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The benchmark Sensex and Nifty indices are likely to open marginally lower on November 10 as trends in the GIFT Nifty indicate a negative start for the broader index with a loss of 47 points.

On November 9, the Nifty50 fell 48 points to 19,395 and formed bearish candlestick pattern on the daily charts, but still held above 21-day EMA (exponential moving average - 19,367), while the BSE Sensex slipped 143 points to 64,832.

However, the Nifty Midcap 100 index continued its uptrend for sixth consecutive session, rising 0.2 percent, but the Nifty Smallcap 100 index snapped five-day gains, falling 0.24 percent.

The pivot point calculator indicates that the Nifty may take support at 19,380, followed by 19,360 and 19,327. On the higher side, 19,445 can be the immediate resistance followed by 19,465 and 19,498.

Stay tuned to Moneycontrol to find out what happens in the currency and equity markets today. We have collated a list of important headlines across news platforms, which could impact Indian as well as international markets.

GIFT Nifty

The GIFT Nifty indicates a marginally negative start for the broader index with a loss of 47 points. GIFT Nifty futures stood at 19,375 points after making a high of 19,403 points.

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US Markets

The S&P 500 fell on November 9, ending an eight-day winning streak, as a sharp jump in yields rattled investors. The benchmark index declined 0.81 percent, closing at 4,347.35, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.94 percent and settled at 13,521.45. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 220.33 points, or 0.65 percent, to close at 33,891.94.

Stocks hit session lows after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicated more work may need to be done to bring down inflation, although the recent slowdown in pace has been an encouraging sign for policymakers.

“The Federal Open Market Committee is committed to achieving a stance of monetary policy that is sufficiently restrictive to bring inflation down to 2 percent over time; we are not confident that we have achieved such a stance,” he said in prepared remarks for an International Monetary Fund event.

European Markets

European markets closed higher Thursday as momentum in markets picked up on the back of robust corporate earnings. The pan-European Stoxx 600 was up 0.8 percent by the close, having reversed opening losses. Industrials added 2.5 percent to lead gains while travel and leisure stocks dropped 2 percent.

Earnings remain a key driver of sentiment in European equity markets. Among the big names to report before the bell on Thursday were AstraZeneca, Deutsche Telekom, Henkel, ArcelorMittal and Wienerberger.

On Wall Street, The S&P 500 hovered near the flatline as the broad-market index struggled to build on its longest winning streak since November 2021. Most Asia-Pacific markets edged higher overnight, with data from China showing consumer prices shrank faster than expected in October.

Asian Markets

Asia-Pacific markets opened softer on November 10, retreating from small gains made in the previous session amid a downbeat tone set by US markets overnight.

The US benchmark S&P 500 index ended an eight-day winning streak as Treasury yields spiked and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled more work may be needed to bring down inflation. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.76 percent, after gains of nearly 1.5 percent in the prior session. The Topix dropped 0.49 percent at open.

South Korea’s Kospi opened 0.83 percent lower, also down after gains on Thursday, while the Kosdaq shed 1.13 percent at open. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 traded 0.49 percent lower. Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 17,546, pointing to a slightly stronger open compared with the HSI’s close of 17,511.29.

Equity mutual funds get close to Rs 20,000 crore net inflow in October: AMFI

Not fearing equity market valuation, investors poured money in equity funds in the month of October, as per data released by Association of Mutual Funds of India (AMFI; the mutual funds' industry trade body). Aside from an increase in net flows across all categories of equity funds, small cap mutual fund (MF) schemes got inflows worth Rs 4,495 crore in October 2023, up from Rs 2,678 crore a month before.

Overall, equity funds got inflows worth Rs 19,957 crore, up from Rs 14,091 crore in September.  The month of October saw the third highest monthly inflow into equity funds in the year of 2023. October was also the fourth month where all equity fund categories got positive net inflows (more money came in, than went out).

"It appears that retail investors think there is still juice left in small-cap funds. Yes, some mutual fund houses have stopped or limited inflows in small-cap funds because they have been finding it tough to reply the additional flows into the markets, at these levels. Investors should take caution when investing in small-cap funds. They must do their own due diligence and only then take the decision to invest in small-cap funds at these levels," says N. S. Venkatesh, (outgoing) Chief Executive Executive, AMFI.

