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

Stock Market News

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 68 points.

The BSE Sensex rallied 545 points to 58,115, while the Nifty50 jumped 182 points to 17,340 and formed a higher high higher low formation for the third consecutive session on Monday.

As per the pivot charts, the key support level for the Nifty is placed at 17,211, followed by 17,082. If the index moves up, the key resistance levels to watch out for are 17,413 and 17,485.

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 ended a three-day winning streak and crude prices plunged on Monday as economic data from the US, Europe and China showed demand weakening under inflation pressures, while the looming possibility of recession curbed risk appetite.

All three major US indices ended the choppy session modestly lower on the first day of August, on the heels of the S&P 500's and the Nasdaq's largest monthly percentage gains since 2020.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 46.73 points, or 0.14 percent, to 32,798.4, the S&P 500 lost 11.68 points, or 0.28 percent, to 4,118.61 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 21.71 points, or 0.18 percent, to 12,368.98.

Asian Markets

Asia stocks continued a decline from Wall Street on Tuesday, and US long-term Treasury yields sank to a four-month low, pulling the US dollar down against the yen and other currencies as investors worried about the risk of a global recession.

The Australian and South Korean equity benchmarks suffered losses of about 0.3 percent each, while Japan's Nikkei tumbled 1.17 percent. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares retreated 0.8 percent.

SGX Nifty

Trends in the SGX Nifty indicate a negative opening for the broader index in India with a loss of 68 points. The Nifty futures were trading around 17,325 levels on the Singaporean exchange.

Oil prices slip as weak manufacturing data stokes recession fears

Oil prices edged lower on Tuesday, extending losses from the previous session, as investors worried about global oil demand following weak manufacturing data in several countries.

Brent crude futures fell 29 cents to $99.74 a barrel by 0002 GMT, with WTI crude futures down 22 cents at $93.67 a barrel. The slide came after Brent futures slumped on Monday to a session low of $99.09 a barrel, their lowest since July 15. The US crude benchmark dropped to as low as $92.42 a barrel, its weakest since July 14.

Government says committed to lowering fiscal deficit to below 4.5% by 2025-26

The government is committed to lowering its fiscal deficit to less than 4.5 percent of the gross domestic product by the financial year 2025-26, minister of state for finance Pankaj Chaudhary said August 1.

“In line with the commitment made in the budget for FY 2021-22, the government is committed to achieve fiscal consolidation to attain a level of fiscal deficit lower than 4.5 per cent of GDP by FY 2025-26,” Chaudhary said in a written response in the Lok Sabha.

5G spectrum auction concludes with bids of over Rs 1.5 lakh crore; Reliance Jio top bidder

The auction for 5G spectrum has concluded with the government cumulatively receiving bids of over Rs 1.5 lakh crore, Union Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on August 1.

Out of the 72,098 MHz of total spectrum on offer, around 71 percent or 51,236 MHz has been sold in the auction held through 40 rounds of bidding over the past seven days, Vaishnaw said. The government has received a "total bid amount of Rs 1,50,173 crore," the minister noted.

The spectrum allocation will be completed by August 10, Vaishnaw said, adding that the amount of spectrum purchased is "enough to cover the whole country with 5G".

Reliance Jio, the telecom arm of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), is the largest acquirer of 5G spectrum, with bids of over Rs 88,000 crore.

Among the three other bidders, Bharti Airtel took 19,867 MHz (700, 800, 1800, 3300, 26GHz) for a payable amount of Rs 43,084 crore. Vodafone Idea, which is considered as the third major telecom sector player after Jio and Airtel in terms of market share acquired spectrum worth Rs 18,799 crore.

No question of India slipping into recession or stagflation: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

There is no question of India slipping into a recession or stagflation, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told Parliament, as the Opposition mounted questions against the government over the recent spurt in the rate of inflation.

Sitharaman, while dismissing the charge of keeping the price of essential items in check, said the government has not only controlled inflation but has efficiently managed the country's debt. "India's general debt is also in a good position compared to many other countries," the finance minister said, during a discussion on price rise in the Lok Sabha.

Sitharaman added that despite lowering projections, India is still being recognised as the fastest-growing economy.

ITC profit jumps 33% to Rs 4,462 crore in Q1; revenue rises 39%

Diversified conglomerate ITC on August 1 said its net profit on a consolidated basis for the quarter ended June 2022 (Q1FY23) came in at Rs 4,462.25 crore, up 33.46 percent against Rs 3,343.44 crore registered in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.

The number was above estimates as a CNBC TV18 poll of analysts had projected a profit of Rs 4,050 crore. Revenue from operations stood at Rs 19,831.27 crore, up 39.25 percent from Rs 14,240.76 crore logged in the same quarter last year.

The company said its cigarette revenue jumped 28.63 percent to Rs 7,464.10 crore year-on-year (YoY). Non-cigarette revenue came in at Rs 4,458.71 crore, up 19.49 percent YoY.

Results on August 2

Bosch, Indus Towers, Siemens, Adani Green Energy, Bank of India, Voltas, Brigade Enterprises, Deepak Nitrite, Dhanuka Agritech, Dodla Dairy, Gateway Distriparks, Gati, Godrej Properties, Gravita India, JM Financial, Jubilant Pharmova, Lemon Tree Hotels, MOIL, Paradeep Phosphates, RPG Life Sciences, Schneider Electric Infrastructure, Shyam Metalics and Energy, Thermax, Tube Investments of India, and Vaibhav Global will be in focus ahead of their June quarter earnings on August 2.

FII and DII data

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net bought shares worth Rs 2,320.61 crore, whereas domestic institutional investors (DIIs) net sold shares worth Rs 822.23 crore on August 1, as per provisional data available on the NSE.

Disclaimer: Moneycontrol is is a part of the Network18 group. Network18 is controlled by Independent Media Trust, of which Reliance Industries is the sole beneficiary.

With inputs from Reuters and other agencies