Asian markets opened lower on Thursday. Minutes of the Fed Reserve’s recent meeting offered reassurance in terms of the central bank’s commitment to policy options despite US stimulus, lifting Wall Street slightly higher.
08 Apr 2021, 10:52:10 AM IST
Drop in consumer confidence spells trouble for recovery
Consumer confidence in India that was on a steady rise since late last year has abruptly fallen in March. Indians have become pessimistic about prospects of income, employment and spending. (Read here)
08 Apr 2021, 10:37:51 AM IST
ShareChat raises $502 mn from Snap, Twitter, others; valuation tops $2 bn
Content-sharing platform ShareChat said it has raised $502 million in fresh funding from Tiger Global, Snap Inc and some existing investors such as Twitter Inc., valuing it at more than $2 billion. The funding was led by US venture capital firm Lightspeed Venture Partners and American investment firm Tiger, ShareChat said in a statement on Thursday. Tiger Global and Snap, owner of popular photo-messaging app Snapchat, are new investors in the Indian platform. (Reuters)
08 Apr 2021, 10:25:34 AM IST
Rupee rises 10 paise to 74.37 against US dollar in early trade
08 Apr 2021, 10:15:59 AM IST
PV, tractor sales remain positive: FADA
08 Apr 2021, 09:59:08 AM IST
JSW Steels’ crude steel production up 6% YoY
JSW Steel said it achieved crude steel production of 4.19 million tonnes in Q4FY21, a growth of 2% quarter-on-quarter and 6% year-on-year. The company’s average capacity utilisation improved from 91% of Q3FY21 to 93% for Q4FY21. However, the capacity utilisation during the month of March 2021 was 96%.
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08 Apr 2021, 09:48:35 AM IST
During pandemic, India’s debt to GDP ratio increased to 90%: IMF
India’s debt to GDP ratio increased from 74 per cent to 90 per cent during the covid-19 pandemic, the International Monetary Fund has said, noting that it expects this to drop down to 80 per cent as a result of the country’s economic recovery.
Paolo Mauro, Deputy Director, IMF’s fiscal affairs department told reporters at a news conference here on Wednesday, “In the case of India, the debt ratio at the end of 2019, prior to the pandemic, was 74% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and at the end of 2020, it is almost 90% of GDP. So, that’s a very large increase, but it is something that other emerging markets and advanced economies have experienced as well.” (PTI)
08 Apr 2021, 09:38:47 AM IST
Market opening
The Sensex opened at 50,026.38, up 364.62 points, or 0.73%, while the Nifty was at 14,938.35, up 119.30 points, or 0.81%. While the 30-share gauge was back above the 50,000 mark, the Nifty started closer to the 15,000 mark. Bajaj Finserv, HDFC, Tech Mahindra, ICICI Bank, and 21 other stocks started the day in green on the 30-share Sensex. Kotak Mahindra Bank, Nestle, Dr Reddy, ONGC and Bajaj Auto were in red at market opening. Metals, realty, banks and financial sectors were leading gains at market open.
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08 Apr 2021, 09:33:48 AM IST
Kalpataru Power Transmission acquires 51% stake in Brazil-based Fasttel
Kalpataru Power Transmission Ltd unit Kalpataru Power Do Brasil Participacoes Ltd has completed the acquisition of 51% stake in Fasttel Engenharia Ltd, a Brazilian EPC Company headquartered in City of Curitiba, State of Paraná, Brazil.
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08 Apr 2021, 09:17:16 AM IST
Tata Power Solar doubles its solar cell and module manufacturing to leverage PLI scheme
Tata Power Solar Systems Ltd has doubled its solar cell and module manufacturing facility in Bengaluru to 1.1 giga watt (GW).
