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

The Indian stock market is expected to open on a cautious note as trends on SGX Nifty indicate a flat opening for the index in India with a 26 point gain.

The market snapped a four-day winning streak as selling pressure emerged at record high levels and the benchmark indices fell 1.3 percent on November 19 dragged by banking and financials and IT stocks. Weak global cues due to rising coronavirus infections in the Western world also hit sentiment.

The BSE Sensex plunged 580.09 points to 43,599.96, while the Nifty50 fell 166.60 points to 12,771.70. According to pivot charts, the key support levels for the Nifty is placed at 12,690.67, followed by 12,609.63. If the index moves up, the key resistance levels to watch out for are 12,907.87 and 13,044.03.

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

Stocks rallied while the dollar fell on Thursday, and oil settled lower but rose after hours following a report that US lawmakers may restart negotiations on economic stimulus, which lifted gloom that had persisted through most of the global day.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 44.81 points, or 0.15 percent, to 29,483.23, the S&P 500 gained 14.08 points, or 0.39 percent, to 3,581.87 and the Nasdaq Composite added 103.11 points, or 0.87 percent, to 11,904.71.

Asian Markets

Global stocks came under pressure on Friday after the US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin called for an end to pandemic relief for struggling businesses, sparking a rare clash between the central bank and Treasury and weighing on sentiment.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.44 percent in early trading, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures rose 0.22 percent. Japan’s Nikkei opened 0.6 percent lower. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.11 percent.

SGX Nifty

Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a flat opening for the index in India with a 26 point gain. The Nifty futures were trading at 12,800 on the Singaporean Exchange around 07:30 hours IST.

Oil slips

US oil prices slipped on Friday, dropping for a second day as concerns mounted about the hit to demand from the surge in COVID-19 infections forcing new lockdowns, but prices were supported by signs of movement on a stimulus deal in Washington.

West Texas Intermediate was down 9 cents, or 0.2 percent, at $41.65 a barrel by 0039 GMT. Brent crude was yet to trade, having fallen 0.3 percent in the previous session. The contracts are heading for the third week of gains.

India’s GDP contraction in Q2 slowed to 9.5 percent: ICRA

Led by a recovery in construction and manufacturing activities, India’s gross domestic product (GDP) is estimated to have contracted to 9.5 percent in the September quarter from 23.9 percent in Q1 FY2021, rating agency ICRA said on November 19.

“A substantial recovery in manufacturing and construction is likely to underpin the expected improvement in the performance of the industrial GVA (Gross Value Added) in Q2 FY2021. Various sectors of manufacturing recorded an improvement in demand and volumes in Q2 FY2021, though the performance was admittedly uneven,” Aditi Nayar, Principal Economist, ICRA said.

India to see Rs 10,000 crore investment in LNG stations: Oil Minister

India will see an investment of Rs 10,000 crore in the next three years in setting up of LNG stations, a fuel that promises to revolutionalise long-haul transport with reduced cost and lesser emissions, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Thursday.

"In the next three years, Rs 10,000 crore will be spent on setting up of 1,000 LNG stations in the private and public sector,” he said. LNG as a fuel, he said, is poised to bring a transformational change in the way transportation happens.

Mnuchin pulls plug on some pandemic lending programs that Fed considers essential

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Thursday that key pandemic lending programs at the Federal Reserve would expire on December 31, putting the outgoing Trump administration at odds with the central bank and potentially adding stress to the economy as President-elect Joe Biden organizes his administration.

In a letter to Fed Chair Jerome Powell, Mnuchin said the $455 billion allocated to Treasury under the CARES Act last spring, much of it set aside to support Fed lending to businesses, nonprofits and local governments, should be instead available for Congress to reallocate.

US jobless claims increase to 742,00 as pandemic worsens

The number of Americans seeking unemployment aid rose last week to 742,000, the first increase in five weeks and a sign that the resurgent viral outbreak is likely slowing the economy and forcing more companies to cut jobs.

The Labour Department's report on Thursday showed that applications for benefits rose from 711,000 in the previous week. Claims had soared to 6.9 million in March when the pandemic first intensified. Before the pandemic, applications typically hovered about 225,000 a week.

India will get COVID-19 vaccine by April-May: SII's Adar Poonawalla

Adar Poonawalla, the CEO of Serum Institute of India (SII), on November 19 said that India will have access to its COVID-19 vaccine, called Covishield, by April-May next year and that the company has been stocking up on "millions of vaccine doses" to get a head-start for inculcation.

"We never dreamed earlier this year that we will have these vaccines ready so soon. The real question now is how long will these vaccines protect us... time will tell if the vaccines will protect us in long term," Poonawalla said at the Hindustan Times Summit.

P-notes investment swell to 14-month high in October

Investments through participatory notes (P-notes) in the Indian capital market surged to Rs 78,686 crore at October-end, making it the highest level in 14 months, on enhanced global liquidity and measures taken by the government back home.

According to SEBI data, the value of P-note investments in Indian markets– equity, debt and hybrid securities — increased to Rs 78,686 crore at October-end from Rs 69,821 crore as on September 30.

FII and DII data

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net bought shares worth Rs 1,180.61 crore, whereas domestic institutional investors (DIIs) net sold shares worth Rs 2,854.94 crore in the Indian equity market on November 19, as per provisional data available on the NSE.

11 stocks under F&O ban on NSE

Bank of Baroda, BHEL, Canara Bank, DLF, Indiabulls Housing, Vodafone Idea, L&T Finance, PNB, RBL Bank, Sun TV and SAIL are under the F&O ban for November 9. 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