NIFTY50, SENSEX today: Wall Street cues, FII activity, key things to know before markets open on December 3

The Indian equity markets are set to open on a flat note on Wednesday, December 3, as indicated by GIFT NIFTY futures. NIFTY futures at GIFT City in Ahmedabad fell 13 points to 26,200 despite positive cues from Asian markets.

The Indian equity benchmarks fell for a third straight session on Tuesday, December 2, dragged down by losses in index heavyweights like HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, Larsen & Toubro, Axis Bank and ITC. The SENSEX fell as much as 589 points and NIFTY50 index touched an intraday low of 25,997.85.

The SENSEX ended 504 points lower at 85,138 and NIFTY50 index dropped 144 points to close at 26,032.

Asian markets

Asian markets were trading higher following gains on Wall Street overnight. Japan's Nikkei rose 0.9%, South Korea's KOSPI advanced 1.27% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 0.6%.

Wall Street update

Wall Street ended higher on Tuesday on hopes that US Federal Reserve will cut rates later this month. US stocks advanced to record their sixth gain in seven sessions in muted trading on Tuesday, buoyed by gains in technology shares.

With a dearth of economic data for the session, the rise in bond yields eased and bitcoin rebounded, which enabled stocks to recover somewhat as the focus shifted to the Fed, news agency Reuters reported.

Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.39%, S&P500 advanced 0.25% and tech heavy Nasdaq climbed 0.59%.

FII/DII activity

Foreign institutional investors sold shares worth ₹3,642 crore on Tuesday while domestic institutional investors bought shares worth ₹4,646 crore, data from the National Stock Exchange showed.

The FIIs have so far this month sold shares worth ₹4,335 crore and for the calendar year they have been net sellers to the tune of ₹1,48,010 crore, according to the data from National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL).

Stocks to watch

According to the bulk deal data available on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), Bajaj Finance Ltd sold 16.66 crore (16,66,00,000), representing a 1.99% stake in Bajaj Housing Finance.

The shares were disposed of at an average price of ₹95.31 apiece, taking the transaction value to ₹1,587.86 crore.

After the latest transaction, Bajaj Finance's holding in Bajaj Housing Finance has dropped to 86.71% from 88.70%.

USD/INR update

The rupee hit the psychological 90-a-dollar level in intraday trade before settling 43 paise down at an all-time low of 89.96 against the US dollar on Tuesday, largely owing to continued short-covering from speculators and sustained importer demand for the American currency.

Forex traders said multiple pressures, like foreign fund outflows from equities and lingering uncertainty over the Indo-US trade deal, are keeping investor sentiment fragile.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 89.70, then lost its ground and fell to a record intraday low of 90.00 against the US dollar, down 47 paise over its previous close.

At the end of trade on Tuesday, the rupee settled at a record low of 89.96 against the greenback, down 43 paise over its previous close.

On Monday, the rupee depreciated by eight paise to close at 89.53 against the US dollar.

IPO market update

SoftBank-backed e-commerce firm Meesho on Tuesday said it has garnered a little over Rs 2,439 crore from anchor investors, including SBI Mutual Fund, Fidelity Funds, and BlackRock, ahead of its initial public offering (IPO) opening for subscription.

The anchor book witnessed demand of over Rs 80,000 crore, translating into nearly 30 times oversubscription, sources said.

The anchor book saw participation from 60 investors, including major domestic institutional investors and leading global names such as the Government of Singapore, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, Tiger Global, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley, according to a circular uploaded on the BSE website.