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 161 points, or 1.08 per cent, higher at 15,114.50 in signs that Dalal Street was headed for a gap-up start on Monday.
Tech View: Nifty charts show weak trend
Nifty50 on Friday slipped below the immediate resistance at the 15,000 mark. The index ended the session forming a Spinning Top candle on the daily scale and a Shooting Star-like candle on the weekly chart. Analysts said the index is likely to test lower levels in the coming days.
Asian stocks gain on US stimulus
Asian shares rallied on Monday while the dollar held near three-month peaks after the US Senate passage of a $1.9 trillion stimulus bill and a surprisingly strong payrolls report augured well for a global economic rebound. Japan’s Nikkei gained 1.2 per cent, while S&P500 futures rose 0.3 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.46 per cent to 29,232.47. Korea’s Kospi added 0.40 per cent to 3,038.26.
Brent cracks $70 for first time since pandemic
Brent crude futures for May reached $71.16 a barrel in early Asian trade and were at $70.76 a barrel, up $1.40, or 2 per cent. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for April rose $1.32, or 2 per cent, to $67.41. The front-month WTI price touched $67.86 a barrel earlier, the highest since October 2018.
US stocks settled higher on Friday
Wall Street stocks finished strong on Friday after a rollercoaster session, as healthy February employment data overcame worries of impending inflation, which hit equities earlier in the week. The benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 1.9 per cent at 31,496.30, while the broad-based S&P500 index climbed 2 per cent to finish at 3,841.94. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 1.6 per cent to end at 12,920.15.
Easy Trip IPO to kick off today
The Rs 510 crore initial public offer (IPO) of Easy Trip Planners will kick off on Monday. The issue is entirely an offer for sale (OFS) by two promoters, who are offering Rs 255 crore worth of shares each, in the Rs 186-187 price band. The IPO is valued at 58.7 times FY20 earnings and 49 times FY21 earnings on an annualised basis.
FIIs sell Rs 2,014 crore worth stocks
Net-net, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) were sellers of domestic stocks to the tune of Rs 2,014.16 crore, data available with NSE suggested. DIIs were net sellers to the tune of Rs 1,191.19 crore, data suggests.
MONEY MARKETS
Rupee: The rupee slumped by 19 paise to close below the 73 mark against the US currency on Friday due to a stronger dollar and risk aversion in the global markets.
10-year bonds: India 10-year bond yield rose 0.32 per cent to 6.23 after trading in 6.20-6.25 range.
Call rates: The overnight call money rate weighted average stood at 3.17 per cent, according to RBI data. It moved in a range of 1.90-3.50 per cent.
The DAY PLANNER
- Japan Current Account Jan (05:20 am)
- BoE Gov Bailey Speech (03:30 pm)
- US Wholesale Inventories MoM Jan (08:30 pm)
- US Consumer Inflation Expectations Feb (09:30 pm)
- China National People’s Congress
MACROS
US Senate clears $1.9 trillion US stimulus… The Senate passed its version of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan on Saturday. The pandemic relief bill now goes back to the House of Representatives, which is likely approve the Senate’s changes by next Tuesday before it can go to President Joe Biden’s desk. The relief package – the third in the US since the start of the pandemic – envisages one-off payments worth $1,400 to be sent to most Americans. Biden said such payments could start being distributed later this month.
$1,400 stimulus cheques from this month: Biden
US President Joe Biden on Saturday (local time) announced that the $1,400 coronavirus stimulus cheques will be distributed from March onwards. This is the first round of stimulus checks that will be given out under Biden. Former President Donald Trump passed two stimulus checks last year, one for $1,200 and another for $600.
China exports surge 154.9% YoY in Feb
China’s February exports grew at a record pace from a year earlier when COVID-19 battered the world’s second-biggest economy, customs data showed on Sunday, while imports rose less sharply. Exports in dollar terms skyrocketed 154.9 per cent in February compared with a year earlier, while imports gained 17.3 per cent, the most since October 2018.
