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

Nifty may get support at 17,336 followed by 17,308 and 17,264.

The Indian equity benchmarks are expected to open on a sluggish note, as trends in the SGX Nifty indicate a flat start for the broader index with a loss of 35 points after a robust end to the last trading session. SGX futures trade at 17,532 levels.

The BSE Sensex in the previous session added 114 points to close at 59,106, while the Nifty50 closed 38 points higher at 17,398, trading higher than its 200-day moving average of 17,268 and trying to consolidate on the recent momentum.

The pivot charts indicate that the Nifty may get support at 17,336 followed by 17,308 and 17,264. If the index advances, 17,424 is the initial key resistance level to watch out for followed by 17,451 and 17,495.

Former US president Donald Trump came to a New York City courtroom on Tuesday for his arraignment on charges related to falsifying business records in a hush money investigation, the first president ever to be charged with a crime.

Analysts expect IT services companies with high exposure to BFSI to be closely watched for the impact of the banking crisis on their revenues, going forward. While weak macro could impact growth, margins could improve on easing supply pressure, cooling off attrition, and improvements in utilisation.

India' economy is expected to slow in the current fiscal to 6.3 percent on the back of shrinkage in consumption due to slower income growth, World Bank said in a latest report. The report estimates India's inflation to moderate from 6.6 percent to 5.5 percent in the current fiscal.

Credit Suisse Chairman Axel Lehmann 'feels sorry' in AGM for loss of trust

Chairman Axel Lehmann told shareholders he was “truly sorry” for the collapse that led to the bank’s controversial takeover by UBS. The takeover of Credit Suisse was completed on March 19, 2023, by UBS and was facilitated by the Swiss government to prevent a financial meltdown.

Several OPEC+ members on Sunday announced intentions to voluntarily cut a further combined 1.16 million barrels per day of production, in a move independent from the broader bloc’s output strategy investors now are focusing on the impact of these cuts on global inflation.

US stocks snapped four day winning streak in the last trading session as investors look towards OPEC+ production cuts and inflation impact of the same with uncertainty still looming for the global economy.

During the regular session on Tuesday, the Dow shed nearly 200 points, snapping a four-day win streak to close at 33,402. The S&P 500 fell by 0.58 percent, also snapping a string of four consecutive winning sessions and the Nasdaq Composite dropped by 0.52 percent to close at 12,126.

European Markets closed marginally lower as oil stocks fell and the British pound hit a 10-month high. Despite trading higher for most of the session, the pan-European Stoxx 600 index provisionally closed down 0.05 percent, its second consecutive day of marginal losses.

Germany’s DAX closed 0.14 percent higher and France’s CAC 40 was flat. Where they had boosted the energy-heavy index on Monday, a 1.3 percent fall in oil and gas stocks took the UK’s FTSE 100 to a 0.5 percent loss.

Asia-Pacific markets were mixed on Wednesday as Wall Street digested a key US labour report that showed job openings dropped to their lowest level in nearly two years in February. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was up marginally, while Japanese markets saw larger losses. The Nikkei 225 slid 0.65 percent, while the Topix lost 0.85 percent. South Korea’s Kospi was up 0.35 percent, while the Kosdaq index also gained 0.52 percent.

Trends in the SGX Nifty indicate a muted start for the broader index in India with a loss of 35 points i.e., 0.24 percent. The Nifty futures were trading around 17,532 levels on the Singaporean exchange.

Brent crude futures settled 1 cent higher at $84.94 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures closed 29 cents, or 0.4 percent, higher at $80.71 a barrel.

The US dollar mostly traded flat against a basket of currencies as easing worries on the ongoing banking crisis appear to wane amid the recent OPEC+ surprise cuts and its impact on inflation.

The dollar index, which measures the currency against six rivals, was 0.03 percent lower in futures at 101.222. The value of 1 US dollar hovers near the 82.16 mark in comparison with the INR.

Gold extended gains on Tuesday and crossed the key $2,000 level as the dollar and yields fell, while weaker US economic data emboldened bets for slower rate hikes despite mounting concerns over oil-led inflation.

Spot gold climbed 1.8 percent to $2,020.04 per ounce after reaching its highest since March 9, 2022 of $2,024.79 earlier. US gold futures gained 1.9 percent to $2,038.30.

Foreign institutional investors (FII) bought shares worth Rs 321.93 crores, whereas domestic institutional investors (DII) sold shares worth Rs 328.24 crores on April 3, the National Stock Exchange’s provisional data showed.