What changed for the market while you were sleeping? Top 12 things to know

The Nifty50 after opening flat traded rangebound throughout the session but started correcting gradually in late morning deals. It fell below psychological 11,700-mark in the last half an hour of trade and closed tad below the same level on Wednesday.

The index formed bearish candle on the daily candlestick charts ahead of expiry of August futures & options contracts on Thursday.

The Nifty50 opened at 11,744.95 and closed at 11,691.90. In the morning, the index after flat opening dipped and immediately bounced back to hit an intraday high of 11,753.20 followed by volatility. It started correcting gradually in late morning deals and hit a day's low of 11,678.85 in late trade. The index closed 46.60 points lower at 11,691.90.

After today's correction, the index is likely to correct further and if it breaks 11,600 levels then major fall is likely, experts said, adding the volatility is likely to be high on Thursday due to expiry of August futures & options contracts.

According to Pivot charts, the key support level is placed at 11,662.73, followed by 11,633.57. If the index starts moving upwards, key resistance levels to watch out are 11,737.13 and 11,782.37.

The Nifty Bank index closed at 28,224.10, down 45.55 points on Wednesday. The important Pivot level, which will act as crucial support for the index, is placed at 28,146.57, followed by 28,069.04. On the upside, key resistance levels are placed at 28,322.87, followed by 28,421.63.

Stay tuned to 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 extended its rally on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq hitting record highs for the fourth straight session as technology companies pushed indexes higher and promising trade negotiations stoked investor sentiment.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 60.55 points, or 0.23 percent, to 26,124.57, the S&P 500 gained 16.52 points, or 0.57 percent, to 2,914.04 and the Nasdaq Composite added 79.65 points, or 0.99 percent, to 8,109.69.

Asian stocks rose on Thursday as Wall Street hit record highs in the hope that the current North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) negotiations will lead to a further easing of global trade tensions.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan nudged up 0.1 percent. Australian stocks added 0.15 percent, and Japan's Nikkei rose to a three-month high, last trading up 0.45 percent. South Korea's KOSPI was little changed.

Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a positive opening for the broader index in India, a rise of 22 points or 0.19 percent. Nifty futures were trading around 11,726-level on the Singaporean Exchange.

Oil prices inched up on Thursday, extending solid gains from the previous session on a fall in US crude inventories and expected disruptions to supply from Iran and Venezuela.

International Brent crude oil futures were at USD 77.21 per barrel at 0114 GMT, up 7 cents from their last close. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 14 cents at USD 69.65 a barrel.

The rupee yesterday plunged to all-time low of 70.65 to the US dollar in day trade on heavy month-end dollar demand from importers and foreign capital outflows. The local currency dropped by 49 paise or 0.70 percent to close at 70.59 to the dollar at the interbank foreign exchange market, logging its biggest single-day drop since August 13 when it nosedived 110 paise or 1.6 percent.

India likely grew 7.6 percent in the April-June quarter, propelled in part by an improvement in manufacturing and exports, a Reuters poll showed. The poll results suggest domestic demand was strong, driven primarily by manufacturing activity that remained solid despite elevated oil prices and a weakening Indian rupee.

India is now “seeing good momentum in manufacturing. Corporate results for April-June quarter have corroborated the improving demand conditions in the economy,” said Shubhada Rao, chief economist at Yes Bank.

Foreign investors have pulled out USD 280 million from the Indian equity markets so far this year, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) continue to invest more aggressively and have put in a staggering USD 10 billion. The latest round of outflow came after foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) had poured in USD 7.77 billion in 2017, while DIIs had invested USD 14 billion during the same period, said a report by Morningstar Investment Adviser.

While in January, FPIs bought net assets worth USD 2.2 billion, they were net sellers to the tune of USD 1.8 billion in February. Again, in March, they invested USD 1.8 billion in equity markets, whereas they offloaded net assets worth USD 3 billion during April-June. However, they put in USD 330 million in July and USD 242 million in August so far.

On the other hand, domestic institutional investors started the year on a negative note and withdrew USD 111 million in January, however, they put in money in February and the bullish trend continued so far in August.

India remains a preferred destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) as domestic consumption remains strong, according to RBI Annual Report. With manufacturing sector gathering momentum, helped by both services and agriculture sectors, consumption demand remains robust in the country making it an attractive investment destination, it said.

India received USD 37.3 billion capital inflow in 2017-18 as compared to USD 36.3 billion in the previous fiscal. During the 2015-16, the country received USD 36.06 billion. "There are country-specific factors that could distinguish the Indian experience going forward. In the real sector, a normal monsoon for the third consecutive year should lift agricultural output," it said.

In a bid to strengthen the banking system laden with bad debt, the government has asked the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to prepare a list of public sector banks that can be merged, according to a report by Bloomberg. The finance ministry has also asked the central bank to suggest a timeframe for the consolidation, the report suggests. The move is aimed at creating better capitalised and fewer lenders and improving regulatory oversight.

In an interview to CNBC TV18 in February 2017, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said he was confident that State Bank of India (SBI) stands to gain a lot under the government's public sector consolidation framework.

India will not completely halt Iranian oil imports and will finalise its strategy on crude purchases from Tehran after a meeting with top US officials next week, a senior government official said. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis will hold high-level talks with India's Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on September 6, in what is known as a 2+2 dialogue.

"Definitely we are not going to zero" (purchases), said the official, who has direct knowledge of India's oil purchase policy and did not wish to be identified. When asked if more clarity on India's Iranian oil purchases would emerge after the dialogue, the official said "yes, that is the highest level of meeting we will have with the US"

The government yesterday said the rupee was likely to remain in the range of 68-70 to the dollar, as the Indian currency plunged to an all-time closing low of 70.59 against the US currency. The local currency dropped by 49 paise or 0.70 percent at close, its biggest single-day drop since August 13 when it nosedived 110 paise or 1.6 percent, at the interbank foreign exchange market yesterday.

"There is some small mismatch in demand and supply which plays one way or the other depending upon the view that operators take. But some changes have happened which are material. Foreign portfolio investors took out $9 billion from the country in the first three months," Economic Affairs Secretary S C Garg said while replying to queries on rupee value.

Securities in ban period for the next day's trade under the F&O segment include companies in which the security has crossed 95 percent of the market-wide position limit.

For August 30, DHFL, IDBI Bank and Punjab National Bank are present in this list.