The market is expected to open in the green as trends in the SGX Nifty indicate a positive opening for the broader index in India with a gain of 26 points.
The BSE Sensex declined 317 points to 61,003, while the Nifty50 fell 92 points to 17,944 at the close of the trading session on February 17 and there was small bodied bearish candle formation with long upper and lower wicks on the daily charts.
As per the pivot charts, the Nifty has support at 17,897, followed by 17,862 and then 17,805. If the index moves up, the key resistance levels to watch out for are 18,011, followed by 18,047 and 18,104.
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:
US Markets
The S&P 500 ended lower on Friday, weighed down by Microsoft and Nvidia as investors worried that inflation and a strong US economy could put the Federal Reserve on pace for more interest rate hikes. The see-saw session on Wall Street followed economic data this week that pointed to elevated inflation, a tight job market and resilience in consumer spending, giving the Fed more room for to raise borrowing costs.
The S&P 500 declined 0.28 percent to end the session at 4,079.09 points. The Nasdaq fell 0.58 percent to 11,787.27 points, while Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.39 percent to 33,826.69 points.
Asian Markets
Asian shares got off to a subdued start on Monday as a US holiday made for slow trading ahead of minutes of the last Federal Reserve meeting and a reading on core inflation that could add to the risk of interest rates heading higher for longer.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was largely flat, after sliding 2.2 percent last week. Japan's Nikkei dipped 0.2 percent and South Korea 0.4 percent.
SGX Nifty
Trends in the SGX Nifty indicate a positive opening for the broader index in India with a gain of 26 points. The Nifty futures were trading around 17,963 levels on the Singaporean exchange.
More Fed policymakers point to higher rates in inflation fight
Two Federal Reserve officials on Friday added to a chorus of US central bankers this week in signaling that interest rates will need to go higher in order to successfully quash inflation, although one guarded against inferring too much from recent unexpectedly-strong economic data.
The Fed at its last meeting raised the target federal funds rate by a quarter point, to a range between 4.5 percent and 4.75 percent, after a year of larger half point and three quarter point rate hikes. The bulk of Fed officials as of December saw rates moving to a peak of 5 percent to 5.25 percent this year, a projection that will be updated at the Fed's upcoming March 21-22 meeting.
Futures tied to the Fed's policy rate show traders now expect the central bank to raise interest rates another 75 basis points by the summer, bringing the benchmark rate to a 5.25-5.5 percent range. A little over a week ago, financial markets did not expect the Fed policy rate to exceed 5 percent.
Dollar buoyant as robust US data keep Fed hawks in control
The dollar was on the front foot on Monday, supported by a strong run of economic data out of the US that traders bet will keep the Federal Reserve on its monetary policy tightening path for longer than initially expected.
The greenback advanced broadly in early Asia trade, sending sterling 0.12 percent lower to $1.2028 and the Aussie falling 0.18 percent to $0.6866. Against the Japanese yen , the dollar climbed 0.14 percent to 134.32.
FPIs shift focus back on Indian market; invest Rs 7,600 crore in a week
Foreign investors seem to have shifted their focus back on the Indian equity markets as they turned net buyers last week with an investment of over Rs 7,600 crore. This came following a net outflow of Rs 3,920 crore by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) from equities in the preceding week (February 7-12), data with the depositories showed.
FPIs have been net sellers since the beginning of the year and till February 10, they were net sellers to the tune of Rs 38,524 crore in 2023, including Rs 28,852 crore in January amid concerns of the continuing rate hikes by the major central banks globally to curb in inflation.
In terms of sector, FPIs have been buyers in autos and auto components and construction, while they were sellers in banking and financial services in which they are sitting on good profits, Vijayakumar said.
FII and DII data
Foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth Rs 624.61 crore after consistent buying in previous five sessions, while domestic institutional investors (DII) offloaded shares worth Rs 85.29 crore on February 17, NSE's provisional data showed.
India's exports may rise by 3-5% this fiscal: FIEO
India's exports are expected to grow by 3-5 percent to $435-445 billion in this fiscal, exporters' body FIEO said on Friday. In 2021-22, the country's exports touched an all-time high of $422 billion. Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President A Sakthivel said that the coming months are going to be little challenging unless both global economic growth and geopolitical situation improve drastically.
"However, we will be on course to cross the previous year's goods export target quite easily touching almost $435-445 billion with a growth of over 3-5 percent this fiscal," he said in a statement.
Oil settles down $2 per barrel
Oil settled down $2 a barrel on Friday and ended the week markedly lower, as traders worried that future US interest rate hikes could weigh on demand and got nervous about mounting signs of ample crude and fuel supply.
Brent crude futures settled down $2.14 or 2.5 percent, to $83.00 a barrel, falling 3.9 percent week-on-week. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) US crude settled down $2.15, or 2.7 percent, to $76.34, falling 4.2 percent from last Friday's settlement.
Stocks under F&O ban on NSE
The National Stock Exchange has retained Ambuja Cements and Indiabulls Housing Finance on its F&O ban list for February 20. Securities banned under the F&O segment include companies where derivative contracts have crossed 95 percent of the market-wide position limit.
With inputs from Reuters and other agencies
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