Tata Technologies in talks with Morgan Stanley, US funds for IPO investments

India’s Tata Technologies is in talks with Morgan Stanley Investment Management, Blackrock and some US hedge funds to invest in its initial public offering at a valuation of $2.5 billion, two sources with direct knowledge said.

Part of conglomerate Tata Group, the company provides engineering services for companies in the auto and aerospace sectors among others. Its IPO will be the first in two decades for a Tata Group company, which has many listed businesses including in the auto and steel sectors.

Ahead of its planned $350-375 million IPO, Tata Technologies is holding talks with US asset managers Ghisallo Capital, Oaktree Capital and Key Square Capital, as well as Blackrock and Morgan Stanley for possible participation in the deal. Oaktree declined to comment while Tata and the other investors did not respond to queries seeking comment.

Howard Marks predicts Fed Fund Rate range of 2-4% for the upcoming decade

The Federal Fund Rate will shift to a new range of two to four percent, up from its previous range of zero to two percent over the next 10 years, said Howard Marks, Co-Chairman of Oaktree Capital Management, in an interview to Bloomberg TV.

Sharing his perspectives on the current financial landscape, he presented a compelling outlook for the next decade. He shared his views on the side-lines of the HKMA Global Financial Leaders' Investment Summit and touched upon a range of topics. The Federal Funds Rate is a key metric that influences various financial aspects.

Queried on whether we have reached the peak interest rates, Marks offered a nuanced response: "I don't know, how low do we get in the next cycle?" This brisk acknowledgment of uncertainty defines today's economic climate to a large extent as the world is currently enduring two wars, the Russia-Ukraine war and the Israel Hamas war, both of which can have long-term ramifications on global geopolitics.

Marks' views on interest rates remained cautious but pragmatic. He said, "The one thing I'm confident about is that I don't know. But I think that rates may go a little higher, but not terribly much higher from here. There's substantial progress being made against inflation, and that's what matters."

ICICI Bank gets RBI nod to make ICICI Securities wholly-owned subsidiary

ICICI Bank on November 9 received the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approval for making ICICI Securities its wholly-owned subsidiary.

“We would like to inform you that today the bank has received approval from Reserve Bank of India for making ICICI Securities a wholly owned subsidiary, subject to certain conditions,” the bank said in an exchange notification. ICICI Bank on June 26 announced that it will be considering a proposal for the delisting of ICICI Securities, a subsidiary of the bank.

Explaining the rationale behind the decision, ICICI Bank on June 26 said, "ICICI Securities is a low capital consuming business and the internal accruals are more than adequate to fund business growth. ICICI Bank is not expected to be required to make additional capital infusion into the company."

Moody's upgrades Tata Motors', JLR ratings to Ba3; outlook remains positive

Ratings agency Moody's on November 9 upgraded Tata Motors Limited's corporate family rating (CFR) to Ba3 from B1. Concurrently, Moody's has also upgraded Tata Motors senior unsecured instruments ratings to Ba3 from B1. It has maintained positive outlook on all ratings.

As per the statement, Moody's also upgraded Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) corporate family rating (CFR) to Ba3 from B1 and the probability of default rating (PDR) to Ba3-PD from B1-PD. It has upgraded JLR's backed senior unsecured global notes to Ba3 from B1. The outlook on all ratings remains positive.

"The upgrade of JLR's ratings to Ba3 with positive outlook reflects the company's strong operating performance over the past 12 months which has led to a significant improvement in credit metrics," Moody's said in a release.

Apple suffers setback in EU clash over $14 billion tax bill

Apple Inc. and Ireland suffered a setback in their clash with the European Union’s antitrust watchdog over a €13 billion ($14 billion) Irish tax bill that formed the centerpiece of an EU crackdown on special fiscal deals doled out to some of the world’s most powerful companies.

