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

Moneycontrol News

The Nifty failed to reclaim its crucial psychological level of 9,200 last week, but the index gained 0.7 percent for the week ended March 31, 2017. However, it was indeed a historical month as the index posted a monthly close on a record high.

The Nifty witnessed buying interest around 9,050-9,020, which was certainly an encouraging factor for our markets, but any dip below 9,075-9,000 could result in an intermediate correction on the market.

Fourth quarter earnings from India Inc. along with the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) policy stance on rates will decide the trend for the market in this week.

Here are top cues from domestic as well as international markets, which could have a bearing on D-Street.

Infosys saga continues

The battle between Infosys founders and the company’s management led by its Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Vishal Sikka is far from over.

After a month's lull, co-founder Narayana Murthy, who has taken on the management over what he says are poor corporate governance standards at Infosys, has fired a fresh salvo, according to a moneycontrol report.

Murthy sent a letter to various media outlets, saying that a 60-70 percent pay hike to Chief Operating Officer and Wholetime Director UB Pravin Rao when compensation for most of the employees was increased by just 6 percent-8 percent was not proper.

Wall Street closes flat

US Stocks ended lower on Friday weighed down by concerns over valuations ahead of quarterly results. Wall Street rose to fresh record highs following the election of President Donald Trump.

For the quarter ending Friday, the S&P 500 is on track to end 5.6 percent higher with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 4.5 percent, their biggest first-quarter gains in four years, said a Reuters report.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.31 percent to end at 20,663.22 points, while the S&P 500 lost 0.23 percent to 2,362.72. The Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.04 percent to 5,911.74.

Donald Trump orders target trade abuses

Trump said at a White House signing ceremony that he and Xi were "going to get down to some serious business" next week and vowed that "the theft of American prosperity" by foreign countries would end.

One of the orders directed the Commerce Department and the US trade representative to conduct a 90-day review of the causes of massive US trade deficits. “It will study the effects of abuses such as the dumping of products below costs, unfair subsidies, "misaligned" currencies and "non-reciprocal" trade practices by other countries,” said a report.

SGX Nifty

The Nifty futures on the Singapore Stock Exchange were trading flat at 9,192, indicating a flat opening for the domestic market.

BSE to charge transaction fee

BSE will start charging a transaction fee on per trade basis from Monday, a move that is expected to attract a larger number of big deals.

Under the new system, it will charge Re1 per trade for up to 5 lakh transactions in a month; 70 paise for 5-10 lakh; 60 paise for 10-20 lakh and 30 paise for over 40 lakh.

Earlier, the exchange charged a flat Rs 275 per crore on a gross turnover of Rs1 crore.

GST Council approves draft rules

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council approved the drafts of four sets of rules and finalised five others on Friday, bringing India closer to a one unified tax regime.

The council, headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, approved the draft rules relating to composition, valuation, ITC (input tax credit) and the transition process.

Five other rules involving registration, payment, refund, invoices and returns, the drafts of which were already approved in the Council’s previous meeting, were finalised on Friday factoring in amendments to make these compatible with the GST Bills that the Lok Sabha passed earlier this week, said a report.

Dollar ends flat

The dollar closed flat on Friday as a Federal Reserve official's seemingly dovish remarks and uninspiring data on the US economy "squelched" the sanguine mood from earlier this week, said a report.

The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against six rival currencies, was little changed from its late Thursday levels at 100.39. Backed by early-week gains, however, it is headed for its best week since mid-February.

Rupee

The Indian rupee posted its one of its best gains last week. The rupee climbed 0.1 per cent to close at 64.85 per dollar in Mumbai last week on Friday, taking its gain to 2.8 percent in March 2017.

The three-month advance is the biggest for any quarter since the period ended September 2012. “The rupee has gained on strong inflows from foreign investors,” Vijay Singhania, Founder-Director, Trade Smart Online told moneycontrol.

“Foreign inflows in a single month were the highest ever at Rs 29,621.63 (including provisional figures for Thursday & Friday) in March 2017,” he said.

SBI now becomes even bigger

Five associates and the Bharatiya Mahila Bank became part of the State Bank of India (SBI) on Saturday, catapulting the country’s largest lender to among the top 50 banks in the world.

State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur (SBBJ), State Bank of Hyderabad (SBH), State Bank of Mysore (SBM), State Bank of Patiala (SBP) and State Bank of Travancore (SBT), besides Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB), merged with SBI with effect from April 1, the bank said in a statement.

Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors report single-digit rise March sales

The country’s largest car-maker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) on Saturday posted 8.1 percent rise in total sales in March at 1,39,763 units as against 1,29,345 vehicles in the same month last year.

For 2016-17 fiscal, the company posted a 9.8% jump in total sales at 15,68,603 units, against 14,29,248 vehicles in 2015-16.

Tata Motors Ltd reported an 8 percent increase in total sales in March at 57,145 units as compared to 53,057 units in the same month last year. Cumulative sales of the company for the 2016-17 fiscal stood at 5,42,561 units, up 6% over 5,11,705 vehicles sold in 2015-16.

Royal Enfield, the two-wheeler division of Eicher Motors, on Saturday reported a 17% jump in total sales at 60,113 units in March.

Unitech owners arrested for cheating

Unitech will be in focus after the Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) on Saturday arrested Unitech’s managing directors Sanjay and Ajay Chandra for alleged money laundering.

The Chandras were booked for cheating buyers as Unitech failed to complete a project in Gurugram’s Sector 70 on time and also did not refund the money along with the interest, suggest reports.