10 things you need to know before the opening bell on January 25

SUMMARY

The Indian market is likely to open higher on Monday as the trend on SGX Nifty indicates a positive start for the broader index in India. The Nifty futures were trading 129.50 points or 0.90 percent higher at the 14,486.50 level on the Singaporean Exchange at 7:00 am.

By CNBCTV18.comJan 25, 2021 8:04:08 AM IST (Published)

1. Wall Street: The S&P 500 was 0.1 percent lower in afternoon trading on Friday, a day after inching up to its second straight all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 119 points, or 0.4 percent, at 31,057, as of 2:57 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was up 0.1 percent.

2. Asian Markets: Asian shares were on the defensive on Monday as rising COVID-19 cases and doubts over the ability of vaccine makers to supply the promised doses on time soured risk appetite. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was barely changed at 718.72. The benchmark is below the record high of 727.31 touched last week but up 8.5 percent so far in January, on track for its fourth straight monthly rise. Japan's Nikkei fell 0.1 percent. Australian shares were higher after the country's drug regulator approved the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine with authorities saying a phased rollout will begin late next month.

3. Indian Markets: Indian indices ended 1.5 percent lower on Friday mainly dragged by banking, financial and metal sectors. The Sensex ended 746 points lower at 48,878 while the Nifty fell 218 points to settle at 14,372. Both indices also ended the week in red, down around 0.4 percent each. Among sectors, the Nifty Metal lost 3.7 percent while the banking index was down 3 percent. The Nifty Fin services and realty indices also lost 2.5 percent each and pharma shed 1 percent. However, the auto index rallied for the day, gained over a percent on the back of robust Bajaj Auto earnings.

4. Oil: A gauge of stocks across the world slipped from record highs on Friday and the dollar edged up against a basket of peers as weak economic data and underwhelming earnings drove investors to reverse some recent risky bets. Oil prices fell to end the week little changed and the dollar index posted its largest weekly drop in five weeks. Energy stocks also fell on Wall Street, alongside the price of crude.

5. Rupee: The rupee clawed back lost ground towards the fag-end of the session and settled with a marginal 2 paise gain at 72.97 against the US dollar on Friday, supported by easing crude oil prices. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the domestic unit opened lower and traded in the negative territory most part of the session, tracking a massive selloff in domestic equities. The rupee touched a low of 73.09 and a high of 72.96 during the day.

6. Farmers' Rally: Big farmers' rally today in Mumbai to protest against the Centre's new agriculture laws. Maharashtra farmers join to support the ongoing farmers' protest in Delhi. The farmers are protesting to demand repealing of three agri laws, central law guaranteeing MSP & procurement. Mumbai Police has beefed up the security at Azad Maidan.

7. Global Green Bonds: Global green bond issuance reached a record high of $269.5 billion by the end of last year and could reach $400-$450 billion this year, a report by the Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI) showed on Monday. Green bonds are a growing category of fixed-income securities that raise capital for projects with environmental benefits, such as renewable energy or low-carbon transport. Although issuance reached a new record in 2020, the figure was just above 2019's total of $266.5 billion as issuance slowed in the second quarter due to the effects of the coronavirus crisis before rebounding in the third quarter.

8. China FDI: China was the largest recipient of foreign direct investment in 2020 as the coronavirus outbreak spread across the world during the course of the year, with the Chinese economy having brought in $163 billion in inflows. China's $163 billion in inflows last year, compared to $134 billion attracted by the United States, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said in a report released on Sunday. In 2019, the United States had received $251 billion in inflows and China received $140 billion.

9. US Travel Ban: President Joe Biden will impose a ban on most non-U.S. citizens entering the country who have recently been in South Africa starting Saturday in a bid to contain the spread of a new variant of COVID-19, a senior U.S. public health official told Reuters. Biden on Monday is also reimposing an entry ban on nearly all non-U.S. travelers who have been in Brazil, the United Kingdom, Ireland and 26 countries in Europe that allow travel across open borders.

10. Reserve Bank of India: RBI is expected to rein in any sharp appreciation in rupee due to hefty FIIs' inflows during the upcoming week. Experts contend that the effects of large FIIs' inflows will be neutralized by the RBI as it aims to keep the country's export competitiveness.