Stock Market Today: Top 10 things to know before the market opens
The market is expected to open in the red on February 17 as trends in the SGX Nifty indicate a negative opening for the broader index in India with a loss of 84 points.
In the previous session, the BSE Sensex settled 44 points higher at 61,320, while the Nifty50 gained 20 points to close at 18,036 and formed bearish candle on the daily charts, but experts feel the sentiments are still positive as the current consolidation may be on expected lines after recent upmove.
The indexes closed higher as well as made higher high higher low formation for third straight session.
As per the pivot charts, the Nifty has support at 18,006, followed by 17,974 and then 17,923.
If the index moves up, the key resistance levels to watch out for are 18,108, followed by 18,140 and 18,191.
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:
US Markets
Wall Street ended sharply lower on Thursday after unexpectedly strong inflation data and a drop in weekly jobless claims added to fears that the US Federal Reserve will keep raising interest rates to tame high prices.
Selling on Wall Street accelerated late in the session.
The S&P 500 declined 1.38% to end at 4,090.51 points. The Nasdaq declined 1.78% to 11,855.83 points, while Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 1.26% to 33,696.39 points.
Asian Markets
Asia Pacific markets traded lower on Friday as investors digested more economic data out of the U.S. and more hawkish commentary from the Federal Reserve.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 opened 0.54% lower, after Reserve Bank of Australia governor Philip Lowe warned of inflation risks to Australia if it was not brought down sufficiently.
In South Korea, the Kospi lost 0.53% while in Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened 0.59% lower and the Topix lost 0.51%.
SGX Nifty
Trends in the SGX Nifty indicate a negative opening for the broader index in India with a loss of 84 points.
The Nifty futures were trading around 17,983 levels on the Singaporean exchange.
Oil slightly lower on mixed US economic data, crude stocks growth
Oil prices settled slightly lower on Thursday after trading in a narrow range as the market weighed mixed US economic signals and prospects for a Chinese demand recovery with a build in U.S. crude stockpiles.
Brent crude futures settled at $85.14 a barrel, losing 24 cents. US West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) settled at $78.49 a barrel, shedding 10 cents.
India’s FY23 CAD now seen under $100 billion on services boost, import slump
India’s current account deficit is now seen falling below $100 billion for 2022-23 after two powerful factors moved in tandem in January.
Last month, India’s goods exports contracted again, this time by 6.6 percent on a year-on-year basis to $32.9 billion, while imports also fell.
Merchandise imports in January were down 3.6 percent at $50.7 billion.
This resulted in a trade deficit of $17.8 billion — sharply lower than the $22.1 billion in the last month of 2022, but marginally higher than the January 2022 figure of $17.3 billion.
US labor market remains tight; monthly producer prices accelerate
The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week, offering more evidence of the economy’s resilience despite tighter monetary policy.
Other data on Thursday showed monthly producer prices increasing by the most in seven months in January as the cost of energy products surged.
Even stripping out food and energy, prices for the so-called core goods recorded their biggest gain since last May.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits slipped 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 194,000 for the week ended Feb. 11, the Labor Department said.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 200,000 claims for the latest week.
FII and DII data
Foreign institutional investors (FII) bought shares worth Rs 1,570.62 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DII) purchased shares worth Rs 1,577.27 crore on February 16, NSE’s provisional data showed.
Fed officials say more rate hikes key to reducing inflation
Two Federal Reserve officials said on Thursday the US central bank likely should have lifted interest rates more than it did early this month, and warned that additional hikes in borrowing costs are essential to lower inflation back to desired levels.
The Fed “has come an appreciable way in bringing policy from a very accommodative stance to a restrictive one, but I believe we have more work to do,” Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester said in a virtual speech to a Global Interdependence Center conference.
The incoming data have not changed my view that we will need to bring the fed funds rate above 5% and hold it there for some time” in a bid to get inflation back to the central bank’s 2% target.
Promoters’ share pledge increases to 1.61%, pledged value reaches Rs 2.2 lakh crore
Promoters of major Indian companies raised their share pledges in the December quarter, as equity markets experienced volatility due to global policy tightening in response to rising inflation.
According to a study conducted by Kotak Institutional Equities, the percentage of shares pledged in companies listed on the BSE 500 Index increased to 1.61 percent of promoter holdings during the December quarter, up from 1.57 percent in the previous quarter.
The report also revealed that 87 companies within the BSE 500 had their promoters pledge a portion of their holdings during the December quarter.
The total value of shares pledged by promoters amounted to Rs 2.2 lakh crore during the December quarter, which represented roughly 0.83 percent of the BSE 500 Index’s total market capitalisation.
Stocks under F&O ban on NSE
The National Stock Exchange has retained BHEL, Punjab National Bank, Ambuja Cements and Indiabulls Housing Finance on its F&O ban list for February 17.
Securities banned under the F&O segment include companies where derivative contracts have crossed 95 percent of the market-wide position limit.
ByMoneycontrol