This comes in the backdrop of the Union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday approving production-linked incentives (PLIs), designed to raise local manufacturing and reduce imports from countries like China worth ₹4,500 crore for solar PV modules. (Read here)
08 Apr 2021, 09:06:34 AM IST
Pre-market opening
The Sensex was at 49,959.36, up 297.60 points or 0.60%, while the Nifty was at 14,819.05, up 135.55 points or 0.92% at market pre-opening. Benchmark Indian indices look set for a strong start based on indications from the SGX Nifty. Earlier, PM Narendra Modi took the second jab of the covid vaccine at AIIMS, underlining the need for inoculations amid rising cases.
08 Apr 2021, 08:56:13 AM IST
Stocks to Watch
Vedanta, Jindal Steel and Power, Bharti Airtel, Godrej Consumer Products, among other stocks could be in the news today. (Read here)
08 Apr 2021, 08:38:08 AM IST
Oil falls after US gasoline inventories unexpectedly surge
Oil prices fell on Thursday after official figures showed a big increase in US gasoline stocks, causing concerns about demand for crude weakening in the world’s biggest consumer of the resource at a time when supplies around the world are rising. Brent crude eased 36 cents, or 0.6%, to $62.80 a barrel by 01:36 GMT. US oil fell 38 cents, or 0.6%, to $59.39 a barrel. (Reuters)
08 Apr 2021, 08:21:05 AM IST
Market outlook
Indian markets on Thursday likely to open marginally higher tracking gains in SGX Nifty and global equities. At 7.40am, SGX Nifty was trading at 14,911, up 0.21%. On Wednesday both benchmark Sensex and Nifty gained 1% each after better than expected policy by Reserve Bank Of India. (Read here)
08 Apr 2021, 07:56:54 AM IST
Gold prices slip as equities gain after Fed minutes
Gold prices slipped on Thursday as investors turned to riskier assets after the US Federal Reserve’s latest meeting minutes indicated continued policy support and cemented hopes of a quick economic turnaround. Spot gold inched down 0.03% to $1,736.76 per ounce at 01:49 GMT. US Gold futures fell 0.3% to $1,736.50 per ounce. (Reuters) –
08 Apr 2021, 07:47:13 AM IST
Fed expects to keep supporting economy ‘for some time,’ minutes show
Federal Reserve officials remain wary about the ongoing risks of the coronavirus pandemic and are committed to bolstering the economy until its recovery is more secure, minutes of the U.S. central bank’s latest policy meeting showed on Wednesday.
With their own forecasts projecting the strongest run of U.S. economic growth in nearly 40 years, “participants agreed that the economy remained far from the (Fed’s) longer-run goals and that the path ahead remained highly uncertain,” the minutes from the March 16-17 meeting said. (Reuters)
08 Apr 2021, 07:32:39 AM IST
Asian markets open lower
Most Asian stocks slipped at the open Thursday and US equity futures gained after the S&P 500 inched up to another record, bolstered by the Federal Reserve’s commitment to supportive policy. Falls in Japan and South Korea weighed on MSCI Inc.’s regional share gauge, while Australia rose. Toshiba Corp. rallied further following a buyout proposal. US futures climbed after the S&P 500 advanced amid dwindling volume on US exchanges.
SGX Nifty was at 14,918.20, up 74.00 points or 0.50% at 7:25 am.
S&P 500 futures were up 0.2% as of 9:27 a.m. in Tokyo. The S&P 500 gained 0.2%.
Japan’s Topix Index was down 0.8%.
South Korea’s Kospi Index fell 0.3%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.7%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index futures fell 0.7%.
08 Apr 2021, 07:32:32 AM IST
US markets close slightly higher after Fed commits to policy support
The S&P 500 and Dow closed slightly higher, as the Fed’s commentary reinforced investor expectations that the central bank plans to maintain its policy support despite massive fiscal spending from the recent government stimulus package. US Federal Reserve officials expressed caution about ongoing risks of the pandemic and reaffirmed their commitment to bolstering the economy given “that the path ahead remained highly uncertain,” the minutes from the March 16-17 meeting said.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note moved higher late in the session, yet remained below a 14-month high of 1.776% hit on 30 March.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.05% to 33,446.26, the S&P 500 gained 0.15% to 4,079.95 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.07% to 13,688.84.
