Top 13 things to know before the market opens

The S&P BSE Midcap index rose nearly 1 percent while the S&P BSE Small-cap index closed with gains of 0.7 percent.

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 that could impact Indian as well as international markets:

US Markets

Wall Street ended lower on Wednesday after the U.S. Federal Reserve held interest rates and its monthly bond-buying program steady and gave no sign it was ready to reduce its support for the recovery.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.48% to end at 33,820.38 points, while the S&P 500 lost 0.08% to 4,183.18. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.28%, to 14,051.03.

SGX Nifty

Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a positive start for the broader index in India, with a gain of 115 points or 0.77 percent. The Nifty futures were trading around 14,960 level on the Singaporean Exchange at 7:20 IST.

US Fed outcome:

The Federal Reserve is keeping its ultra-low interest rate policies in place, a sign that it wants to see more evidence of a strengthening economic recovery before it would consider easing its support.

In a statement Wednesday, the Fed said the economy and job market have strengthened, and while inflation has risen, Fed policymakers ascribed the increase to temporary factors.

The Fed left its benchmark short-term rate near zero, where it's been since the pandemic erupted nearly a year ago, to help keep loan rates down to encourage borrowing and spending. It also said in a statement after its latest policy meeting that it would keep buying $120 billion in bonds each month to try to keep longer-term borrowing rates low.

ICRA revises down India's GDP growth forecast to 10.5% in FY22

Rating agency ICRA on April 28 revised down its forecast for India's GDP to grow by 10 to 10.5 percent in 2021-22 from the earlier projection of 10-11 percent, in the wake of the localised restrictions imposed by various state governments owing to the COVID-19 second wave.

April F&O Expiry:
The market is likely to remain volatile as traders would roll their positions from the April series to the May series. The Nifty50 closed above 14800 levels on Wednesday which is a positive sign for the bulls.

“The Nifty need to sustain above the bullish gap registered in Wednesday’s trading sessions placed in the zone of 14695 – 14667 and a close below the said gap zone can be considered as an initial sign of weakness,” Mazhar Mohammad, Chief Strategist – Technical Research & Trading Advisory, Chartviewindia.in said.

“Considering monthly expiry of next session index traders are advised to remain neutral as markets may remain choppy and volatile due to expiry-related factors,” he added.

Retailers Association of India urges govt to extend ECLGS benefits to retailers

Retailers Association of India (RAI) on Wednesday asked Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to extend benefits of emergency credit line guarantee scheme to retailers while seeking a moratorium on principal and interest of all loans for up to 6 months stating that curbs due to the second wave of COVID-19 have crippled the sector.

Covishield prices for states reduced to Rs 300 a dose

The price of the Covishield vaccine supplied to the state governments will be reduced to Rs 300 per dose with immediate effect, Serum Institute of India's (SII) chief executive officer Adar Poonawalla said on April 28. Rupee extends gains for 3rd day

The rupee rose by 30 paise to close at 74.36 (provisional) against the US dollar on Wednesday, extending its gains for the third day on the back of a strong rally in domestic equities.

Oil prices extend gains as demand outlook offsets India concerns

Oil prices extended gains on Thursday after rising 1% the previous session, as bullish forecasts on recovering demand this summer offset concerns of rising COVID-19 cases in India, Japan and Brazil.

Roche seeks emergency use approval of antibody cocktail to treat COVID-19 patients

Swiss drug maker Roche Pharma said it is working with the Indian drug regulator to accelerate an emergency use authorization (EUA) for its investigational antibody cocktail Casirivimab and Imdevimab in India, based on the data that have been filed for the emergency use authorisation (EUA) in the US and the CHMP scientific opinion in the EU.

34 companies to report Q4 numbers:

There are as many as 34 companies that will declare their results for the March quarter which include Ambuja Cements, Aptech, Agro Tech Foods, AU Small Finance Bank, Bajaj Auto, Exide Industries, HUL, Inox Leisure, Tata Coffee, Titan Company, and Zensar Technologies.

FII and DII data

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs 766 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) net purchased shares worth Rs 436 crore in the Indian equity market on April 28, as per provisional data available on the NSE.

1 stock under F&O ban on NSE

SAIL was the only stock under the F&O ban for April 29. Securities in the ban period under the F&O segment include companies in which the security has crossed 95 percent of the market-wide position limit.
With inputs from Reuters & other agencies.