What changed for the market while you were sleeping? Top 15 things to know

The Nifty50 repeated its previous day's trading pattern on Thursday, the expiry day of September futures & options contracts. The index opened sharply higher but after positive trade in the initial period, it extended losses as the day progressed and closed below psychological 11,000 levels. The index formed a bearish candle again on the daily charts.

The Nifty Bank, Auto, Financial Service, Pharma and Realty indices were down 1-3 percent while the Nifty Midcap index underperformed frontliners, falling 2.3 percent.

The Nifty50 opened higher at 11,079.80 and closed sharply lower at 10,977.55. The index managed to rise up to 11,089.45, the intraday high, in first half of an hour of trade but suddenly wiped out those gains and remained weak for rest of the session to hit day's low of 10,953.35. It closed 76.30 points lower at 10,977.50.

According to Pivot charts, the key support level is placed at 10,924.03, followed by 10,870.57. If the index starts moving upwards, key resistance levels to watch out are 11,060.23 and 11,142.97.

The Nifty Bank index closed at 25,042.15, down 334.15 points on Thursday. The important Pivot level, which will act as crucial support for the index, is placed at 24,882.03, followed by 24,721.87. On the upside, key resistance levels are placed at 25,327.43, followed by 25,612.67.

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 climbed on Thursday, helped by gains in Apple, Alphabet and Facebook, as well as the US Federal Reserve’s confidence in the strength of the economy after it raised rates for the third time this year. Eight out of 11 sectors rose, with the S&P 500 communication services index recently renamed and reconstituted with Facebook, Google-parent Alphabet and other internet and media stocks, jumping 0.80 percent.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.21 percent to end at 26,439.93 points, while the S&P 500 gained 0.28 percent to 2,914. The Nasdaq Composite added 0.65 percent to 8,041.97.

Shares in Asia inched higher on Friday, following gains on Wall Street overnight after news of robust US economic growth, with the chairman of the Federal Reserve saying the United States does not face a large chance of near-term recession.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.02 percent in early trade in Asia. Australian shares were 0.5 percent higher, while Seoul’s Kospi was down 0.5 percent after hitting three-month highs on Thursday. Japan’s Nikkei stock index gained 1.1 percent, putting it within sight of a 2018 high of 24,129.34 points on Jan. 23.

Oil edged higher on Thursday, driven by the prospect of a shortfall in global supply once US sanctions against major crude exporter Iran come into force in five weeks. Analysts said that OPEC and Russia appear unlikely to immediately boost production as Trump has demanded. US Energy Secretary Rick Perry has ruled out using US strategic crude reserves to lower oil prices.

The most-active December Brent crude futures contract settled up 59 cents at $81.38 a barrel, below the session high of $81.90. US futures settled up 55 cents at $72.12 a barrel.

Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a positive opening for the broader index in India, a rise of 40 points or 0.36 percent. Nifty futures were trading around 11,082-level on the Singaporean Exchange.

The US economy does not face a large chance of a recession in the next two years and the Federal Reserve plans to keep gradually raising interest rates, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said on Thursday. “There’s no reason to think that the probability of a recession in the next year or two is at all elevated,” Powell said.

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) lowered the growth projections for trade to 3.9 percent from the 4.4 percent estimated earlier for 2018, a development which may not augur well for India. The WTO said that escalating trade tensions and tighter credit market conditions in important markets will slow trade growth for the rest of this year and in 2019.

"Trade will continue to expand but at a more moderate pace than previously forecast. The WTO anticipates growth in merchandise trade volume of 3.9 percent in 2018, with trade expansion slowing further to 3.7 percent in 2019," the organisation said in a statement.

Ongoing geopolitical uncertainties and trade issues continue to dampen investor enthusiasm, with the number of IPOs in the first nine months of this year falling to 1,000 globally, an 18 percent decrease from 2017, says a report by EY. The number of initial public offerings (IPOs) in the first nine months of 2018 fell to 1,000 globally. This is an 18 per cent decrease from year-to-date (YTD) 2017, which saw the highest nine-month activity since 2007.

"However, despite this slowdown, YTD 2018 activity remained above the 10-year average with global IPO markets raising $145.1 billion, a 9 percent increase year-on-year," according to the EY quarterly report titled, "Global IPO trends: Q3 2018".

