Stock Market Today: Top 10 things to know before the market opens

Dalal Street

The benchmark Sensex and Nifty indices are likely to open marginally lower on November 3 as trends in the GIFT Nifty indicate a negative start for the broader index with a loss of 14.5 points.

On November 2, after a two-day correction, the BSE Sensex advanced 490 points to 64,081, while the Nifty50 rose 144 points to 19,133 and formed small bullish candlestick pattern with upper and lower shadows on the daily timeframe.

"The index has an immediate support at 19,100 levels and below that 19,000 levels, whereas 19,200 is an immediate resistance and 19,300 is the next resistance," Jay Thakkar, Head - Alternate Research, Capital Market Strategy at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas said.

He feels till the above-mentioned support levels are held, a short-term bounce can’t be ruled out. But, "the overall medium-term trend, however, is still negative only; hence traders should hedge and not be over aggressive on the long side in this bounce," Thakkar said.

The pivot point calculator indicates that the Nifty may take support at 19,082, followed by 19,056 and 19,013. On the higher side, 19,167 can be the immediate resistance followed by 19,193 and 19,235.

The GIFT Nifty indicates a marginally negative start for the broader index with a loss of 14.5 points. GIFT Nifty futures stood at 19,345 points after making a high of 19,369 points.

Trade setup for Friday: Top 15 things to know before the opening bell

Nasdaq 100 futures slipped Thursday night after Apple issued its latest quarterly results. Futures linked to the tech-heavy index slid 0.3 percent, while S&P 500 futures dropped 0.1 percent. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average pulled back 19 points, or 0.06 percent.

In after-hours action, Apple fell 3 percent after the iPhone maker issued a weak revenue outlook for the December quarter. Though the company beat on top and bottom lines in its fiscal fourth quarter, overall sales declined for the fourth quarter in a row. Elsewhere, shares of Square popped 16 percent on an earnings beat and a raise on full-year guidance, while Paramount Global jumped nearly 5 percent on a strong quarterly report.

Thursday’s regular session saw a broad rally for stocks as Treasury yields retreated. The S&P 500 notched its best day since April, up 1.9 percent, while the Dow saw its best session since June with a 1.7 percent gain. The Nasdaq Composite posted its best day since July, rising about 1.8 percent.

European markets closed higher Thursday as investors reacted positively to the US Federal Reserve’s decision to hold interest rates steady. The Stoxx 600 ended 1.6 percent higher, while all sectors were in positive territory. Auto stocks were up 3 percent as tech stocks shot 2.7 percent higher amid rising risk appetite.

Stocks maintained gains after the Bank of England announced at midday it would hold interest rates steady. The decision was widely expected after the Fed and European Central Bank also paused hikes.

The Fed made the decision Wednesday amid signs of economic growth, while labor market conditions and inflation remain above the central bank’s target. The decision also included an upgrade to the Fed’s general assessment of the economy. Asia markets rose sharply as investors took comfort from the decision, while S&P 500 futures inched higher overnight as investors shifted focus from the Fed to the latest batch of corporate earnings reports.

Asia-Pacific markets rose at the end of the week, with investors awaiting a fresh round of data for more clues on the health of services activity through the region. Services purchasing managers’ index data from major economies including China, India and Hong Kong are set to be released throughout the day.

Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 17,455, pointing to a higher open compared with the HSI’s close of 17,230.59. South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.78 percent at the open, while the Kosdaq was up 0.14 percent.

Japan markets were shut for a public holiday. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 traded about 0.9 percent higher. Wall Street indexes rose on Thursday as Treasury yields fell, with investors betting the Federal Reserve could be done raising rates for 2023.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 1.7 percent, higher, its best day since June. The S&P 500 added 1.89 percent, the first time the S&P 500 posted back-to-back gains of more than 1 percent since February.

Speaking at the Indian Business Leader Awards Jury discussion on CNBC-TV18, Manny Maceda the CEO of Bain Global spoke at length about the possibilities that exist for India in the post-pandemic world, the pillars  driving growth and the way businesses have changed due to recent geo-political changes.

