is fixed between Rs 397 and Rs 417 per share. An investor can bid for a minimum of 35 equity shares and in multiples thereof.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Oil & Gas index declined 0.80% to 11,070.65. The index rose 0.34% in the past trading session.

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (down 2.45%), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (down 1.79%), Petronet LNG (down 1.54%), GAIL (India) (down 1.12%), Indian Oil Corporation (down 1.01%), Oil & Natural Gas Corpn (down 1%), Mahanagar Gas (down 0.74%), Aegis Logistics (down 0.64%), Castrol India (down 0.35%) and Adani Total Gas (down 0.16%) slipped.

On the other hand, Indraprastha Gas (up 1.45%), Oil India (up 0.64%) and Gujarat Gas (up 0.31%) edged higher.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Dixon Technologies (India) rallied 4.17% after the company signed a binding term sheet for setting up a new manufacturing joint venture with vivo Mobile India.

PVR Inox rose 1.79% after the company announced the opening of a new 6-screen cinema at Mall of Dehradun.

Global Markets:

Asian stocks declined Monday ahead of a swath of Chinese data and following a vow from the nation’s regulators to stabilize markets. Investors readied themselves for the final full week of trading this year with a series of central bank meetings including the Fed, Bank of Japan and Bank of England.

South Korea’s shares and the won rose after President Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached on the weekend.

Meanwhile, the au Jibun Bank Japan manufacturing PMI read 49.5 in the first two weeks of December, compared to expectations of 49.2. The reading improved from 49.0 seen in the prior month.

The au Jibun Bank Japan Services PMI rose to 51.4 in December from 50.5 in the prior month, pushing further into expansion territory.

A reading below 50 indicates contraction, with the manufacturing PMI now shrinking for a sixth straight month.

U.S. stocks witnessed a subdued session on Friday as recent economic data showed inflation remaining sticky in November- a trend that could limit the Fed’s plans to lower interest rates.

The Fed is widely expected to cut interest rates by 25 basis points at the conclusion of a two-day meeting on Wednesday, after the central bank kicked off an easing cycle earlier in the year. The move will bring rates down by a total of 100 bps in 2024.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 86.06 points, or 0.20%, to 43,828.06, the S&P 500 lost 0.16 point, or 0.00%, to 6,051.09 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 23.88 points, or 0.12%, to 19,926.72.