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

The market is likely to open in the red as trends in the SGX Nifty indicate a negative opening for the broader index in India with a loss of 89 points on Friday.

The BSE Sensex fell 542 points to 59,806, while the Nifty50 shed 165 points to 17,590 and formed bearish engulfing candlestick pattern on the daily charts on March 9, which is a bearish reversal pattern, indicating possibility of further weakness in the counter.

As per the pivot charts, the Nifty has support at 17,569, followed by 17,522 and 17,446.

If the index moves up, the key resistance levels to watch out for are 17,721, followed by 17,768 and 17,844.

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’s three major stock indices closed lower on Thursday, with bank stocks creating the biggest drag, while investors also worried that Friday’s jobs report could spur more aggressive interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 543.54 points, or 1.66 percent, to 32,254.86, the S&P 500 lost 73.69 points, or 1.85 percent, to 3,918.32 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 237.65 points, or 2.05 percent, to 11,338.36.

Asian Markets

Stocks in the Asia-Pacific fell on Friday, as investors await the closely watched February non-farm payrolls report from the US that could further determine the direction on the Federal Reserve’s rate hikes ahead.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 tumbled 1.61 percent. In South Korea, the Kospi dropped 1.04 percent. The Nikkei 225 in Japan shed 1.22 percent and the Topix lost 1.2 percent.

SGX Nifty

Trends in the SGX Nifty indicate a negative opening for the broader index in India with a loss of 89 points.

The Nifty futures were trading around 17,529 levels on the Singaporean exchange.

Oil prices slip 1 percent to two-week low on recession worries

Oil prices slid about 1 percent to a two-week low on Thursday on increased worries the US Federal Reserve may go too far with its interest rate hikes to control inflation, which could cause a recession and reduce future oil demand.

Brent futures fell $1.07, or 1.3 percent, to settle at $81.59 a barrel, their lowest close since February 22.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 94 cents, or 1.2 percent, to settle at $75.72, their lowest close since February 27.

US weekly jobless claims post largest increase in five months

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits increased by the most in five months last week, but the underlying trend remained consistent with a tight labour market.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose 21,000 to a seasonally adjusted 211,000 for the week ended March 4, the Labor Department said on Thursday.

That was the largest increase since October and lifted claims to a two-month high.

FII and DII data

Foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth Rs 561.78 crore, whereas domestic institutional investors (DII) bought shares worth Rs 42.41 crore on March 9, the National Stock Exchange’s provisional data showed.

India’s February fuel demand hits at least 24 year high

India’s fuel demand hit its highest level in at least 24 years in February, data showed on Thursday, with industrial activity in Asia’s third biggest economy boosted by cheap Russian oil.

Consumption of fuel, a proxy for oil demand, rose by more than 5 percent to 4.82 million barrels per day (18.5 million tonnes) in February, its 15th consecutive year-on-year rise, data showed.

Demand was the highest recorded in data compiled by the Indian Oil Ministry’s Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) going back to 1998.

China consumer inflation slowest in a year, leaves room for more stimulus

China’s annual consumer inflation slowed to the lowest rate in a year in February as consumers remained cautious despite the abandonment of strong pandemic controls late in 2022.

The consumer price index (CPI) in February was 1 percent higher than a year earlier, rising at the slowest pace since February 2022, said the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The result was well below the median estimate of 1.9 percent in a Reuters poll and the 2.1 percent annual rise seen in January.

Gold climbs 1 percent as US jobs data soothes investors

Gold jumped on Thursday as the dollar retreated, after data showed US jobless claims grew more than expected last week, providing some hope to investors that the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes could be less aggressive than feared.

Spot gold climbed 1.1 percent to $1,830.35 per ounce, as of 15:13 GMT. US gold futures rose 1 percent to $1,836.70.

Stocks under F&O ban on NSE

The National Stock Exchange has added Balrampur Chini Mills and GNFC on its F&O ban list for March 10. Securities banned under the F&O segment include companies where derivative contracts have crossed 95 percent of the market-wide position limit.

ByMoneycontrol

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