Talking about deglobalization and the geopolitical factors that are coming into play either when economic decisions or commercial decisions are made and how they are weighing on what's happening within the boardroom today, the Bain CEO remarked that, 'participating in India as a global company might actually be a risk management strategy'.

Talking about the way geo-political conflicts have impacted business decisions, Maceda spoke about various unprecedented events such as the Russia-Ukraine war and the instability in the Middle East.

"We didn't predict two years ago that Russia would invade Ukraine and that this war would still not be resolved, we didn't necessarily predict that the alignment of certain countries especially the US and China for many years would come under tension. Not that long ago we were expecting a path in the Middle East perhaps to peace with Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Israel even normalizing relations and a month later, it's very different. So all of these are potentially global risks that change how companies make their decisions," Maceda said.

The Reserve Bank of India recently unveiled a shift in its approach to loan loss provisioning, transitioning from the model of regulatory prescription to one grounded in Expected Credit Loss (ECL).

This shift can have profound implications on how Indian banks manage their lending operations, assess their capital requirements, and report their financial performance. However, the successful implementation of the ECL approach hinges on the availability of high-quality information.

The ECL framework relies on two key elements: an assessment of the probability of default and an estimate of the loss given default. The probability of default is an estimation of the likelihood of non-payment on a bank loan, subject to factors such as the borrower's ability and willingness to repay.

HDFC Bank, India's largest private sector lender, has extended a loan of Rs 2,000 crore to Vodafone Idea (Vi) to assist the beleaguered telco in addressing its pending license fees and fulfilling its 5G spectrum payment commitments.

The loan has a tenure of two years and the funds were disbursed in mid-September, just before the deadlines for some of the company's loan and statutory payment commitments, The Economic Times said in a report on November 2.

Vi has already paid more than Rs 350 crore for FY22 and FY23 in past licence fees and about Rs 1,700 crore toward spectrum usage charges (SUC). The company is also in talks with potential investors for equity funding. Moneycontrol could not independently confirm the report.

Tesla looks overvalued at $200 a share, says valuation guru Aswath Damodaran, valuing the Elon Musk-led electric carmaker’s scrip at $180. In a blogpost on November 1, Damodaran, who is a professor of finance at the Stern School of Business at New York University, acknowledged that he didn't own or drive a Tesla and knew far less about the company than the many Tesla bulls or bears tracking the EV manufacturer's every move.

“That won't stop me from trying to value the company (again), as the stock price drops to $200,” he added. “I first valued Tesla in 2013 and have valued it every year since. I have been badly wrong on its value before, but I have learned about the company and have no regrets.”

Oil gained 1 percent on Thursday to snap its three-day decline, as risk appetite returned to financial markets after the US Federal Reserve kept benchmark interest rates on hold. Brent crude futures rose $1.77, or 2.1 percent, to $86.43 a barrel by 1:01 p.m. ET., while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained $1.71, or 2.1 percent to $82.14 a barrel.

Oil’s rally tracked gains across financial assets after the Fed kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 5.25 percent-5.50 percent at its latest meeting on Wednesday.

“Asset markets reacted positively to the Fed yesterday and I think oil has followed that by moving a bit higher,” said Callum Macpherson, head of commodities at Investec.

The Dollar index traded 0.06 percent lower in futures at 106.37, whereas the value of one dollar hovered near Rs 83.09.

Gold prices edged up on Thursday, buoyed by a weaker U.S. dollar and Treasury yields after the Federal Reserve held interest rates steady and as investors stepped up bets that the central bank may be done with rate hikes. Spot gold was up 0.1 percent to $1,983.77 per ounce by 0310 GMT. US gold futures gained 0.2 percent to $1,991.80.

“I think there may be a little bit of support around the idea that the Fed seems to be signaling that rate hikes are ending,” said Ilya Spivak, head of global macro at Tastylive.

Foreign institutional investors offloaded shares worth Rs 1,261.19 crore, while domestic institutional investors bought Rs 1,380.15 crore worth of stocks on November 2, provisional data from the National Stock Exchange showed.

(With inputs from Reuters and other agencies.)