Market may rise at opening bell; RBI policy watched

SGX Nifty:

Trading of Nifty 50 index futures on the Singapore stock exchange indicates that the Nifty 50 index could rise 44.50 points at the opening bell.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das will announce the policy decision of the Monetary Policy Committee on Friday at 10:00 IST, followed by a press conference at 12:00 IST.

Global markets:

Overseas, Asian stocks were mixed in Friday trade after a report said Pfizer expects to ship half the Covid-19 vaccine doses it originally planned for this year due to supply chain issues.

Hong Kong shares of Chinese chipmaker SMIC and oil producer CNOOC declined after the Pentagon announced that the two firms were added to a blacklist of alleged Chinese military companies.

In the US, the Nasdaq Composite Index closed at a record high on Thursday, lifted by Tesla Inc, while the S&P 500 fell after a report that Pfizer Inc had slashed the target for the rollout of its COVID-19 vaccine. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 86 points, supported by a jump in Boeing shares.

Investors awaited a key November jobs report to gauge the pace of labor market recovery in the face of a worsening pandemic. The latest weekly jobless claims hit a pandemic-era low, the Labor Department reported Thursday. First-time claims for unemployment benefits totaled 712,000 last week, compared with 787,000 a week earlier. Still, the claims remained well above the pre-pandemic record.

Investors closely monitored progress toward a stimulus deal as lawmakers make a strong push to break a stalemate over how to boost an economy that continues to be hurt by the pandemic.

Numbers to Track:

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was down 0.02% to 90.70.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for February 2020 settlement was up 72 cents to $49.47 a barrel. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other oil-producing nations led by Russia reached a compromise on Thursday to modestly increase production in January. Under the agreement, members of OPEC along with Russia and other countries will increase production by 500,000 barrels a day in January and, potentially, by a similar amount in the following months.

Domestic markets:

Back home, domestic equity benchmarks ended near the flat line with some positive bias on Thursday. While PSU banks, metals and auto shares advanced, private banks and IT stocks declined. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, gained 14.61 points or 0.03% to 44,632.65. The Nifty 50 index rose 20.15 points or 0.15% at 13,133.90, its record closing high.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 3,637.42 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net sellers to the tune of Rs 1,439.74 crore in the Indian equity market on 3 December 2020, provisional data showed.

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