Top 10 things to know before the market opens today

BSE Sensex

The Indian stock market is expected to open in the green as trends on SGX Nifty indicate a positive opening for the broader index in India with a gain of 31 points.

The BSE Sensex climbed 657.39 points or 1.14 percent to 58,465.97, while the Nifty50 jumped 197 points or 1.14 percent to 17,463.80 and formed a bullish candle on the daily charts.

According to pivot charts, the key support levels for the Nifty are placed at 17,376.13, followed by 17,288.47. If the index moves up, the key resistance levels to watch out for are 17,514.33 and 17,564.87.

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 jumped on Wednesday, closing sharply higher as megacap growth stocks powered up thanks to a pause in rising interest rates, and upbeat earnings reports also encouraged investors to buy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.86 percent to end at 35,768.06 points, while the S&P 500 gained 1.45 percent to 4,587.18. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 2.08 percent to 14,490.37.

Asian Markets

Shares in Asia-Pacific were mixed in Thursday morning trade as investors await the release of US consumer inflation data. Mainland Chinese stocks were lower in morning trade, with the Shanghai composite down 0.19 percent while the Shenzhen component dipped 0.137 percent.

The Nikkei 225 in Japan gained 0.14 percent while the Topix index slipped fractionally. South Korea’s Kospi shed 0.17 percent. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.21 percent.

SGX Nifty

Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a positive opening for the broader index in India with a gain of 31 points. The Nifty futures were trading around 17,515 levels on the Singaporean exchange.

RBI interest rate decision today

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will announce its verdict after a three-day meet on February 10. The rate setting panel is widely expected to increase the reverse repo rate or the rate at which the central bank borrows short-term deposits from banks by at least 25 basis points. One bps is one hundredth of a percentage point.

Along with this, the MPC is likely to change the policy stance to ‘neutral’ from ‘accommodative’, according to analysts. The rate setting panel indicates its broader policy approach by guiding the markets with policy stances. Let's try to understand what are those terms and what do each of these stances convey.

Results today

Hero MotoCorp, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hindalco Industries, Zomato, ABB India, Aegis Logistics, Amara Raja Batteries, Alembic Pharmaceuticals, BEML, Bharat Forge, Computer Age Management Services, Cummins India, Gujarat Pipavav Port, Gujarat State Petronet, Hindustan Aeronautics, IRB Infrastructure Developers, Indian Railway Finance Corporation, Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences, Dr Lal PathLabs, Mindspace Business Parks REIT, MRF, MTAR Technologies, Novartis India, Page Industries, Quess Corp, Reliance Power, SJVN, Speciality Restaurants, Strides Pharma Science, Sundram Fasteners, Sunteck Realty, Sun TV Network, Tata Chemicals, Trent, Titagarh Wagons, Welspun Corp, Whirlpool of India, West Coast Paper Mills, and Zee Media Corporation.

Oil prices steady as investors eye US-Iran nuclear talks

Oil prices were mixed on Thursday, after rallying on an unexpected drop in US crude inventories in the previous session, as investors await the outcome of US-Iran nuclear talks that could add crude supplies quickly to global markets.

Brent crude futures slid 10 cents, or 0.1 percent, to $91.45 a barrel at 0130 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $89.74 a barrel, up 8 cents.

SEBI directs AMCs to form audit committee from August this year

Markets regulator Sebi on Wednesday asked asset management companies (AMCs) to form audit committees which will be responsible for oversight of financial reporting process, audit process and compliance with laws and regulations, among others.

The circular will come into force with effect from August 1, 2022. Currently, an audit committee exists at the level of trustees of mutual funds. Sebi said the decision has been taken after taking into account the recommendation of the Mutual Fund Advisory Committee and the feedback received from the industry and has come out with a detailed outline for role, responsibility, membership and other features of the Audit Committee of AMC.

Fed hopes economy is on cusp of inflation slowdown as rate hikes loom

New data on Thursday is expected to show US inflation still at multi-decade highs, but Federal Reserve officials are holding out hope that the peak may be near. "There is some evidence we are on the cusp" of inflation that begins to ease perhaps by midyear, Atlanta Fed president Raphael Bostic said in an interview with CNBC on Wednesday.

In separate comments Cleveland Fed president Loretta Mester said she also expected inflation to ease this year as the Fed steadily tightens credit.

FII and DII data

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold shares worth Rs 892.64 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) net bought shares worth Rs 1,793.35 crore in the Indian equity market on February 9, as per provisional data available on the NSE.

Stocks under F&O ban on NSE

Two stocks - BHEL and Punjab National Bank - are under the F&O ban for February 10. 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