Stock Market LIVE Updates: Sensex up 550 pts, Nifty above 17,500; auto, IT gain

Share market LIVE updates: Sensex and Nifty rose on Monday, led by banks, auto and IT stocks. US equity futures rose, while Asian stocks were mixed in thin trade as investors mulled Omicron's impact on global economic recovery

The trajectory of policy by the Federal Reserve and other central banks, particularly as inflation continues to present a challenge, will be in focus into 2022. Many strategists are predicting more volatility in the year ahead as the path forward becomes less clear

Nifty fair value pegged at 20,000: ICICI Securities

With the worst of asset quality concerns behind us amid resolution of big ticket stressed assets and economic optimism in the post-Covid era, Nifty earnings CAGR is impressively placed at 25.7% in FY21E-23E.?

We value the Nifty at 20,000 i.e. 24.5x P/E on FY23E EPS of | 815 with corresponding Sensex target at 66600.

Mid-caps, small-caps gave stellar returns in CY21. This is expected to continue in CY22E driven by inherent business moats as the earnings CAGR for midcap, small cap in FY21-23E is expected at ~39%, 28%, respectively. Going forward, innovative themes present in the midcap & small cap space (like speciality steel chemicals, home textiles, CRAMS, etc), superior earning potential and reasonable valuations (trades at <20x PE on FY23E, ~0.5x PEG) make us believe that more upsides are in store for investors.

Oil starts new year on positive note, pandemic worries curb gains

il prices firmed on Monday as the market kicked off 2022 on a positive note with suppliers in focus ahead of Tuesday's OPEC+ meeting, although surging COVID-19 cases continued to dent demand sentiment.

Brent crude added 59 cents, or 0.76%, to $78.37 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained 63 cents, or 0.84%, to $75.84 a barrel.

India's Dec jobless rate hits four-month high of 7.9%: CMIE

India's unemployment rate hit a four-month high in December, as per data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) showed on Monday.

The unemployment rate rose to 7.9% in December from 7.0% in November, its highest since 8.3% in August.

Economic activity and consumer sentiment have been hit in the South Asian nation after a rise in cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant and social distancing restrictions in many states.

Urban unemployment rate rose to 9.3% in December from 8.2% in the previous month while the rural unemployment rate was up 7.3% from 6.4%, the data showed.

Many economists worry that the Omicron variant could reverse the economic recovery seen in the previous quarter.

Nippon India MF launches auto sector ETF

Nippon Life India Asset Management Limited (NAM India), asset manager of Nippon India Mutual Fund (NIMF), on Monday announced the launch of Nippon India Nifty Auto ETF, country’s first auto sector ETF (exchange-traded fund).

The New Fund Offer (NFO) will open on 5 January 2022 and close on 14 January 2022 and the minimum investment amount required is ?1,000. Investors can add in multiples of Re 1 after the minimum amount of ?1,000.

Nifty view: Manish Hathiramani, proprietary index trader and technical analyst, Deen Dayal Investments

The Nifty is in positive terrain, the breakout level was 17350 and we managed to close above that on Friday. This should allow the index to move higher to 17575-17600 and then 17800. A good base has been formed at 17100 and as long as we can.

UPL swaps USD 700 mn acquisition loan with a sustainability loan: BSE filing?

UPL Ltd raised a second tranche of $700 million sustainability linked loan on 31 December, with a reduction of interest cost by 35 bps and an opportunity for a further reduction of 5 bps on achievement of sustainability indicators agreed with the banks.

The first tranche of $750 million was raised in March and April 2021. Of the $1.45 billion, the debt maturity for $1.25 billion gets extended by two years to FY26 against FY24 earlier.?

Nifty view: Nagaraj Shetti, technical research analyst at HDFC Securities

The short term trend of Nifty continues to be positive and one may expect further upside in the short term. A sustainable move above 17,640 on NSE Nifty is likely to negate the bearish setup and that could open more upside as per daily and weekly timeframe chart. Immediate support for Nifty is placed at 17,260 levels.

PLI Boost: Telecom gear makers log ?6,200 crore production

Telecom equipment makers have produced more than ?6,200 crore worth of products with an investment of close to ?247 crore since the launch of the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for the segment, the Economic Times has reported.?