Advocate General Giovanni Pitruzzella of the EU Court of Justice in an advisory opinion on Thursday said Apple’s win in a lower EU court should be re-examined. The top EU tribunal is set to issue its binding ruling in the coming months. EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager — who’s on temporary leave to pursue a bid for the presidency of the European Investment Bank — sparked outrage from the iphone maker’s Cupertino, California headquarters to the White House when in 2016 she chose to home in on the company’s tax arrangements in Ireland. It’s by far the biggest case in Vestager’s decade-long campaign for tax fairness which has also targeted the likes of Amazon.com Inc. and carmaker Stellantis NV’s Fiat.

Apple won an initial bid to topple the EU’s decision in 2020 after judges found the European Commission had made several errors. The defeat was a crushing blow for Vestager, who’s suffered several more losses in other tax cases after judges faulted her team’s findings that Ireland and Luxembourg had given the firms an unfair tax advantage.

Strong pharma Q2 earnings lift Nifty Pharma index up 6% in seven straight sessions

The Nifty Pharma index extended its uptrend to the seventh straight session on November 9, surging nearly 6 percent during the period on the back of robust quarterly earnings of most drugmakers. For comparison, the benchmark Nifty 50 rose less than two percent in the same tenure.

Several pharma players, including large-cap majors like Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy's Labs, Cipla, Alkem Labs, Lupin, and Torrent Pharma posted better-than-expected quarterly results for the July-September quarter.

What's more interesting is that the upbeat performance from most pharma companies came despite weakness in the domestic pharma market in Q2. The domestic pharma market struggled with weak acute sales in Q2, largely on the back of a sporadic monsoon that led to a slower offtake in viral infections.

While companies like Cipla and Torrent Pharma bucked the weakness in the domestic market through their resilient chronic portfolio, others like Dr Reddy's saw its US sales offset the impact of sluggish India revenue.

Ashok Leyland Q2 results: Net profit jumps multi-fold to Rs 561 crore; shares drop sharply

Commercial vehicles maker Ashok Leyland on November 9 reported a 181 percent (YoY) surge in consolidated net profit at Rs 561 crore for the September quarter 2023-24 riding on higher sales. The company had incurred a net profit of Rs 199 crore in the same period last fiscal year.

Sequentially, the net profit dipped three percent from Rs 576 crore in the previous quarter. Revenue from operations rose 16.6 percent to Rs 9,638 crore in the quarter from Rs 8,266 crore in same quarter last fiscal.

EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortization) for the quarter was Rs 1,080 crore (11.2 percent) vis-a-vis Rs 537 crore (6.5 percent) in Q2 FY’23. Net Debt at the end of the quarter stood at Rs 1,139  crore with a debt equity at 0.1 time.

Oil Prices

Oil prices edged up on Thursday as markets shrugged off deflationary indicators in China and looked for further clues on the status of demand from the world’s two biggest oil consumers. Brent crude futures rose 42 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $79.96 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures climbed 36 cents, or 0.5 percent, at $75.69 a barrel.

The uptick came after both benchmarks fell more than 2 percent to their lowest since mid-July on Wednesday, as worry over possible supply disruptions in the Middle East eased and concern over US and Chinese demand intensified.

“The more subdued gains still reflect reservations in place, with macroeconomic factors and technicals giving sellers the upper hand for now,” said Yeap Jun Rong, a market strategist at IG.

Dollar Index

The Dollar index traded 0.10 percent higher in futures at 105.70, whereas the value of one dollar hovered near Rs 83.31.

Gold Prices

Gold prices lingered near a three-week low on Thursday as the initial safe-haven demand from the Middle East conflict faded, while investors awaited comments from US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for more clues on interest rates. Spot gold was down 0.1% at $1,948.39 per ounce by 03:37 GMT after hitting its lowest since Oct. 19 on Wednesday. US gold futures fell 0.2 percent to $1,953.50.

A slew of Fed officials who spoke this week maintained a balanced tone on the US central bank’s next decision but noted that they would focus on economic data and the impact of higher long-term bond yields. Powell did not comment on monetary policy or the economic outlook in prepared remarks at a conference on Wednesday. He is scheduled to speak at another conference later in the day.

FIIs and DIIs

Foreign institutional investors offloaded shares worth Rs 1,712.33 crore, while domestic institutional investors bought Rs 1,512.14 crore worth of stocks on November 9, provisional data from the National Stock Exchange showed.

(With inputs from Reuters and other agencies.)