The market is expected to open in the red on Wednesday as trends in the SGX Nifty indicate a negative opening for the broader index in India with a loss of 39 points.
The BSE Sensex climbed 449 points to 59,411, while the Nifty50 jumped 147 points to 17,451 and formed a bullish candlestick pattern on the daily charts, negating lower highs and lower lows formation of the last eight straight sessions.
As per the pivot charts, the Nifty has support at 17,374, followed by 17,346 and 17,299. If the index moves up, the key resistance levels to watch out for are 17,468, followed by 17,497 and 17,544.
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 and Nasdaq fell for a second straight session on Wednesday as Treasury yields jumped after manufacturing data indicated inflation is likely to remain stubbornly high, while comments from Federal Reserve policymakers supported a hawkish policy stance.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 5.14 points, or 0.02 percent, to 32,661.84, the S&P 500 lost 18.76 points, or 0.47 percent, to 3,951.39 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 76.06 points, or 0.66 percent, to 11,379.48.
Asian Markets
Asia-Pacific markets were largely higher despite US treasury bond yields briefly topping 4 percent overnight on Wall Street.
South Korea’s Kospi climbed 0.91 percent. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 opened 0.31 percent higher on Thursday after seeing a marginal dip on Wednesday. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 started the day 0.11 percent up, while the Topix was 0.12 percent higher.
SGX Nifty
Trends in the SGX Nifty indicate a negative opening for the broader index in India with a loss of 39 points. The Nifty futures were trading around 17,480 levels on the Singaporean exchange.
Oil settled up as rising supplies face Chinese demand hopes
Oil prices settled up slightly on Wednesday as signs of ample supply, including growing US crude inventories, offset growing hopes for higher demand after a jump in manufacturing in top crude importer China.
Brent crude futures settled up 86 cents, or 1 percent, to $84.31 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) settled up 64 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $77.69.
February GST collections ease on-month to Rs 1.50 lakh crore
The government collected Rs 1.50 lakh crore as Goods and Services Tax (GST) in February, the finance ministry said on March 1. The GST collections for February fell from Rs 1.58 lakh crore in January, which were the second-highest monthly collection ever under the indirect tax regime which was introduced in July 2017.
The February GST collections are 12 percent higher from the same month a year ago. GST collections have exceeded the Rs 1.4-lakh crore mark for 12 months in a row.
NSE gets Sebi nod to launch WTI crude oil, natural gas futures contracts
The National Stock Exchange on Wednesday said it has received approval from markets regulator Sebi to launch the rupee-denominated NYMEX WTI crude oil and natural gas futures contracts in its commodity derivatives segment. The launch date for these contracts will be announced soon, NSE said in a release.
The addition of these contracts will expand NSE's product offering in the energy basket as well as its overall commodity segment. These contracts are designed to provide the market participants with a more efficient way to manage their price risk, the release said..
Gross NPAs of banks to improve to 3.3% in FY24, says India Ratings
The gross non-performing assets (NPA) ratio of banks is expected to improve to 3.3 percent in next financial year from 4.2 percent in FY23, India Ratings said. A loan turns to NPA if there are no repayments of interest or principal for a period of 90 days.
Private bank’s gross NPA is seen improving to 2 percent in FY24 from 2.5 percent FY23, and public sector banks improving to 4.1 percent from 5.2 percent, the release said. “This incorporates the effect of GNPA write-off trend that the banking system is witnessing,” the ratings agency said. The ratings agency expects low net additions to continue in FY24.
FII and DII data
Foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth Rs 424.88 crore, whereas domestic institutional investors (DII) bought shares worth Rs 1,498.66 crore on March 1, the National Stock Exchange's provisional data showed.
South Korea Feb factory activity shrinks for 8th month
South Korea's factory activity contracted for an eighth month in February, a survey showed on Thursday, highlighting weak domestic and global economic conditions even though the downturn in output and orders eased slightly.
The S&P Global's seasonally adjusted purchasing managers' index (PMI) for South Korean manufacturers stood at 48.5 in January, unchanged from December and remaining below the 50-mark since July, 2022.
Dollar squeezed as inflation drives up euro
The dollar nursed losses on Thursday as optimism about China's reopening was supported by encouraging data and underpinned Asian currencies, while sticky inflation had the euro eying its best week in a month and a half.
The dollar lost 0.9 percent on the euro overnight, and since it moved lower despite US yields rising some are speculating it might have peaked as February's rally runs out of steam.
China's better-than-expected manufacturing activity set the yuan on its biggest one-day jump of the year so far on Wednesday, surging about 0.9 percent.
With inputs from Reuters and other agencies
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