Cairn warns India of enforcement of award… UK’s Cairn Energy has warned India it would pursue ‘strong powers of enforcement’ to recover the $1.2 billion arbitration award two weeks after its CEO returned emptyhanded from his meetings with top finance ministry officials in New Delhi. The warning, delivered via CEO Simon Thomson’s video post on twitter, appeared as another attempt by Cairn at dissuading the Indian government from appealing the award. On Friday, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said it was her duty to appeal the arbitration award the country recently lost in a retrospective tax dispute with Cairn.
India Inc’s overseas investment drops… India Inc’s overseas direct investment fell by 31% to $1.85 billion in February this year, the RBI data showed. Domestic companies made investments of $2.66 billion in their overseas subsidiaries and joint-ventures in February 2020. Of the total investment, $1.36 billion was in the form of loan; $ 297.37 million comprised as equity investment and the rest of $183.82 million was by way of issuance of guarantee, according to the RBI data.
Promoters raise stakes in 3 dozen firms… Promoters of nearly three dozen midcap companies bought shares in their own firms from the open market in the past month, underscoring optimism over the economic recovery. Aditya Birla Capital, Gabriel India, Polyplex Corporation, Motilal Oswal Financial, Alembic Pharma, Vardhman Textiles and Mastek are among the companies which have seen promoters raising their stakes. Big shareholders including founders raising stakes in companies is often considered a positive indicator of their prospects. The logic is promoters are usually most knowledgeable about their firms’ prospects
Analysts predict market bounce in March… Technical analysts believe the uptrend in the market is likely to continue despite falling for the last two sessions. Although the Nifty may face resistance at 15,200-15,400 this week, analysts say the index is on track to log new highs in March or April. They see the index finding support at 14,400-14,600. The Nifty ended down 142.65 points, or 1%, at 14,938.10 on Friday. The Index rose 2.8% last week and outperformed all regional peers, except Thailand.
Biz confidence hits decadal high… India Inc’s business confidence rose to a decadal high on the back of measures announced in the budget and the government’s Atmanirbhar Bharat package in response to the Covid-19 virus outbreak, a survey by industry body Ficci showed. The Overall Business Confidence Index rose to 74.2 in the third quarter, versus 70.9 in the second quarter and 59.0 in the same period last year. The latest round of Ficci’s Business Confidence Survey marked a further improvement in the optimism level of India Inc members compared to the survey for the previous quarter.
FIIs seek Sebi probe into bulk deals… Foreign fund managers have written to Sebi seeking a probe into various bulk deals in which overseas institutions have complained of “slippages.” In a letter to Sebi chairman Ajay Tyagi, Asian lobby groups for offshore funds Asia Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (Asifma) and the Asia TraderForum (ATF) urged the regulator to “verify” with the stock exchanges the details of trades made in the bulk deals. The bulk deals mentioned in the letter includes shares of companies such as HDFC Life, Bharti Airtel, Hindustan Unilever, ICICI Lombard, SBI Life and Kotak Mahindra Bank.
Gold price drop boosts jewellery demand… Jewellery demand has picked up as gold prices have fallen to about Rs 44,000 per 10 gm, but investment demand has dried up as investors are parking funds in equity markets in hope of better returns, said industry executives. Jewellers are buying gold to meet forthcoming wedding season and Akshaya Tritiya demand, they said. This has prompted bullion dealers in the spot market to charge a higher premium from jewellers.
Separate EPFO fund for new joinees… The government could create a separate fund under the EPFO for contributions from individuals who join the scheme voluntarily once it is thrown open to everyone. A launch date for this fund would be announced separately. A launch date for this fund would be announced separately when the scheme is made universal, said officials. A separate fund is being considered to ensure the new individual subscribers do not draw upon the benefits of years of investments of more than 60 million EPFO subscribers from the existing corpus of over Rs 10 lakh crore.
