1406: Marketbuzz Podcast with Kanishka Sarkar: Muted opening likely, TCS Q3 results in focus

Welcome to CNBC-TV18’s Marketbuzz Podcast. Here is top news from around the world ahead of the trading session of January 9

First a quick recap, the Nifty 50 yesterday witnessed smart upside recovery from lows after showing a deep cut in the early-mid part of the session and settled the day lower by 19 points at 23,689. The index opened on a positive note and slipped into sharp weakness soon after the opening. Weak global cues and stronger-than-expected US jobs data which dampened hopes of an early rate cut by the Federal Reserve, further pressured domestic equities.

-Today, Nifty 50's options contracts will have their weekly expiry. The expiry session will also mark the beginning of the December quarter earnings season for the Nifty 50 companies, with TCS kickstarting the results season.

-Indian stock markets have been downgraded to "neutral" by HSBC compared to its earlier stance of "overweight." While India provides a strong medium-term structural story, the slowdown in growth, amidst high valuations limits the upside and hence the downgrade. HSBC has also cut its 2025-end Sensex target to 85,990 from 90,520 earlier. The revised price target implies a potential upside of 10% from current levels.

-The Gift Nifty was trading flat this morning, indicating a muted start for the Indian market. Analysts expect Indian markets to remain range-bound with stock and sector specific action on the back of upcoming Q3 results.

-Stocks to track: TCS, Manappuram Finance, Lupin, MOIL, Man Industries, Tata Motors

-Asian shares fell this morning after a range-bound session on Wall Street, as caution grew ahead of Thursday’s closure of US equity markets and an important jobs report later in the week. Stocks dropped in Japan, Australia and China, while US contracts also slipped.

-A gloomy outlook for China’s economy is compounding the pressure on regional markets after data showed the nation’s consumer inflation weakened further toward zero in December. Investors are also awaiting Friday’s US employment report which may shed more light on the Federal Reserve’s policy outlook.

-US stock markets will close Jan. 9, in observance of a national day of mourning for former President Jimmy Carter.

-In commodities, oil prices fell this morning, extending losses from the previous day, pressured by large builds in U.S. fuel inventories last week, though concerns over tighter supplies from OPEC members and Russia capped the decline. Brent crude futures fell to $75.88 a barrel.

-In other news back home, at least six people died, and 25 were rushed to the hospital following a stampede near Andhra Pradesh's Tirupati temple late on Wednesday evening. The chaos erupted at three places as hundreds of devotees rushed to secure tokens for the 10-day Vaikunta Dwara Darshanam starting January 10. Overwhelmed by the crowd, the ticketing centre became the site of the incident.

Tune in to the Marketbuzz Podcast for more cues