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The Nifty50 is likely to open flat on Thursday tracking positive handover from Wall Street. The Nifty50 closed 103 points higher at 9,897 on Wednesday.
The Nifty50 formed a bullish candle for second straight day in a row on Wednesday as bulls kept an upper hand. The index is poised to reclaim 9980-10,000 as long as it holds above 9850, suggests experts.
However, investors are still advised to take gains with a pinch of salt as it would be difficult for the index to surge past its record high of 10,137 in a hurry.
Traders could lighten up their positions as market reach key resistance zone of 9,950 – 10,050 levels. On the downside, Nifty has support at 9,820 and then towards 9,775 mark to hold the recent pull back rally.
Stay tuned with Moneycontrol to find out what happens in currency and equity markets today. We have collated a list of important headlines from across news agencies:
Wall Street pares gains
US stocks pared gains after President Donald Trump said he is disbanding his manufacturing council as well as the strategy and policy forum.
Trump's move comes after two more CEOs resigned from the manufacturing council on Wednesday in response to the president's comments on the Charlottesville violence over the weekend, Reuters reported.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 25.88 points, or 0.12 percent, at 22,024 and the S&P 500 was up 3.5 points, or 0.14 percent, at 2,468.11. The Nasdaq Composite was up 12.10 points, or 0.19 percent, at 6,345.11.
SGX Nifty
The Nifty50 futures on the Singapore Stock Exchange were trading 14 points lower at 9894 indicating a flat to negative opening for the domestic market.
Trump jettisons 2 business councils
President Donald Trump announced the disbanding of two high-profile business advisory councils on Wednesday after several chief executives quit in protest over his remarks blaming weekend violence in Virginia not only on white nationalists but also on anti-racism activists who opposed them, said a Reuters report.
A parade of prominent Republicans and U.S. ally Britain also rebuked Trump after his comments on Tuesday about the bloodshed in the college town of Charlottesville further enveloped his seven-month-old presidency in controversy, paralyzed his policy aims and left him increasingly isolated, it said.
Trump announced the dissolution of the American Manufacturing Council and Strategic and Policy Forum, whose members included some leading American business figures.
SAT to hear pleas of Hit Kit Global Solutions and Sanco Industries
The Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) will hear on Thursday pleas by Hit Kit Global Solutions and Sanco Industries against trading restrictions imposed on their shares by exchanges on Sebi directions.
The tribunal last week stayed trading curbs on eight companies, including JKumar Infraprojects and Parsvnath Developers, which was among the 331 "suspected shell companies" referred by the government to Sebi.
Govt sets up panel for strategic disinvestment
The Cabinet on Wednesday decided to set up a high-powered committee of Union ministers, including Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, to expedite strategic disinvestment of state-owned companies, said a report.
The Cabinet gave its nod for setting up an Alternative Mechanism (AM) consisting of Finance Minister, Road Transport and Highways Minister, and Minister of Administrative Department, to decide on the matters relating to strategic disinvestment, an official statement said after the Cabinet meet which was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Yes Bank cuts savings account interest rate by up to 1 percent
Private sector lender Yes Bank on Wednesday reduced the interest rate on savings bank accounts by 1 per cent to 5 percent for deposits of less than Rs 1 lakh, said a report.
However, the bank will continue to pay 6 percent interest on deposits of over Rs 1 lakh and less than Rs 1 crore. The bank has also slashed interest rate on savings accounts to 6.25 percent from existing 6.5 percent for deposits over Rs 1 crore.
Tata Sons to scrap all business dealings with Cyrus Mistry's group
The board of Tata Sons under N Chandrasekaran has ordered its group companies to scrap all business dealings with Cyrus and Shapoor Mistry’s SP Group, putting at risk transactions worth hundreds of crores of rupees, ET reported.
Almost 50 companies of the SP Group will be affected by the Tata Sons board decision taken on August 9. Cyrus Mistry and elder brother Shapoor Mistry each own half of the privately-owned SP Group.
Key SP group companies to be affected by this letter include Afcons Infrastructure, Eureka Forbes and Forbes and Company Ltd. It remains to be seen whether the SP Group will challenge the Tata Sons move in the courts, the report added.
Minutes suggest Fed policymakers worried about inflation:
Federal Reserve policymakers appeared increasingly wary about recent weak inflation and some called for halting interest rate hikes until it was clear the trend was transitory, according to the minutes of the U.S. central bank's last policy meeting.
The readout of the July 25-26 meeting, released on Wednesday, also indicated the Fed was poised to begin reducing its USD 4.2 trillion portfolios of Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities, said a Reuters report.
The central bank's preferred inflation measure dropped to 1.5 percent in June from 1.8 percent in February and has remained below its 2 percent target for more than five years, it said.
China pledges wider opening to foreign investors
China, facing a possible decline in foreign investment this year, will become more open for international investors and take steps to better protect intellectual property, its cabinet said on Wednesday, said a Reuters report.
In recent months, the Chinese government has made multiple statements about further opening its economy to outside investment, though details and timetables have been lacking, it said.
Dollar erases gains after Trump announces council disbanding
The dollar turned lower against most major currencies on Wednesday following an exodus from and eventual disbanding of US President Donald Trump's manufacturing council and strategic policy forum, said a report.
The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against six major currencies, fell near its lows of the day following the announcement from Trump via Twitter. The dollar turned negative against the yen, euro and Swiss franc, having earlier touched weeks long highs against each.
Oil dips despite steep draw in US crude stocks
Oil prices fell even though US crude stockpiles declined by the most in a year, as the government also reported that domestic crude production was edging higher, said a Reuters report.
US crude inventories dropped for a seventh consecutive week, falling 8.95 million barrels last week to 466.5 million barrels to their lowest since January 2016, the Energy Information Administration said.
Brent crude futures were down 18 cents at USD 50.62 per barrel, after trading as high as USD 51.40. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at USD 47.20 a barrel, down 35 cents, after rising as high as USD 47.99.
Infosys to consider share buyback proposal
Infosys Ltd said on Wednesday that its board will consider a proposal, to buy back equity shares, at its meeting later this month.
The country's No. 2 software services exporter said in April, it would return up to 130 billion rupees (USD 2.03 billion) to shareholders in the fiscal year ending March 2018, adding the manner of the payout will be decided by later by the board.
MPC members warn inflation could accelerate
The Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy committee (MPC) members said easing consumer inflation had supported the need for a rate cut at its August meeting but warned prices could start accelerating, minutes showed on Wednesday.
The comments reflected continued caution by most of the six members of the committee, despite pressure by government officials and some economists to cut rates more aggressively after consumer inflation has remained below the RBI's 4 percent target since October, said a Reuters report.
The RBI cut the main policy rate by 25 basis points to a more than 6-1/2 year low of 6.00 percent on Aug. 2, but kept its policy stance at "neutral", it said.
Rupee ends 3 paise lower at 64.15 against US dollar
The rupee staged an impressive comeback after plunging to a fresh three-week low and ended with a modest loss of 3 paise at 64.15 a dollar today even as local equities put up a strong performance, said a report.
The home currency tumbled to as low as 64.33 in early trade -- the level which was last seen on July 26.
Anti-dumping duty likely on a chemical from Canada, China, EU
The government may impose an anti-dumping duty of up to USD 120.14 per tonne on a chemical used in sectors such as dyes and pharmaceuticals from Canada, China and the European Union (EU), said a PTI report.
The duty aims at guarding domestic players from cheap imports.
Directorate General of Anti-dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD) has found that domestic industry is impacted due to the "dumped imports" of 'sodium chlorate' from Canada, China and the EU, it said.
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