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

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The benchmark Sensex and Nifty indices are likely to open gap-down on April 3 as trends in the GIFT Nifty indicate a weak start for the broader index with a loss of 142 points.

The market bellwethers snapped a three-day winning streak to close marginally lower on April 2, with the Sensex down 110.64 points, or 0.15 percent, at 73,903.91, and the Nifty 8.70 points, or 0.04 percent, at 22,453.30.

The pivot point calculator indicates that the Nifty is likely to take immediate support at 21,272, followed by 21,222, and 21,141 levels, while on the higher side, it may see an immediate resistance at 21,372, followed by 21,484 and 21,565 levels.

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 weak start for the broader index in India, with a loss of 142 points or 0.63 percent. The Nifty futures were trading around the 22,465.50 level.

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

US Markets

US stocks fell on Tuesday as investors weighed chances that the Federal Reserve could delay cutting interest rates, while Tesla shares dropped after the electric car maker posted fewer quarterly deliveries for the first time in nearly four years.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 396.61 points, or 1 percent, to 39,170.24. The S&P 500 lost 37.96 points, or 0.72 percent, at 5,205.81 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 156.38 points, or 0.95 percent, to 16,240.45.

Asian Markets

Asian markets were trading lower in the early trade on Wednesday with Kospi down 1.5 percent and Nikkei down 1 percent.

World Bank raises India's FY25 growth projection to 6.6%; pegs FY24 GDP at 7.5%

The World Bank on April 2 raised its GDP growth projection for India by 20 basis points to 6.6 percent in FY25.

The global agency's projection for FY25 is significantly moderate compared to the estimate of a real GDP growth of 7.5 percent in the current financial year. However, it expects growth to pick up in subsequent years as a decade of robust public investment starts yielding dividends.

In its second advance estimate of GDP for 2023-24, India's statistics ministry pegged the current year's growth rate at 7.6 percent, 30 basis points higher than its first advance estimate of 7.3 percent.

RBI MPC to keep repo rate unchanged in April meeting, says CareEdge report

The Reserve Bank-led Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) may keep the repo rate unchanged on April 5, said ratings agency CareEdge in a report on April 2. The agency added that with unchanged repo rate, the central bank will also keep the stance unchanged.

“Given that the RBI Governor has been highlighting the aim of getting inflation to 4 percent on a durable basis, the policy rates are likely to be kept on hold in the upcoming policy meeting, with no change in stance,” the ratings agency said.

In its February monetary policy, the central bank kept the repo rate unchanged at 6.50 percent for the sixth consecutive time. The RBI has kept the repo rate unchanged since the April 2023 monetary policy. This was after inflation showed signs of moderating.

NSE revises lot size of Nifty 50 contracts, two others

National Stock Exchange (NSE) on April said it halved the lot size for trading derivatives contracts for the Nifty 50 index to 25, and reduced the lot sizes for two other indexes as part of its periodic revision.

Lot sizes of Nifty Financial Services or FINNIFTY has been cut from 40 to 25, and that of Nifty Midcap Select or MIDCPNIFTY has been cut from 75 to 50.

The lot size of contracts of Nifty Bank or BANKNIFTY has been left unchanged at 15.

All Nifty contracts i.e. weekly, monthly, quarterly, and half yearly expires available for trading from trade date of April 26, 2024, onwards will be with the revised market lot size.

ZEE’s MD & CEO Punit Goenka takes voluntary 20% pay cut, cites frugal focus for company

ZEE Entertainment Enterprises (ZEE) MD and CEO Punit Goenka on April 2 announced that he is taking a 20 percent cut in his personal remuneration on grounds of focusing on the company's growth plans.

"Frugality, optimization and a sharp focus on quality content are the three key tenets of the plan implemented by Goenka to drive the company on targeted goals and the decision in in line with this approach," the company said in a regulatory filing.

Commenting on this decision, Goenka said, "The organization is sharply focused on adopting a frugal approach, as we move forward towards the set goals for the future. While I am in the process of implementing the required steps and actions across all the verticals of the Company, I intend the required change in mindset, to begin from my desk. It is imperative to adapt as per the situation and at this point in time, Accountability & Agility' is the need of the hour."

RBI closely monitoring risks in banking system, says top official

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is closely monitoring risks in the banking system, the central bank's Deputy Governor M. Rajeshwar Rao said.

"RBI will continue to rationalise and wherever required, reinforce prudential regulations to ensure that banks recognise risks in their balance sheets and proactively manage them," Rao said during at the India Investment Summit & Awards organised by Mint in Mumbai on March 30, according to a transcript of his speech that was released on April 2.

Rao further said another area of focus is on improving governance in the regulated entities. “If one were to choose a single expression that epitomizes banking business, it has to be ‘risk management’,” Rao added.

Dollar

The US dollar was down on Tuesday after earlier hitting its highest in almost five months, following a new report that showed US job openings held steady at higher levels in February.

The dollar index rose to 105.1 on Tuesday, its highest level since November 14, adding to sharp gains on Monday after US data unexpectedly showed the first expansion in manufacturing since September 2022.

Gold Prices

Gold scaled yet another record peak on Tuesday as traders snapped up the safe haven asset amid growing Middle East tensions, largely ignoring a stronger dollar and tempered bets for U.S. rate cuts.

Crude

Global oil benchmark Brent on Tuesday rose above $89 a barrel for the first time since October, albeit briefly, as oil supplies faced fresh threats from Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy facilities and escalating conflict in the Middle East.

With inputs from Reuters and other agencies