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

Nifty has support at 17,679, followed by 17,649 and 17,600.

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 on Wednesday.

The market extended gains for the second straight session, but there was some profit-taking at higher levels which led to a loss of around 90 points on the Nifty50 from the day’s high of 17,800 and a shooting star kind of pattern formation on the daily charts on March 6.

This is generally a bearish reversal pattern but needs a confirmation in the coming sessions. The Nifty50 jumped 117 points to 17,712, while the BSE Sensex climbed 415 points to close at 60,224, after losing 270 points from day’s high.

As per the pivot charts, the Nifty has support at 17,679, followed by 17,649 and 17,600. If the index moves up, the key resistance levels to watch out for are 17,777, followed by 17,807 and 17,856.

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

US stock indices closed sharply lower on Tuesday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell told Congress the central bank will likely need to raise interest rates more than previously expected as it seeks to rein in stubbornly high inflation.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 574.98 points, or 1.72 percent, to 32,856.46; the S&P 500 lost 62.05 points, or 1.53 percent, at 3,986.37; and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 145.40 points, or 1.25 percent, to 11,530.33.

Asian Markets

Asia-Pacific shares tumbled on Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell cautioned that interest rates may need to be higher than the central bank expected, fueling concerns of a potentially larger hike at the next policy meeting.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.82 percent. South Korea’s Kospi fell 1.18 percent in its first hour of trade. Japan’s Nikkei 225′s dipped 0.13 percent and the Topix traded fractionally below the flatline.

SGX Nifty

Trends in the SGX Nifty indicate a negative opening for the broader index in India. The Nifty futures were trading around 17,736 levels on the Singaporean exchange against March 6 close of 17,776.

Fed likely needs to raise rates higher and possibly faster: Fed's Powell

The Federal Reserve will likely need to raise interest rates more than expected in response to recent strong data and is prepared to move in larger steps if the "totality" of incoming information suggests tougher measures are needed to control inflation, Fed Chair Jerome Powell told US lawmakers on Tuesday.

"The latest economic data have come in stronger than expected, which suggests that the ultimate level of interest rates is likely to be higher than previously anticipated," Powell said in prepared remarks for a hearing before the Senate Banking Committee.

"If the totality of the data were to indicate that faster tightening is warranted, we would be prepared to increase the pace of rate hikes," Powell said.

The Fed will hold its next policy meeting on March 21-22, with the release this Friday of the government's monthly jobs report and an inflation report next week now critical in policymakers' judgment about whether they are again slipping behind the inflation curve, or can stick with the more tempered policy planned at their last meeting.

Oil falls by $3/bbl as investors brace for steeper US rate hikes

Oil prices fell by $3 a barrel on Tuesday after comments from US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell stoked rate hike fears, the dollar strengthened and top crude importer China issued weak data.

Brent crude futures shed $2.89, or 3.4 percent, to settle at $83.29 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate crude futures dropped by $2.88, or 3.6 percent, to close at $77.58 per barrel.

Dollar jumps on hawkish Powell testimony

The dollar extended gains against a basket of currencies on Tuesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said that the US central bank will stay the course until the job is done, adding that the ultimate level of interest rates is likely to be higher than previously anticipated.

The dollar index was last up 0.91 percent on the day at 105.2. The euro dropped 0.84 percent to $1.0593. The greenback gained 0.68 percent to ¥136.85.

FII and DII data

Foreign institutional investors (FII) bought shares worth Rs 721.37 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DII) purchased shares worth Rs 757.23 crore on March 6, the National Stock Exchange’s provisional data showed.

Fed's Powell sees long-term damage if US debt ceiling not raised

The United States risks long-term damage if Congress does not raise the national debt ceiling, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Tuesday.

"Congress really needs to raise the debt ceiling... if we fail to do so, I think that the consequences are hard to estimate, but they could be extraordinarily adverse and could do long-standing harm," Powell said during an appearance before the Senate Banking Committee as part of his semi-annual testimony on the economy and monetary policy.

ICRA upgrades outlook on Indian thermal power sector to 'stable' from 'negative'

India’s thermal plant load factor (PLF) improved to 64 percent in FY2023 from 58.9 percent in FY2022, driven by a strong recovery in electricity demand growth in the country, rating agency ICRA said on March 6. The agency has now revised its outlook for the country’s thermal power sector to 'stable' from 'negative', even as the power distribution segment sustained a 'negative' rating.

“The all-India thermal PLF level is expected to improve from 58.9 percent in FY2022 to 64.0 percent in FY2023 and further to 65.5 percent in FY2024, led by healthy demand growth and limited thermal capacity addition. The full-year demand growth for FY2023 is estimated at 9.5-10 percent; which is likely to moderate in FY2024, though remaining healthy at 5.5-6.0 percent,” said Vikram V, Vice-President and Sector Head for Corporate Ratings at ICRA.

Fed's Powell acknowledges slimmer corporate profits could help curb inflation

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday made his most extensive comments to date on the role corporate profits could play in lowering inflation, telling US lawmakers it was possible for inflation to fall and workers' wages to keep rising for a time if companies and their shareholders took less for themselves.

"If corporate profits were to decline from the extremely high levels that we saw recently, would it be possible to sustain" growth in workers' benefits "even as we get inflation down to the target of 2%?" Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen asked Powell during the Fed chief's semi-annual testimony before the US Senate Banking Committee.

With inputs from Reuters and other agencies