What changed for the market while you were sleeping? 10 things to know

The Nifty closed at a record high on Monday at 9,237 and it looks like Indian market may start on a flat note but with a positive bias tracking global cues. There could be a possibility that Nifty may hit a fresh record high but the momentum may not sustain.

The index may trade sideways on Wednesday ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s policy review, which will be out on Thursday. Market participants are expecting a status-quo stance this time from RBI but the commentary on rate cuts will give a direction to

the market.

Fourth quarter earnings from India Inc. along with the Reserve Bank of India’s policy stance on rates will decide the trend for the market in this week.

Here are top cues from domestic as well as international markets which could have a bearing on D-Street.

The Trump administration quietly reworked its H-1B visa policy over the weekend, and this is likely to impact entry-level IT workers the hardest.

The US Citizenship and Immigration Service has released a revised set of H-1B guidelines dated March 31, 2017, which will hit entry-level 'software programmers' and IT companies applying for work visas this H-1B season, which opened on Monday.

US stocks were little changed on Tuesday, as investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of the first-quarter earnings season. “Investors also focused on a potentially tense meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping set for the end of the week,” said a report.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 39.03 points, or 0.19 percent, to 20,689.24, the S&P 500 gained 1.32 points, or 0.06 percent, to 2,360.16 and the Nasdaq Composite added 3.93 points, or 0.07 percent, to 5,898.61.

President Donald Trump vowed on Tuesday to speed up approval of infrastructure projects and said his overhaul could top $1 trillion on roads, tunnels, and bridges, one of his 2016 election campaign promises.

Trump did not provide further details on the amount or where the money would come from when he spoke at a White House meeting of 50 chief executives and other business leaders, said a Reuters report.

“Trump said building a highway can require dozens of approvals and take 10 to 20 years, a process he vowed to speed up. Trump said he would not fund projects that cannot be started within 90 days,” added the report.

The Nifty futures on the Singapore Stock Exchange were trading 6 points higher at 9,280 indicating a flat opening for the domestic market.

The first bimonthly Monetary Policy Statement of the RBI for 2017-18 will be released on April 6. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will meet on April 5 and 6 and the resolution of the Committee would be placed on the website at 1430 hrs on April 6, RBI said in a statement.

The Reserve Bank is likely to opt for status quo at its first bi-monthly monetary policy for 2017-18 on Thursday. RBI Governor Urjit Patel in his last policy review on February 8 had kept the key interest rate on hold at 6.25 percent.

Shankara Building Products, which recently concluded its Rs 350-crore initial public offer, will list its shares on the stock exchanges on April 5. The IPO, from March 22-24, was subscribed 41.60 times. The price band was fixed at Rs 440-460 per share.

Dr.Reddy’s on Tuesday said it was issued a Form 483 with 2 observations by US FDA for its active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturing plant in Srikakulam. The company said was addressing the observations raised by US FDA without specifying the nature of those observations.

The rupee on Monday plunged by 18 paise to close at 65.03 against the US currency on fresh dollar demand from importers and banks. This is the biggest one-day fall against the greenback in nearly two months.

The home currency hit a nearly 18-month high of 64.76 in early trade - the level not seen since October 23, 2015 - before retreating sharply in late afternoon trade, said a report. It finally settled the day at 65.03, revealing a sharp loss of 18 paise, or 0.28 percent.

The government has exceeded the tax collection estimates for 2016-17 fiscal at Rs 17.10 lakh crore. The revised estimates (RE) provided in Budget on February 1 had projected tax collections of Rs 16.97 lakh crore.

The Finance Ministry in a statement said that tax collection of Rs 17.10 lakh crore is a growth of around 18 percent compared to last year, said a report.

The weight of technical evidence is still favouring bulls in the near term. Traders are advised to remain cautiously optimistic with a stop below 9,118 levels on closing basis. The index made a ‘hanging man’ kind of pattern on daily charts on Monday.

For the momentum to continue, Nifty has to hold above 9,191 and the upside could extend towards 9,280 and then 9,350 while on the downside multiple supports are seen at 9150-9,133 zones.