Here’s breaking down the pre-market actions:
STATE OF THE MARKETS
SGX Nifty signals a positive start
Nifty futures on Singapore Exchange traded 53 points, or 0.33 per cent, higher at 16,218, signaling that Dalal Street was headed for a positive start on Wednesday.
- Tech View: Nifty50 on Tuesday formed a solid bullish candle on the daily chart and sent a ‘buy’ signal on the momentum indicator MACD after a bullish crossover.
- India VIX: The fear gauge jumped over 7 per cent to 13.75 level on Tuesday over its close at 12.80 on Monday.
Asian stocks mixed in early trade
Asian shares were trading mixed Wednesday on continued worries about coronavirus infections, despite overnight gains on Wall Street. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up by 0.11 per cent.
- Japan’s Nikkei shed 0.21%
- Korea’s Kospi climbed 0.50%
- Australia’s ASX 200 added 0.11%
- China’s Shanghai gained 0.15%
- Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.21%
US stocks settled higher
Wall Street’s main indexes closed higher on Tuesday on gains in Apple and healthcare stocks, despite concerns over a surge in the Delta variant of the coronavirus taking some shine off an upbeat corporate earnings season.
- Dow Jones gained 0.80% to 35,116.40
- S&P 500 soared 0.82% to 4,423.15
- Nasdaq rose 0.55% to 14,761.29
Dollar under pressure ahead of US data
The dollar was pinned near recent lows against other currencies on Tuesday, as traders awaited US jobs data for a guide to the rates outlook, while labour market strength lifted the kiwi in anticipation of a New Zealand rate hike within weeks.
- Dollar index held at 92.024
- Euro slipped to $$1.1870
- Pound gained to $1.3924
- Yen jumped to 108.98 per dollar
- Yuan depreciated to 6.4641 against the greenback
Oil prices fall for third day
Oil prices fell for a third day on Wednesday on mounting concerns that the increasing spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus in top consuming countries will cut fuel demand. Brent crude oil futures slid 22 cents, or 0.3 per cent, to $72.19 a barrel. US WTI crude fell 33 cents, or 0.5 per cent, to $70.23 a barrel.
FPIs buy shares worth Rs 2,117 crore
Net-net, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) turned buyers of domestic stocks to the tune of Rs 2116.6 crore, data available with NSE suggested. DIIs were sellers to the tune of 298.54 crore, data suggests.
Q1 earnings today
State Bank of India, Titan Company, Adani Green Energy, Godrej Consumer Products, Adani Total Gas, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company, Bosch, Tata Communications, Hindustan Petroleum, Oracle Financial Services Software and Apollo Tyres are among the company that will announce quarterly earnings today.
Four IPOs open today
Dalal Street is all set to see as many as four IPOs hitting the market today. Among the four, Devyani International is eyeing to mop up Rs 1,838 crore in the price band of Rs 86-90. Krsnaa Diagnostics aims to raise over Rs 1,213 crore in a price band of Rs 933-954. Windlas Biotech (Rs 402 crore) and Exxaro Tiles (Rs 161 crore) will sell their shares in the Rs 448-460 and Rs 118-120 apiece, respectively.
MONEY MARKETS
Rupee: The rupee rose by 6 paise to close at 74.28 against the US dollar on Tuesday following sharp gains in domestic equities and a weak American currency.
10-year bond: India’s 10-year bond yield inched up 0.05 per cent to 6.2 after trading in 6.18 – 6.21 range.
Call rates: The overnight call money rate weighted average stood at 3.24 per cent, according to RBI data. It moved in a range of 1.90-3.40 per cent.
The DAY PLANNER
- Q1 Earnings: SBI | Titan | Adani Green | Adani Total Gas
- IN Markit Services PMI JUL (10:30 am)
- IN Markit Composite PMI JUL (10:30 am)
- US Fed Clarida Speech (7:30 pm)
- US Markit Services PMI Final JUL (7:15 pm)
- US Markit Composite PMI Final JUL (7:15 pm)
- US Total Vehicle Sales JUL (5:30 am)
- EA Retail Sales JUN (2:30 pm)
- UK Markit/CIPS UK Services PMI Final JUL (2 pm)
MACROS
Govt mulls moratorium on telecom dues
The Centre is considering a lifeline for telecom companies through a moratorium on the mandated spectrum payments as part of a fresh set of measures to bolster the health of telcos. This comes at a time when Vodafone Idea, facing acute financial stress, has sent an SoS to the government, citing possible impact on its 27 crore subscribers. The telecom department’s move, if it goes through, will be an extension to the already-running moratorium that was first extended in November 2019 for fiscal years 2020-21 and 2021-22. The bailout will be for all telecom players and not just Vodafone Idea, where key shareholder Kumar Mangalam Birla has appealed for a government intervention.
High Covid positivity in some states
Raising an alarm against increasing number of new cases in some states, the Centre on Tuesday highlighted specific indicators including a reproduction number of 1.2 — the number indicates how many persons a single Covid patient can infect — along with high positivity rates to warn that the pandemic is far from over. The increase is mainly driven by Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, J&K, Lakshadweep, Tamil Nadu, Mizoram, Karnataka and Puducherry where the R-number is increasing.
Voda lenders fret over ‘too big to fail’ telco
A day after Kumar Mangalam Birla’s letter warning that Vodafone Idea (VIL) may reach an “irretrievable point of collapse” became public, banks are worried about the fate of the telecom major which, they say, is “too big to fail”. Lenders, both Indian and global, have an exposure of Rs 1.8 lakh crore. A large part of this is in the form of guarantees. Some private lenders with a funded exposure have already started making provisions. However, the bulk of the exposure is to public sector banks.
No error of judgment in sale of HFC arm to Carlyle: PNB
Punjab National Bank MD & CEO S S Mallikarjuna Rao said on Tuesday that there was “no error of judgment” concerning the decision to issue preferential shares to private equity firm Carlyle and other investors. Rao, however, added that PNB agrees that its housing finance subsidiary should adopt Sebi’s ICDR (issue of capital and disclosure requirement) norms for pricing of the preferential issue.
NITI has no fresh PSU list for selloff
Government think tank NITI Aayog is unlikely to recommend a fresh set of state-run companies for privatisation for the time being and is expected to wait to see progress of the companies already identified for privatisation, sources said. NITI Aayog, which has been entrusted with the job of identifying public sector units for privatisation, had wanted to undertake a regular review of the progress of the asset sales programme. But DIPAM has pointed out to the government think tank that such a review is not possible and have cited business rules to support its argument.
Subhash Chandra claims over 91% debt settled
Subhash Chandra, chairman emeritus of Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEE) and founder of the erstwhile Essel Group (now the Subhash Chandra Group), on Tuesday said he has settled over 91% of the debt with 43 lenders, and the remaining dues are in the process of being paid. In an open letter, Chandra today shared the details of the debt resolution process and the steps taken to pay off the lenders.
Stress rising in bank home loan books
Home loan portfolios at many banks have shown signs of stress, with data from a leading guarantor of such advances suggesting an increase of nearly three times in the mortgage delinquency pool over the past 15 months, which witnessed multiple waves of job losses and wage cuts. But a recovery is likely underway, and the worst may be over for the industry. The India Mortgage Guarantee Company (IMGC), which guarantees such loans worth Rs 12,000 crore at banks and home financiers, also saw delinquencies in its own book nearly double in the past one year to June.