The production and investment have so far been driven by large multinational players such as Ericsson and Nokia, with Indian companies having sought an extension to meet their targets, saying they have received just four months to meet the first-year milestones.

MNCs have invested ?151 crore, the officer told ET. Large Indian manufacturers have invested ?86 crore, while the remaining ?9.7 crore of investment was from MSMEs.

RBI-appointed administrator moves court to retain Srei control over Trinity: report?

At the heart of the bankruptcy proceedings of one of India's largest non-banking finance companies, Srei, and its subsidiary lies a lesser known asset management firm called Trinity, which runs multiple funds with diverse investments. Fearing that Trinity could slip out of control, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)-appointed administrator has moved court to avert a change in the shareholding of Trinity Alternative Investment Managers Ltd.

Srei Infrastructure Finance, the main Srei company, owns 51% in Trinity, and the balance 49% equity is held by Payaash Capital, a Singapore-based entity. The administrator swung into action - first, serving a legal notice to Trinity, and then seeking a stay before the Kolkata bench of the National Company Law Tribunal in an attempt to block a rights issue proposed by the board of directors of Trinity.

Oil starts new year on positive note, pandemic worries curb gains

Oil prices rose on Monday as the market kicked off 2022 on a positive note, although concerns over demand waning due to rapidly spreading COVID-19 pandemic limited gains.

Brent crude added 67 cents, or 0.86%, to $78.45 a barrel, as of 0102 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained 77 cents, or 1.02%, to $75.98 a barrel.

Last year, oil prices rose around 50%, spurred by the global economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic slump and producer restraint, even as infections reached record highs worldwide.

NBFCs to witness revival in growth this year; may see slight uptick in NPAs

Non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) showed resilience in 2021 despite the coronavirus pandemic woes and are expected to witness continued momentum in growth this year.

This year, the growth will be driven by the uptick in the economy, stronger balance sheet, higher provisions and improved capital positions of NBFCs.

On the other hand, gross non-performing assets (NPAs) of NBFCs are likely to rise, following the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) move to tighten the NPA norms in November 2021.

"Our baseline assumption is that the worst is behind them (NBFCs) and things will start improving here on. We expect NBFCs to show higher growth and they will benefit from the economy moving up," Crisil Ratings Ltd Senior Director and Deputy Chief Ratings Officer Krishnan Sitaraman said.

The asset under management (AUM) of shadow banking players is expected to grow at 6-8 per cent in the current financial year and 8-10 per cent in the next financial year, Sitaraman said.

Reliance Industries plans to raise up to $5 billion in US debt

Reliance Industries Ltd plans to raise up to $5 billion in dollar-denominated debt and use proceeds primarily to refinance its existing borrowings.

The Mukesh Ambani-owned oil-to-telecoms conglomerate said the proposal for fixed rate notes, which could be issued in one or more tranches, was approved by the board in a meeting on Saturday.

While the company did not give further details on the use of proceeds, the Economic Times newspaper said it will be used refinance earlier debt raised from international investors, with a bundle of loans coming up for maturities in the next three to four months.

The newspaper said the offering would be the largest offshore raising by an Indian borrower in one go, adding that the move will be debt-neutral to the company.

Most Asian markets shut; Chian's Evergrande shares to halt trading

Financial markets in Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand and Thailand are closed on Monday for public holidays.

Hong Kong stocks rose at the open on Monday, kicking off the new year on a positive note after a healthy finish to 2021, though traders remain on edge over a range of issues including the fast-spreading Omicron virus variant.

The Hang Seng Index added 0.48%, or 112.87 points, to 23,510.54.

China Evergrande Group said its shares will be suspended from trading on Monday, without giving any reason. The embattled property developer has more than $300 billion in liabilities and is scrambling to raise cash by selling assets and shares to repay suppliers and creditors.

On Friday, US stocks capped a quiet day of trading with modest losses, even as Wall Street closed the books on another banner year. The major indices spent much of the day flipping between small gains and losses. The S&P500 index fell 12.55 points, or 0.3%, to 4,766.18. The Dow slid 59.78 points, or 0.2%, to 36,338.30. The Nasdaq fell 96.59 points, or 0.6%, to 15,644.97.

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