Global Economic Data This Week, ITC Record Date, Q3 Updates | Rise With Profit

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This promises to be an interesting week on the global stage on the data front. You'll likely see headlines that influence the trajectory of global markets. In the US, you'll get the December jobs data on Friday, where analysts expect a rise of 150,000 with unemployment unchanged at 4.2%. There will also be surveys on manufacturing, services and consumer sentiment there.

Anything better than expected on the jobs front would support the case for fewer rate cuts from the Fed. Already, over the past few weeks, since the last meeting of the US central bank, traders have slashed their expectations for rate cuts in 2025. The minutes of the Fed's last meeting will be out on Wednesday and that'll give insight on the dot plot—which is what people look at to try and gauge where interest rates are heading.  

Meanwhile, China's consumer prices are expected to support the case for further stimulus.

This morning, a private-sector survey showed that Japan's service activity expanded for a second straight month in December, buoyed by solid demand and business expansion.

Asian markets are off to a mixed start—Japanese markets are back after a holiday, with the Nikkei 225 losing about 0.8% in early trade. The other two early risers were positive last I checked. Equity markets outside of the US have been under pressure with a rise in Treasury yields in the recent past. Yields on the 10-year are very close to an eight-month high at 4.62%. That's contributed to making the dollar stronger—as of this morning, the dollar index, which measures the strength of the greenback against several global currencies, was higher than $109.

Indian equity markets ended last week higher, with the Nifty 50 and Sensex gaining 1.5 and 1.4%, respectively. In terms of sectors, PSU Banks and Media indices broke their three-week losing streaks, while Oil and Gas, Energy, and Auto extended gains for the second consecutive week. Pharma marked its third straight week of advance, while metals rebounded after two weeks of loss. On the downside, Nifty Bank and IT ended their two-week winning streaks.

There's quite a bit of action in the primary markets this week with three mainboard and seven SME IPOs. The mainboard IPOs are of Standard Glass Lining, Quadrant Future Tek and Capital Infra Trust InvIT.

ITC Demerger

ITC is something you'll want to watch at the start today—it is the record date for the demerger with ITC Hotels. It is also the ex-date—and what that means is that the ITC share price will get adjusted for the demerger of the hotels business through a special pre-open session. That'll take place between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. After that, something similar to what happened when Jio Financial Services Ltd. split with RIL will take place. And ITC Hotels shares will sit on all the indices that it is currently part of, till it is listed and trading begins.

Q3 Updates: Dabur, Marico, HDFC Bank

There are a number of quarterly updates to factor in. In the consumption space, Dabur India Ltd. has said it expects its consolidated revenue to grow in low single digits in the third quarter. In a notification, it said that rural consumption is resilient and continues to grow ahead of urban. It also expects a sequential improvement in demand.

Marico Ltd.'s revenue is expected to grow in the mid-teens and it sees a modest operating profit growth in the quarter.

Also in the FMCG space, it's come to light that HUL is nearing a deal to acquire Minimalist—which is a Jaipur-based skincare startup. The potential deal values Minimalist at Rs 3,000 crore.

Banks have sent in their quarterly updates too—the growth for HDFC Bank Ltd. is below consensus expectations. It's loan-to-deposit ratio, which has been a key measurable since its merger with HDFC, has shrunk from 100.7% to 99.1%. Advances grew only 3% year on year, while deposits grew nearly 16%.

Bandhan Bank had a mixed set of numbers—advances were strong, but deposits and particularly current and savings account deposits saw degrowth. And finally, IndusInd Bank's numbers were below expectations. The bank's advances growth was below guidance and a degrowth in deposits meant that the loan-to-deposit ratio has shrunk.

Of course, there's more in the way of stocks that you should watch out for, including stocks that may react to order wins and other business updates. Do check out the website ndtvprofit.com for more.

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