India CPI Data, HCLTech's Q3 Result, JSW Cement IPO Approved | Rise With Profit

This is the daily morning update from NDTV Profit. Here’s everything you need to know at the start of your day.

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The big talking point globally continues to be higher bond yields and the elevated dollar, which is putting pressure on equity markets across the board. US markets fell sharply at the start of the session before recovering ground. At one point in the session, the S&P 500 wiped out all the gains post the US election.

The uncertainty ahead of the inauguration of the Donald Trump administration next week is not helping matters either. The dollar rose further on Monday to a fresh 26-month high, with the dollar index well above 109. It has now risen in 14 out of the last 15 weeks.

To round up international markets, US stocks finally ended the day in the green—the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.9%, while the S&P 500 edged 0.1% higher. The Nasdaq stayed in the red, closing 0.4% lower.

Bond yields continue to remain elevated. The 10-year treasury yield is at 4.77%, while the yield on the 30-year bond is inching closer to 5%.

In the Asia Pacific region this morning, it’s a mixed start for the three early risers. The Nikkei 225 was lower by over a percent, while the other two were marginally positive last I checked.

In more international news, negotiators will meet in Doha today seeking to finalise details of a plan to end the war in Gaza, after US President Joe Biden said a ceasefire and hostage release deal he has championed was on "the brink" of coming to fruition. That’s a Reuters report.

Mediators gave Israel and Hamas a final draft of a deal yesterday, according to an official briefed on the negotiations. If successful, the ceasefire deal would cap over a year of start-and-stop talks and lead to the biggest release of Israeli hostages since the early days of the conflict.

In India, the big talking point was on the macroeconomic front. Consumer price index-based inflation cooled in December to below consensus expectations. It came in at 5.22% from 5.48% in November, on the back of cooling vegetable prices. That’s a four-month low.

Food and beverage inflation eased further to 7.69% in December from 8.2% in November. This was led by vegetable price inflation cooling to 26.56% from 29.33% in the same duration. Core inflation—which strips out volatile food and fuel prices—rose 3.6%, compared to 3.7% in November.

Remember, this is still higher than the Reserve Bank of India’s target of 4%, but is within the bounds of what is tolerable.

On the earnings front, HCL Technologies' net profit rose 8.4% sequentially to Rs 4,591 crore in the December quarter and was in line with expectations. The company’s revenue rose 3.6% sequentially to Rs 29,890 crore. The margin expanded 90 basis points to 19.5%.

For the full year, the company has raised the lower end of its revenue forecast, and that will be seen as a positive.

In the primary markets, the Securities and Exchange Board of India has approved the initial public offering of JSW Cement Ltd. to raise Rs 4,000 crore. The regulator issued its observations on the IPO, which means a final clearance, according to a release. The IPO with a face value of Rs 10 each, is a mix of fresh issue of shares up to Rs 2,000 crore and an offer-for-sale of up to Rs 2,000 crore, according to the draft red herring prospectus.

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