Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty ended in the red for the seventh consecutive session on March 2 as concerns over coronavirus continued to weigh on investor sentiments. D-Street witnessed one of the most volatile sessions in the recent past, a 1000-point swing that wiped out most of the gains made on the Sensex while Nifty50 held onto its crucial support at 11,100 levels.
Sensex fell 153 points to close at 38,144 while Nifty ended 69 points lower at 11,132.75. Broader markets performed in line with benchmark indices as the S&P BSE Midcap index was down 0.65 percent while the S&P BSE Smallcap index fell 0.77 percent.
According to the pivot charts, the key support level for Nifty is placed at 10,968.33, followed by 10,803.87. If the index moves up, key resistance levels to watch out for are 11,365.13 and 11,597.47.
Nifty Bank closed 0.96 percent down at 28,868.40. The important pivot level, which will act as crucial support for the index, is placed at 28,363, followed by 27,857.6. On the upside, key resistance levels are placed at 29,582.5 and 30,296.6.
Stay tuned to Moneycontrol to find out what happens in 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
Equity markets around the world rose on Monday as speculation that central banks will cut interest rates to soften the economic blow of the coronavirus heartened investors and drove US government debt yields to record lows.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1,293.96 points, or 5.09%, to 26,703.32. The S&P 500 gained 136.01 points, or 4.60%, to 3,090.23 and the Nasdaq Composite added 384.80 points, or 4.49%, to 8,952.17.
Asian Markets
Global shares and oil prices extended their rebound on Tuesday on mounting speculation policymakers around the world would move to ease the economic fallout from the spreading coronavirus.
Japan's Nikkei jumped 1.6% while MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.8%. South Korea's Kospi added 2.4% and Australian shares advanced 1.8% ahead of an expected rate cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia.
SGX Nifty
Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a positive opening for the broader index in India, with a 22 points gain or 0.2 percent. The Nifty futures were trading around 11,143-level on the Singaporean Exchange.
India's fuel demand expected to rebound to 3.8% in FY21
India's fuel demand is forecast to rebound to 3.8 percent in the next fiscal starting April from its slowest pace in six years, according to oil ministry estimates. Petroleum product demand in 2020-21 is expected to total 222.79 million tonnes, up from 216 million tonnes estimate for the current fiscal, the ministry's Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) said.
Fuel consumption in the current fiscal ending March 31 will grow by just 1.3 percent, its slowest pace in six years.
Oil up over 4% as hopes of OPEC cut, stimulus counter virus gloom
Oil prices rose over 4% on Monday, reversing an early fall to multi-year lows as hopes of a deeper cut in output by OPEC and stimulus from central banks countered worries about damage to demand from the coronavirus outbreak.
Brent crude futures gained $2.23, or 4.5%, to settle at $51.90 a barrel. The session low of $48.40 was its lowest since July 2017. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose $1.99, or 4.5%, to settle at $46.75 a barrel.
Rupee slumps 50 paise to 72.74 against US dollar
The rupee pared all its initial gains and settled 50 paise down at 72.74 (provisional) against the US dollar on Monday after two fresh cases of coronavirus detected in India. Forex traders said the Indian rupee which started the day on a positive note, witnessed heavy volatility and finally settled with significant losses after two more positive cases were reported in the country.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local currency opened at 72.09. During the day it saw a high of 72.04 and a low of 72.74 against the American currency. The domestic unit finally settled at 72.74 against the greenback, down 50 paise over its previous closing price.
GDR manipulation: SEBI levies Rs 10.75cr fine on Aksh Optifibre, its directors
Markets regulator Sebi has imposed a total fine of Rs 10.75 crore on Aksh Optifibre and its five directors in a matter related to manipulation in issuance of global depository receipts (GDR). The directors -- Kailash S Chaudhary, P F Sundesha, B R Rakhecha, Narendra Kumbhat and Arun Sood -- are facing fine in the range of Rs 10-20 lakh each.
The order follows a probe conducted by the regulator between August-September 2010. Sebi noted that the company had issued 1.17 million GDRs worth $25 million in September 2010. The investigation revealed that the entire 1.17 million GDRs were subscribed by only one entity, Vintage FZE, presently known as Alta Vista International FZE, on obtaining a loan from European American Investment Bank AG (EURAM Bank).
World economy may shrink because of virus: OECD
A global agency says the spreading new virus could make the world economy shrink this quarter, for the first time since the international financial crisis more than a decade ago. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development says March 2 in a special report on the impact of the virus that the world economy is still expected to grow overall this year and rebound next year.
But it lowered its forecasts for global growth in 2020 by half a percentage point, to 2.4 per cent, and said the figure could go as low as 1.5 per cent if the virus lasts long and spreads widely.
Top central banks appear primed to act to combat coronavirus risk
The world’s top three central banks look set to take steps to limit the economic damage from the fast-spreading coronavirus, with the heads of the European Central Bank and Bank of Japan issuing emergency statements on Monday that echoed one from US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell late last week.
“We stand ready to take appropriate and targeted measures, as necessary and commensurate with the underlying risks,” Lagarde said in a statement issued shortly after US stock markets closed. “The coronavirus outbreak is a fast developing situation, which creates risks for the economic outlook and the functioning of financial markets.”
Trump presses US Federal Reserve to cut rates
US President Donald Trump on Monday reiterated his call for the US central bank to lower interest rates, tweeting that the Federal Reserve has been “slow to act” and should be more aggressive. Trump’s comments did not mention the ongoing coronavirus outbreak but come as investors continued to fret following last week’s global market slide amid the outbreak and looked toward a possible global interest rate cut.
Compliance rate of Indian facilities supplying drugs to US much lower than global avg: USFDA
Around 83 percent of manufacturing sites in India inspected by the US drug regulator, as of August 2019, were found to be compliant with current good manufacturing practices (CGMP), according to USFDA data.
But when compared with global final inspection outcomes, the compliance rate in India, at 83 percent, was markedly lower, the agency pointed out. The US with the largest number of manufacturing facilities has a 93 percent compliance rate, EU has 98 percent, Rest of World at 94 percent and China at 90 percent.
RBI officials including Shaktikanta Das meet bank chiefs, urge them to push credit
Top Reserve Bank of India (RBI) officials, including governor Shaktikanta Das and his deputies on Monday met heads of several large public sector banks at the RBI headquarters in Mumbai. On top of the agenda for this post-policy meeting with banks was credit growth. The banking sector regulator voiced its displeasure with the muted credit growth, said bank executives present in the meeting, on the condition of anonymity.
“The governor asked banks why credit growth is not picking up. He said bankers must get out of branches, develop connect with enterprises to push credit,” one of the banking executives present in the meeting told CNBC-TV18.
OECD lowers India's FY21 GDP growth to 5.1% on coronavirus concerns
Global agency OECD on Monday lowered its India's GDP growth forecast to 5.1 percent from the earlier projection of 6.2 percent for 2020 on concerns of impact of deadly coronavirus on the domestic as well as the global economy. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said the adverse impact on confidence, financial markets, travel sector and disruption to supply chains contributes to the downward revisions in all G20 economies in 2020, particularly ones strongly interconnected to China.
FII and DII data
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs 1,354.72 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares of worth Rs 1,138.74 crore in the Indian equity market on March 2, provisional data available on the NSE showed.
With inputs from Reuters & other agencies
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