What changed for the market while you were sleeping? Top 12 things to know

The 50-share NSE index opened sharply lower at 10,754.70 which was highest point of the day and fell further as the day progressed to hit an intraday low of 10,547.25 amid volatility. The index closed 259 points lower at 10,599.30, the lowest level since June 28, 2018.

The index formed a 'Bearish Belt Hold' kind of pattern on the daily candlestick charts.

"Bears continued to rule the roost with Nifty50 registering a gap down opening below its 200-Day EMA before signing off the session with a Bearish Belt Hold kind of formation," Mazhar Mohammad, Chief Strategist – Technical Research & Trading Advisory, Chartviewindia.in, told Moneycontrol.

India VIX moved up by 8.05 percent at 19.58 levels. Volatility is not cooling down which is not giving the relief to bulls and suggests a tight bear grip in the market.

According to Pivot charts, the key support level is placed at 10,512.7, followed by 10,426.2. If the index starts moving upwards, key resistance levels to watch out are 10,720.2 and 10,841.2.

The Nifty Bank index closed at 24,819.30, down 250.60 points on Thursday. The important Pivot level, which will act as crucial support for the index, is placed at 24,582.46, followed by 24,345.63. On the upside, key resistance levels are placed at 24,974.76, followed by 25,130.23.

Stay tuned to Moneycontrol to find out what happens in currency and equity markets today. We have collated a list of important headlines from across news agencies.

Wall Street stumbles as bond yield climb continues

Wall Street stocks stumbled on Thursday as US Treasury yields continued their ascent to multi-year highs on the latest round of strong economic data, building concerns for an acceleration of inflation. The Dow suffered its first decline in six sessions, while both the S&P and Nasdaq had their worst day since June 25.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 200.91 points, or 0.75 percent, to 26,627.48, the S&P 500 lost 23.9 points, or 0.82 percent, to 2,901.61 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 145.58 points, or 1.81 percent, to 7,879.51.

Asian markets weak in early trade

Asian shares were fragile on Friday after benchmark US Treasury yields surged to a seven-year high and strong economic data fanned concerns about inflation and the risk of faster-than-expected interest rate rises.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.3 percent, while Japan’s Nikkei dropped 0.5 percent and Australian benchmark was up just 0.1 percent.

SGX Nifty

Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a negative opening for the broader index in India, a fall of 64 points or 0.6 percent. Nifty futures were trading around 10,540-level on the Singaporean Exchange.

RBI monetary policy set to be announced today

The Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy meeting is coming at a time when all constituents of financial markets are looking at direction and guidance from the central bank. So while the usual outlook on inflation and interest rates will be noted, of far greater importance will be RBI's take on currency, liquidity and crises at major financial institutions.

Most economists feel that the RBI could well raise rates by 25 bps on Friday.

Oil prices rise ahead of November US sanctions against Iran crude exports

Oil prices rose on Friday, lifted by looming US sanctions against Iran’s crude exports that are set to start next month. The gains helped claw back some of the losses from the previous session due to rising US inventories and after Saudi Arabia and Russia said they would raise output to at least partly make up for expected disruptions from Iran.

International benchmark Brent crude oil futures were at $84.94 per barrel at 0008 GMT, up 36 cents, or 0.4 percent from their last close. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 41 cents, or 0.6 percent, at $77.74 a barrel.

FinMin to hold 2-day deliberations with PSU insurer heads from October 5

The finance ministry will hold a two-day meeting, beginning October 5, with heads of public sector insurance companies to find out ways and means to strengthen their financial health and improve insurance penetration in the country. The meeting would be addressed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

The chief executives of the public sector insurance companies will brainstorm on business process re-engineering, improvement of financial health, introduction of innovative products among others, sources said.

Besides, sources said, companies would also discuss means to improve insurance penetration and density so that India becomes insured society.

Rupee crashes to all-time low of 73.81

The rupee crashed to a historic low of 73.81 to the dollar due to the twin-impact of capital outflows triggered by surging US Treasury yields and crude oil prices racing to a four-year high on October 4.

The domestic currency closed at a record low of 73.58, down by 24 paise or 0.33 percent, marking its third straight session of losses. The rupee has lost 110 paise or 1.51 percent in the three sessions since October 1 largely due to strong demand dollar demand from oil importers amid firming oil prices and foreign capital outflows.

PSB losses to come down to Rs 50,000 cr in FY19: Report

State-run lenders will narrow down their losses to Rs 50,000 crore in fiscal year 2018-19, from Rs 85,000 crore in the previous fiscal year, as the quantum of dud loans reduce, a Crisil report said.

This will be the third consecutive year that the 20 state-run lenders' grouping will be reporting a loss, ratings agency Crisil said in its report, adding higher provisioning requirements will ensure that the losses continue.

Profits for the entire banking system are expected to start improving from the second half of this fiscal and turn positive for the whole fiscal, as most large private banks are expected to report profits, it said.

MFs July-Sept average AUM up 14% on quarter

The average assets under management of the 41-player mutual fund industry rose 14 percent to Rs 24.29 lakh crore in July-September, according to the data on the Association of Mutual Funds in India.

In comparison, the total AUM of the industry in April-June stood at Rs 23.4 lakh crore. Mutual fund managers attributed the rise in quarterly AUM to strong participation from retail investors. Also, continuous flows from systematic investment plans helped the industry to register growth in the AUM.

US weekly jobless claims drop to near 49-year low

The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell to a near 49-year low last week, pointing to sustained labour market strength, which should continue to underpin economic growth.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 8,000 to a seasonally adjusted 207,000 for the week ended September 29, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Data for the prior week was revised to show 1,000 more applications received than previously reported. Claims fell to 202,000 during the week ended September 15, which was the lowest level since November 1969.

RBI may tighten capital adequacy rules for NBFCs

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is likely to tighten certain regulations governing non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) following the crisis at Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Ltd (IL&FS), experts said. They expect RBI to tighten regulations around NBFCs’ capital adequacy norms, related party transactions and asset liability mismatches.

The monetary policy committee (MPC) of the central bank will release its bimonthly policy statement on Friday, 11 October. Along with the policy, RBI also releases a statement of developmental policies, and it is expected to include these changes to NBFC guidelines, Mint reported.

Bombay HC rejects withdrawal pleas of top brokers in commodity F&O

The Bombay High Court has rejected the pleas of four brokerage houses seeking to withdraw their applications for registrations with regards to trading in commodity derivatives to the Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for their alleged role in the scam at the National Spot Exchange Ltd.

On Thursday, the division bench of Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice M.S. Karnik, while rejecting the petitions filed by brokerage houses of Motilal Oswal Commodities Broker Pvt Ltd, Anand Rathi Commodities Ltd, IIFL Commodities Ltd and Geofin Commtrade Ltd, observed in an oral order that the regulator has jurisdiction to look into the matter, Mint reported.