Stock Market Today: Top 10 things to know before the market opens

Market Today

The benchmark Sensex and Nifty indices are likely to open on a negative note on March 27 as trends in the GIFT Nifty indicate a weak start for the broader index with a loss of 44 points.

The market broke three-day winning momentum and ended lower after a volatile session on March 26 with the Nifty hovering on 22,000 amid selling seen in the IT, bank and media sectors.

At close, the Sensex was down 361.64 points, or 0.5 percent, at 72,470.30, and the Nifty was down 92.10 points, or 0.42 percent, at 22,004.70.

The pivot point calculator indicates that the Nifty 50 may face resistance at 22,056, followed by 22,086 and 22,134 levels. On the lower side, the index may take immediate support at 21,961 followed by 21,931 and 21,883.

Stay tuned to Moneycontrol to find out what happens in the 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.

GIFT Nifty

Trends in the GIFT Nifty indicate a negative start for the broader index in India, with a loss of 44 points or 0.20 percent. The Nifty futures were trading around the 22,046 level.

Trade setup for today: Top 15 things to know before the opening bell

US Markets

US stocks slipped on Tuesday, giving up modest gains late in the session to send the Dow and S&P 500 to their third straight decline, as investors awaited economic data in a holiday-shortened week to gauge the Federal Reserve's policy path.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 31.31 points, or 0.08 percent, to 39,282.33. The S&P 500 lost 14.61 points, or 0.28 percent, at 5,203.58 and the Nasdaq Composite slid 68.77 points, or 0.42 percent, to 16,315.70.

Asian Markets

Asian indices were trading higher in the early trade on Wednesday with Nikkei, Straits Times up 0.7 percent each.

PE firm Olympus looks to sell nearly 10% stake in Aster DM Healthcare for $235 mn

Private equity firm Olympus is looking to sell nearly 10 per cent of its existing stake in Aster DM Healthcare through a block deal, multiple industry sources in the know told Moneycontrol.

"Olympus Capital Asia Investments Ltd holds 18.96 per cent stake currently in Aster DM, of which it is looking to offload 9.8 per cent stake," said one of the persons quoted above.

"The block deal size is around $235 million. The floor price is at Rs 400 per share," added a second person. The floor price represents nearly 9 percent discount from current market price of Aster DM's stock (Rs 438.55). A third person told Moneycontrol that Kotak Mahindra Capital is the advisor on the proposed block trade.

India's current account deficit narrows to $10.5 billion in October-December

India's current account deficit (CAD) narrowed to $10.5 billion in the third quarter of 2023-24, according to data released on March 26 by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

As per the data, the CAD in October-December amounted to 1.2 percent of India's GDP.

The CAD in July-September 2023 was $11.4 billion, or 1.3 percent of GDP. In October-December 2022, the deficit stood at $16.8 billion, or 2.0 percent of GDP.

The current account deficit as a percentage of GDP for Q2 of 2023-24 underwent an upward revision to 1.3 percent from 1.0 percent earlier due to an upward adjustment of customs data on merchandise imports, according to the RBI.

Dollar

The dollar dipped on Tuesday as traders waited on a fresh catalyst to give clues on Federal Reserve policy, while the yen was steady after Japan's finance minister said that he would not rule out any measures to cope with the weakening currency.

Gold Prices

Gold prices climbed on Tuesday, buoyed by a weaker U.S. dollar, while investors waited for data due later in the week to reveal underlying inflation trends that will help gauge the Federal Reserve's interest-rate stance.

Crude

Oil prices were little changed on Tuesday as investors took a more mixed view toward the loss of Russian refinery capacity after recent Ukrainian attacks while a slightly weaker U.S. dollar offered some support.

FII and DII data

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net bought shares worth Rs 10.13 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased Rs 5,024.36 crore worth of stocks on March 26, provisional data from the NSE showed.

Stock under F&O ban on NSE

The NSE has retained SAIL to the F&O ban list for March 27. Biocon, Tata Chemicals and Zee Entertainment Enterprises were removed from the said list.

With inputs from Reuters and other agencies