Top 10 things to know before the market opens

US Markets

A surge in Delta variant infections sparked a broad sell-off on Wall Street on Monday as investors feared renewed COVID-19 shutdowns and a protracted economic recovery. All three major U.S. stock indexes ended the session sharply lower, with the S&P and the Nasdaq suffering their largest one-day percentage drop since mid-May.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 725.81 points, or 2.09%, to 33,962.04, the S&P 500 lost 68.67 points, or 1.59%, to 4,258.49 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 152.25 points, or 1.06%, to 14,274.98.

Asian Markets

Shares in Asia-Pacific fell in Tuesday morning trade following an overnight tumble for stocks on Wall Street that saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunging more than 700 points.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 slipped 0.63% while the Topix index fell 0.79%. South Korea’s Kospi declined 0.31%.

SGX Nifty

Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a cautious opening for the index in India with a 25 points loss. The Nifty futures were trading at 15,716 on the Singaporean Exchange around 07:30 hours IST.

Privatisation of general insurer, 2 banks unlikely to be completed this fiscal

The Narendra Modi government remains committed to privatising two state-owned banks and one general insurer. However, these deals are unlikely to take place in this financial year, Moneycontrol has learnt from informed sources. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, while presenting the 2021-22 Union Budget, had said that the privatisation of the three entities would be carried out this year.

“Other than IDBI Bank, we propose to take up the privatisation of two public sector banks and one general insurance company in the year 2021-22,” Sitharaman had said.

However, the government now plans to privatise these companies in 2022-23, a top official said.

“This process is about the privatisation of state-owned financial companies, a new territory in terms of policy and a reversal of bank nationalisation. Also, the finance minister has promised there will be no job losses as a result of privatisation. Framing the contours of the deal and finding a suitable buyer will take time,” the official said.

Economy to witness 6.5 -7% growth FY23 onwards, to accelerate further: CEA Krishnamurthy Subramanian

The economy will start witnessing a growth of 6.5 to 7 percent from fiscal 2023 onward and accelerate further due to the reforms taken by the government Chief Economic Advisor Krishnamurthy Subramanian said during a virtual event organised by Indian Construction Equipment Manufacturers Association.

"We will grow at a higher rate this year, of course this year growth will be from a lower base. But next year as I said up by FY23. We anticipate between six and a half to 7 percent," CEA said.

Subramanian pointed out that unlike most of the country which resorted to demand side measures, India also undertook various supply side reforms like creation of bad bank, privatization of public sector banks, increasing the FDI limit in insurance to 74 percent will push growth in the future like they did after the Liberalisation reforms of 1991.

Sebi proposes swing pricing mechanism for debt mutual funds

Sebi has proposed introducing swing pricing mechanism for open ended mutual fund debt schemes as part of efforts to ensure fairness in treatment of investors, especially during times of market dislocation. The regulator has suggested partial swing during normal times and a mandatory full swing during times of market dislocation.

The suggestion is aimed at ensuring fairness in treatment of entering, exiting and existing investors in mutual fund schemes, particularly during market dislocation, Sebi said in a consultation paper.

PE/VC investments decline 22% to $5.4 billion in June, up 45% in H1: Report

Investments by private equity and venture capital funds declined by 22 per cent to $5.4 billion in June, as compared to the $6.9 billion in the year-ago period, a report said on Monday. However, if compared with May's $4 billion, the investments were higher by 33 per cent, the monthly report by industry lobby group IVCA and consultancy firm EY said.

“Indian PE/VC investment activity grew at a record-setting pace throughout H121 and the deal pipeline indicates that this pace is only going to intensify as 2021 progresses. Both H121 and second quarter notched up lifetime highs for pure-play PE/VC investments at $21.9 billion and $14.1 billion respectively,” EY's partner Vivek Soni said.

Results on July 20

Bajaj Finance, Asian Paints, Arihant Superstructures, CRISIL, DCM Shriram, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company, ICICI Securities, India Tourism Development Corporation, JSW Ispat Special Products, Jubilant Ingrevia, Kohinoor Foods, Mangalam Organics, Moschip Technologies, Newgen Software Technologies, Reliance Industrial Infrastructure, Rane (Madras), Shyam Metalics and Energy, and Syngene International will release quarterly earnings on July 20.

FII and DII data

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold shares worth Rs 2,198.71 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) net purchased shares worth Rs 1,047.66 crore in the Indian equity market on July 19, as per provisional data available on the NSE.

Stocks under F&O ban on NSE

Seven stocks - Cadila Healthcare, Indiabulls Housing Finance, NALCO, NMDC, Punjab National Bank, SAIL, and Sun TV Network - are under the F&O ban for July 20. 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