Here’s breaking down the pre-market actions:
STATE OF THE MARKETS
SGX Nifty signals gap-up start
Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange traded 209 points, or 1.41 per cent, higher at 15,073.50 in signs that Dalal Street was headed for a gap-up start on Thursday.
Tech View: Nifty signals trend reversal
Nifty50 on Wednesday reclaimed the 14,800 mark and formed a large bullish candle on the daily chart, thanks to short covering in the last hour of the extended trading session. Analysts are positive, but believe the ongoing momentum can turn sideways if the index fails to reclaim the 15,000 level
Asian stocks gain as Fed nixes inflation fears
Asian stocks perked up on Thursday after US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reaffirmed interest rates would stay low, calming market fears that higher inflation might prompt the central bank to tighten the monetary spigot. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.90 per cent in early trade while Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 1.37 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.62 per cent.
prices climb to 13-month highs
Crude oil climbed to fresh 13-month highs after US government data showed a drop in crude output as a deep freeze disrupted production last week. Oil prices rose after US government data showed a drop in crude output as a deep freeze disrupted production last week. US crude recently rose 0.3 per cent to $63.41 per barrel and Brent was at $67.31, up 2.97 per cent on the day.
US stocks settled higher
The Dow finished at a fresh record Wednesday, shaking off early weakness following dovish comments from the Federal Reserve chief and progress on another coronavirus vaccine. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1.4 per cent to close at 31,961.86, a new all-time high. The broad-based S&P500 index gained 1.1 per cent to end at 3,925.43, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 1.0 per cent to 13,597.97 after two days of declines.
Nureca to make market debut today
Nureca, which is into the business of home healthcare and wellness products, will make its market debut today. The Rs 100 crore IPO, which was sold from February 15 to February 17, was subscribed 39.93 times. The category meant for qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) was subscribed 3.10 times, non institutional investors 31.59 times and retail individual investors (RIIs) 166.65 times.
FIIs buy Rs 28,739 crore worth stocks!
Net-net, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) were buyers of domestic stocks to the tune of Rs 28,739 crore, data available with NSE suggested. DIIs were net buyers to the tune of Rs 230.44 crore, data suggests.
MONEY MARKETS
Rupee: The rupee furthered its gains by another 11 paise to settle at 72.35 against the US dollar on Wednesday amid persistent selling of the greenback by banks and exporters.
10-year bonds: India 10-year bond yield fell 0.41 per cent to 6.14 after trading in 6.14-6.17 range.
Call rates: The overnight call money rate weighted average stood at 3.22 per cent, according to RBI data. It moved in a range of 2.10-3.50 per cent.
EVENTS/DATA TO WATCH
- Japan Coincident Index Final Dec (05:00 am)
- Euro Area Loans to Households YoY Jan (09:00 am)
- Euro Area Consumer Confidence Final Feb (10:00 am)
- Euro Area Economic Sentiment Feb (10:00 am)
- Euro Area Consumer Inflation Expectations Feb (10:00 am)
- US Durable Goods Orders MoM Jan (01:30 pm)
- US GDP Growth Rate QoQ 2nd Est Q4 (01:30 pm)
- US Jobless Claims 4-week Average Feb/20 (01:30 pm)
- US Initial Jobless Claims 20/Feb (01:30 pm)
- US Pending Home Sales MoM Jan (03:00 pm)
MACROS
Fed in no hurry to raise interest rates
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told Congress on Wednesday that the central bank will not begin raising interest rates until it believes it has reached its goals on maximum employment and inflation. Powell also warned that many who had worked in industries hardest hit by the pandemic and ensuing recession will likely need to find different jobs.
India’s ultra-HNIs to grow 63% in 5 years… The number of ultra-high net worth individuals (UHNIs) — those with a net worth of $30 million or more — is expected to grow at one of the fastest rates in India between 2020 and 2025, showed Knight Frank’s latest Wealth Report. India’s number will jump 63% to 11,198 from the current 6,884, making it the secondfastest growing country. Currently, there are 190,085 such people globally, whose numbers are expected to climb 27% in the same period.
India leaves recession far behind… India’s economy looked ready to leave a sharp downturn behind in the new year, as business and consumer activity showed more signs of gathering momentum in January. Two of the eight high-frequency indicators tracked by Bloomberg News improved last month, while five held steady and one deteriorated. That, for now, kept the needle on a dial measuring overall economic activity unchanged at 5 — a number arrived at by using the three-month weighted average to smooth out volatility in the single-month scores. The January reading points to a solid start for the new quarter, building on nascent gains seen in the October-December period.
PM wants to raise Rs 2.5L cr from PSU sale… Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday that the planned privatisation of state-run enterprises will help free up resources for spending on welfare, development, empower the citizens and create jobs as he set a target of monetising 100 government-owned assets across sectors worth Rs 2.5 lakh crore. Reiterating his strong backing for privatisation and asset monetisation, the PM said the reforms, which have been launched by the government, were aimed at ensuring that public money is spent judiciously to benefit the poor, in what is seen as a response to critics of the new policy unveiled in the Budget.
Private banks allowed to do govt biz… The Centre on Wednesday announced that it has lifted the embargo on private sector banks for the conduct of government-related banking transactions, such as taxes and other revenue payment facilities, pension payments, and small savings schemes. Although a few big lenders like ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank already get a share of the government business, the Centre saw this as a sign that they would get more. Shares of private banks gained sharply following this announcement. HDFC Bank gained 5%, Axis Bank rose 4.6%, and ICICI Bank 4.4%.
RBI expresses concern over cryptocurrency… The central bank has told the government that it has “major concerns” over the impact of cryptocurrency on the country’s financial stability, central bank governor Shaktikanta Das said on Wednesday. The statement comes at a time when the Indian parliament is set to pass a bill that will ban the trading and holding of all private cryptocurrencies. This is also a reiteration of the central bank’s long-standing stance advocating a blanket ban on cryptocurrencies in the country.
Rs 100 a litre new normal for petrol… Soon, Rs 100 could be the new normal for a litre of regular petrol in states with high VAT and cess, unless fuel taxes are reduced or the oil-producing countries raise production sharply from April. Three Wall Street banks-—Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America-—have in the last two days forecast oil at $70/barrel in the next few months and even a spike to $75 thereafter. What is worse, Goldman said even an OPEC+ decision to raise output would not calm prices as supply would still lag behind demand. Petrol recently topped the Rs 100-a-litre-mark in some cities of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh on sustained oil price rally and high taxes.
Economists call for taming fuel price… Economists believe non-monetary measures may be needed to rein in inflation from rising crude prices and they are batting for a cut in fuel taxes, which are inflating retail prices. The prices of Brent crude as well as the crude oil in India during January-February were lower than the comparable period a year ago. But retail prices, on an average, have gone up 20-25% YoY on high domestic excise taxes. In mid-February, the retail selling price of petrol was 2.8 times the base price of oil.
