Asia stocks got off to a cautious start on Monday in a week where Japan's central bank might edge further away from its uber-easy policies.

The Nikkei is trading 1% lower while the Hang Seng index is trading 0.6% lower.

Wall Street stocks wobbled to a mixed close and the dollar bounced back on Friday as market participants caught their breath at the end of a week loaded with central bank policy decisions and crucial economic data.

Here's a table showing how US stocks performed on Friday:

Source: Equitymaster

At present, the BSE Sensex is trading 193 points lower and NSE Nifty is trading 42 points lower.

Bajaj Auto and Sun Pharma are among the top gainers today.

Coal India and ITC on the other hand are among the top losers today.

Broader markets are trading on positive note. The BSE Mid Cap index is trading marginally higher and the BSE Small Cap index is trading higher by 0.4%.

Sectoral indices are trading mixed today, with stocks in healthcare sector and telecom sector witnessing most buying. Meanwhile, stocks in banking sector and realty sector witness selling.

Shares of TCS and Titan hit their 52-week high today.

The rupee is trading at Rs 82.9 against the US dollar.

In commodity markets, gold prices are trading 0.4% lower at Rs 61,970 per 10 grams today.

Meanwhile, silver prices are trading 0.1% lower at Rs 74,450 per 1 kg.

Now track the biggest movers of the stock market using stocks to watch today section. This should help you keep updated with the latest developments...

Speaking of the stock market, the entire bunch of PSU stocks has been the surprise package of 2023. The PSU index has outperformed the Sensex by almost 3x with lot of individual stocks doing even better.

But what next? Are their valuations running ahead of fundamentals or will the party continue in 2024?Rahul Shah co-head of research at Equitymaster, answers all these question in below video.
 

Tata Power Wins NTPC Solar Contract

Tata Power Solar Systems has bagged a Rs 4.2 billion (bn) order to supply 152 MWp solar PV modules for an NTPC project at Nokh in Rajasthan.

Tata Power Solar Systems Ltd (TPSSL) has signed a contract to supply 152 MWp solar PV modules for NTPC's Nokh Solar PV Project in Rajasthan.

The NTPC is developing 3x245 MW (735 MW) Nokh Solar Park at Pokhran, Jaisalmer, Rajasthan.

The TPSSL's solar cell and module manufacturing plant in Bengaluru will supply 152 MWp DCR Solar PV Modules for this project.

Tata Power's share price has gained more than 50% in 2023 so far.

Tata Power becomes the sixth Tata group company to cross Rs 1 trillion in market cap.
 

Adani Group Acquires Stake in IANS

Adani's group has acquired a majority stake in news agency IANS India for Rs 510,000 as the group expands its presence in the media space.

Adani Enterprises, the firm that holds the group's media interest -- said its subsidiary AMG Media Networks Ltd has acquired a 50.50% stake, constituting equity shares of IANS India.

The company did not disclose the acquisition price.

Adani forayed into the media business in March last year when it acquired Quintillion Business Media, which operates the business and financial news digital media platform BQ Prime.

In December, it took a nearly 65% stake in broadcaster NDTV. AMNL was the vehicle for these acquisitions as well.

AMNL has also signed a shareholders' agreement with IANS and Sandeep Bamzai, a shareholder of IANS, to record their inter-se rights concerning IANS.

IANS had a revenue of Rs 118.6 m in the fiscal year 2022-23.

A first-generation entrepreneur, Adani started as a commodities trader in 1988 and expanded his business interests to become India's largest private player in infrastructure, with 13 ports and eight airports.
 

12 IPOs to Hit Street This week

Given the optimistic mood at Dalal Street with benchmark indices, as well as broader markets and several sectors, achieving new milestones day after day, the primary market also seems to be more energetic now, providing several investment opportunities for investors as a total of 12 companies will be opening their initial public offerings this week along with lined up of eight new listings.

More than Rs 46 bn of fundraising will be taking place by the 12 companies in the coming week starting from 18 December, after nearly Rs 40 bn worth of IPOs launched in the last week ended 15 December.

All the optimism is attributed to the strong economic growth, increasing hopes for policy continuation after recent state election results, easing monetary policy by central banks in the coming year, favourable oil prices, expectations of strong earnings growth and healthy domestic money flow.

With the upcoming week's data, the total fundraising by 239 companies is going to be Rs 57,720 crore in the current calendar year, including SMEs, which is lower than Rs 619 bn of 150 IPOs launched in the previous year.

Microfinance institution Muthoot Microfin will be the first among the eight companies launching an IPO next week on 18 December.

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