The market is expected to open on a cautious note as trends in the SGX Nifty indicate a flat opening for the broader index in India with a gain of 7 points on Thursday.
The market ended in the green for the third day in a row, supported by a rebound in late trade on March 8. Weak Asian peers weighed on the sentiment, but the buying in banks, auto, oil and gas, and FMCG aided the recovery. The BSE Sensex advanced 124 points to 60,348, while the Nifty50 climbed 43 points to 17,754 and formed a bullish candlestick pattern with long lower shadow on the daily charts, with above average volumes.
As per the pivot charts, the Nifty has support at 17,645, followed by 17,606 and 17,543. If the index moves up, the key resistance levels to watch out for are 17,770, followed by 17,809 and 17,872.
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 an indecisive session with a nominal increase and Treasury yields edged up on Wednesday as a spate of economic data appeared to support Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's reassertion, in his second day of congressional testimony, that the central bank would continue to ratchet up policy rates until inflation subsides.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 58.06 points, or 0.18 percent, to 32,798.4, the S&P 500 gained 5.64 points, or 0.14 percent, to 3,992.01 and the Nasdaq Composite added 45.67 points, or 0.4 percent, to 11,576.00.
Asian Markets
Asia-Pacific shares rose on Thursday as Bank of Japan kicks off its two-day monetary policy meeting, with investors eyeing any policy changes that could accompany BOJ governor Haruhiko Kuroda’s final meeting.
Japan’s Nikkei 225′s was up 1 percent and the Topix climbed 0.84 percent in its first hour of trade. The Kospi inched up 0.2 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was trading at the flatline.
SGX Nifty
Trends in the SGX Nifty indicate a flat opening for the broader index in India with a gain of 7 points. The Nifty futures were trading around 17,807 levels on the Singaporean exchange.
Oil extends losses amid US rate-hike concerns
Oil prices fell on Wednesday as fears that more aggressive US interest rate hikes would pressure economic growth and oil demand outweighed a larger-than-expected draw in US crude stocks.
Brent crude futures were down 63 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $82.66 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures slipped 92 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $76.66 a barrel.
Sebi tightens norms for buybacks through stock exchange route
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on March 8 released a circular chalking out restrictions on placements of bids, price and volume for a company seeking to buy back its shares through the exchange route.
Earlier in December, the market regulator unveiled a momentous regulation that laid down the blueprint for a gradual phasing out of share buybacks through the exchange route. At present, a company can exercise the tender offer route and the buyback route to buy its shares listed on the bourses.
As far as buyback from the stock exchange route is concerned, the regulator, in an operational guidance circular, has mandated that no company shall purchase more than 25 percent of the average daily trading volume (in value) of its shares or other specified securities in the 10 trading days preceding the day on which such purchases are made.
US private payrolls increase in February -ADP
US private payrolls increased more than expected in February, pointing to continued labor market strength.
Private employment increased by 242,000 jobs last month, the ADP National Employment report showed on Wednesday. Data for January was revised higher to show 119,000 jobs added instead of 106,000 as previously reported. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast private employment increasing 200,000.
FII and DII data
Foreign institutional investors (FII) bought shares worth Rs 3,671.56 crore, whereas domestic institutional investors (DII) sold shares worth Rs 937.80 crore on March 8, the National Stock Exchange's provisional data showed.
No call made yet on size of March rate rise: Fed's Powell
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday that officials have not yet made a call on the size of the rate increase they are almost certain to deliver at their upcoming policy meeting.
"We have not made any decision about the March meeting, we are not going to do that until we see the additional data" that will come between now and the March 21-22 Federal Open Market Committee meeting, Powell told a House panel as part of testimony on the economy and monetary policy.
"We are not on a pre-set path” and upcoming data will help determine whether a 25 basis point or 50 basis point rate rise will be needed at the officials' next gathering, Powell said.
US job openings stay elevated as labor market remains tight
US job openings fell less than expected in January and data for the prior month was revised higher, pointing to persistently tight labor market conditions that likely will keep the Federal Reserve on track to raise interest rates for longer.
Job openings, a measure of labor demand, decreased by 410,000 to 10.8 million on the last day of January. Data for December was revised higher to show 11.2 million job openings instead of the previously reported 11.0 million. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 10.5 million job openings.
Stocks under F&O ban on NSE
The National Stock Exchange has added Balrampur Chini Mills on its F&O ban list for March 9. 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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