The finance ministry Thursday said the fifth tranche of electoral bonds sale will take place from October 1-10. Electoral bonds are being pitched as an alternative to cash donations made to political parties as part of efforts to bring transparency in political funding.

"State Bank of India (SBI), in the 5th phase of sale, has been authorised to issue and encash electoral bonds through its 29 authorised branches with effect from October 1 to 10," the ministry said in a statement. The number of SBI branches authorised to sale electoral bonds increased from 11 to 29 for the 5th tranche.

The rupee on September 27 ended almost flat at 72.59 to the US dollar after initial strong gains were erased by fag-end dollar demand from importers despite government measures to stem currency volatility. Steady capital outflows against the backdrop of tumbling local equities, ongoing global trade war concerns and surging oil prices kept forex sentiment under stress.

The domestic currency got off to a strong start at 72.42 compared to Wednesday's close of 72.60 at the inter-bank foreign exchange market (forex). It gained ground to hit a session high of 72.38 in mid-morning deals, but was unbale to hold on and relinquished all those gains touching a low of 72.78 in late afternoon trade due to heavy month-end dollar demand.

Amidst the ongoing bloodbath in the markets driven primarily by liquidity pressure at MFs and NBFCs following defaults by IL&FS, Keki Mistry, vice-chairman and chief executive of the mortgage major HDFC urged Reserve Bank to open a separate liquidity window for mutual funds to meet redemption pressures.

"There is fear in the market that mutual funds may see more redemptions, which can lead to a financial crisis. So, if the RBI were to come out with a special window for MFs it can enable them to borrow money, like a repo window and that will go a long way in assuaging concerns," Mistry told reporters on the sidelines of a real estate event.

To enhance transparency in the voting process, NSE announced that it is conducting tests to use blockchain for e-voting for listed companies. The test would involve setting up a blockchain to connect the markets regulator SEBI with the company and the RTA (registrar and transfer agent) during the voting process.

The voting rights will be tokenised, thus making them easy to transfer, NSE said in a statement. Sankarson Banerjee, CTO-Projects, NSE said, "The immutable nature of blockchain will ensure that every action taken by a network participant is transparent to the regulator."

The initial public offer of housing finance company Aavas Financiers was subscribed 97 percent on the third day of bidding on September 27. The Rs 1,734-crore IPO received bids for 1,43,96,076 shares against the total issue size of 1,47,85,027 shares, as per data available with the BSE till 06:00 PM.

The category reserved for qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) was subscribed 2.77 times, non-institutional investors 26 percent and retail investors 25 percent, the BSE data showed. The IPO comprises of fresh issue of up to Rs 400 crore and an offer for sale of up to 1,62,49,359 equity shares, including anchor portion of 63,36,439 equity shares.

State-owned Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers' initial public offer was subscribed 72 percent on the fourth day of bidding September 27. The last day for the issue was extended till October 1. The Rs 345-crore IPO received bids for 2,10,39,720 shares against the total issue size of 2,92,10,760 shares, data available with the NSE showed.

The portion set aside for qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) was subscribed 1.22 times, non-institutional investors 30 percent and retail investors 22 percent.

State-owned railways engineering and construction firm Ircon International is set to debut on bourses on September 28 after good subscription to its public issue. The Rs 466-crore initial public offer was subscribed 9.9 times during September 17-19, 2018. The issue price is fixed at higher end of price band of Rs 470-475 per share.

The portion set aside for qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) was subscribed 12.29 times, non-institutional investors 4.92 times and retail investors 10.07 times. The public issue comprised a offer for sale of 99,05,157 equity shares by the government.

Dinesh Engineers, the passive communication infrastructure provider, will open its initial public offering for subscription on September 28 with a price band at Rs 183-185 per share for the issue. The issue will close on October 3 while the anchor investor book will open for a day on September 27, a day prior to the bid/offer opening date.

Hem Securities is the book running lead manager to the issue and the registrar to the issue is Link Intime India. Equity shares of the company are proposed to be listed on Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange. The initial public offering consists of up to 1 crore equity shares. Bids can be made for a minimum lot of 80 equity shares and in multiples of 80 shares thereafter.

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