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

Nifty has support at 17,262, followed by 17,219 and 17,148.

The market is expected to open in the red as trends in the SGX Nifty indicate a negative opening for the broader index in India with a loss of 46 points on on Wednesday.

The BSE Sensex fell 326 points to 58,962, while the Nifty50 dropped 89 points to 17,304 on February 28 and formed a bearish candle on the daily charts, making lower highs and lower lows for the eighth day in a row.

As per the pivot charts, the Nifty has support at 17,262, followed by 17,219 and 17,148. If the index moves up, the key resistance levels to watch out for are 17,404, followed by 17,448 and 17,518.

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

Wall Street indices and global equities slid further on Tuesday, and bonds wrapped up a difficult month by holding their elevated yields, as more evidence of stubborn inflation added to expectations that central banks will keep rates high.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 0.71% at 32,656.7, the S&P 500 lost 0.30 percent to 3,970.15 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.1 percent to 11,455.54.

Asian Markets

Asia-Pacific markets opened lower on Wednesday as investors await a slew of key economic data across the region.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.5 percent as the country reports its gross domestic product data for the fourth quarter of 2022 and the full year, as well as inflation numbers for January. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened 0.11 percent lower, and the Topix was marginally lower as well.

SGX Nifty

Trends in the SGX Nifty indicate a negative opening for the broader index in India with a loss of 46 points. The Nifty futures were trading around 17,353 levels on the Singaporean exchange.

India's GDP growth slows down to 4.4% in October-December

India's gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate fell for the second consecutive quarter in October-December, coming in at 4.4 percent, data released on February 28 by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation showed.

At 4.4 percent, the latest quarterly growth number is lower than the 6.3 percent growth that was witnessed in the second quarter of 2022-23, which itself was less than half the 13.2 percent increase posted in April-June 2022 as the GDP growth rate benefitted from a low base in the early part of the year.

January core sector growth at 7.8%, up from December

The core sector growth in January came in at 7.8 percent, which is up from a 7 percent growth recorded in December, as per the data released by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry on February 28. A sharp surge in the output of three segments - coal, fertiliser and electricity - aided the higher growth in January, the data showed.

The biggest jump was recorded in the electricity sector, where the production increased by 17.9 percent, followed by a 13.4 percent increase in coal production and 12 percent in fertriliser. The increase in the output of steel sector during January was 6.2 percent, natural gas 5.3 percent, cement 4.6 percent and petroleum refinery products 4.5 percent.

Centre's fiscal deficit widens to Rs 11.91 lakh crore in April-January, 67.8% of FY23 target

The central government's fiscal deficit for the first 10 months of 2022-23 widened to Rs 11.91 lakh crore, data released on February 28 by the Controller General of Accounts showed. At Rs 11.91 lakh crore, the fiscal deficit for April 2022-January 2023 accounts for 67.8 percent of the full-year target for 2022-23.

The fiscal deficit in the first 10 months of the last financial year was 58.9 percent of that year's target.

Divgi TorqTransfer Systems Rs 412-crore IPO opens today

Automotive component maker Divgi TorqTransfer Systems will become the first company to launch its initial public offering (IPO) in 2023 when the issue will open for subscription on March 1. The offer will open for subscription on March 1 and the last day for bidding will be March 3. The anchor portion, a part of qualified institutional buyers, will open for a day on February 28.

The price band for the offer has been fixed at Rs 560-590 a share. Divgi is planning to mobilise more than Rs 412 crore via the public issue, which comprises a fresh issuance of shares worth Rs 180 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of 39.34 lakh shares by holders.

Oman India Joint Investment Fund II, NRJN Family Trust, Bharat Bhalchandra Divgi, Sanjay Bhalchandra Divgi, Ashish Anant Divgi, Arun Ramdas Idgunji, and Kishore Mangesh Kalbag are the selling shareholders.

FII and DII data

Foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth Rs 4,559.21 crore, whereas domestic institutional investors (DII) bought shares worth Rs 4,609.87 crore on February 28, the National Stock Exchange's provisional data showed.

Oil rebounds almost 2% on China growth hopes

Oil prices rose nearly 2 percent on Tuesday, erasing the previous session's losses, as hopes for a strong economic rebound in China offset worries about US interest rate hikes dragging down consumption in the world's biggest economy.

Brent crude futures for April , which expired on Tuesday, settled higher by $1.44, or 1.8 percent, at $83.89 a barrel. The more active May contract rose $1.41, or 1.7 percent, to $83.45.

Japan factory activity shrinks the most in 2-1/2 years

Japan's factory activity shrank in February at the fastest pace in over two years, a private survey showed, highlighting companies' struggles amid a global economic slowdown, raw material inflation and policymakers' calls for higher wages.

The final au Jibun Bank Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index released on Wednesday fell to 47.7 in February from January's 48.9. Although higher than the flash reading, it marked the fastest decline since September 2020.

With inputs from Reuters and other agencies