What changed for the market while you were sleeping? Top 10 things to know

The market recouped all its morning losses in afternoon trade and managed to close the volatile on a positive note on February 4, driven by Asian cues and index heavyweights Reliance Industries & HDFC Group stocks.

The 30-share BSE Sensex gained 113.31 points to close at 36,582.74 while the Nifty50 rose 18.60 points to 10,912.30 and formed bullish candle on the daily charts.

The broader markets underperformed frontliners with the Nifty Midcap index falling 0.88 percent and Smallcap index 1.55 percent. More than two shares declined for every share rising on the NSE.

The sectoral trend was mixed as Nifty Bank and IT indices closed higher while Auto, FMCG, Metal and Pharma declined.

According to Pivot charts, the key support level is placed at 10,841.63, followed by 10,771.07. If the index starts moving upward, key resistance levels to watch out are 10,955.33 and then 10,998.47.

The Nifty Bank index closed at 27,186.60 on February 4. The important Pivot level, which will act as crucial support for the index, is placed at 26,926.87, followed by 26,667.13. On the upside, key resistance levels are placed at 27,345.07, followed by 27,503.54.

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.

Boost in tech shares sends Wall Street higher

Wall Street gained on Monday, with all three major indexes closing near session highs as sustained optimism on the prospects for US-China trade relations propelled technology shares.

The S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq both closed above their 100-day moving averages for the first time since October. Shares of Apple Inc and Microsoft Corp each rose 2.7 percent and were the top boosts to the benchmark S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq. Apple and Microsoft’s gains helped S&P 500 technology stocks gain 1.6 percent, the greatest rise among the benchmark index’s major sectors.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 175.48 points, or 0.7 percent, to 25,239.37, the S&P 500 gained 18.34 points, or 0.68 percent, to 2,724.87 and the Nasdaq Composite added 83.67 points, or 1.15 percent, to 7,347.54.

Most Asian stocks extend gains

Recent US data and the Federal Reserve’s dovish turn kept lifting Asian stocks early on Tuesday, while the dollar held the upper hand against its rivals. Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.4 percent before erasing gains while MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan advanced 0.3 percent.

Australian shares jumped 1.95 percent, with long-battered financials surging on short-covering after a special government-appointed inquiry excoriated Australia’s financial sector for misconduct but left the structure of the country’s powerful banks in place.

Elsewhere in Asia, trade was light, with markets in greater China, South Korea, Singapore and Indonesia are all closed for the Lunar New Year.

SGX Nifty

Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a flat to positive opening for the broader index in India, a rise of 12.5 points or 0.11 percent. Nifty futures were trading around 10,960-level on the Singaporean Exchange.

US oil prices edge up on tightening global supply

US oil prices inched up on Tuesday, buoyed by expectations of tightening global supply amid US sanctions on Venezuela and production cuts led by OPEC. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $54.73 per barrel at 0020 GMT, up 16 cents from their last settlement.

RBI may slash interest rate by 25 bps: SBI report

The Reserve Bank may cut key lending rate by 0.25 percent later this week in view of benign inflation, said an SBI research report on Monday. The six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) headed by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das will start its three-day meet in Mumbai on Tuesday and announce the policy on February 7.

"We now expect RBI to change its stance in February, but it is likely to remain on a pause mode. The first cut might happen in April 2019, but we believe it will be shallow rate cut cycle. "However, we will not be overtly surprised if RBI delivers a 25bps rate cut on February 7 itself," said SBI's Ecowrap.

SEBI likely to implement 'tap issue of bonds' mechanism in FY20

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has almost finalised the mechanism for tap issue of bonds through a shelf offer document and could

implement it from FY20.

Under tap issue, companies will be allowed to file shelf prospectus on the same lines as private placements, once a year and raise money when required without going through the process of seeking approval from regulatory authorities.

A source who attended the meeting told Moneycontrol, "The move would reduce the issuance cost for companies. At present, companies file an offer

document each time they require public issuance of debt. In instances when yields are low and the market is favorable for a company to raise money, it takes about two to three months to get clearances. But by then, the situation of the market has changed."

Rupee slumps 55 paise to 71.80/USD

The rupee on Monday dropped by 55 paise to close at 71.80 to the US dollar, the lowest level since December 17, ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's policy review meet. This is the second straight session of loss for the domestic unit, during which it lost a total 72 paise.

Forex traders said foreign fund outflows and a stronger dollar following blockbuster US employment and factory data impacted the rupee sentiment. Moreover, investors were cautious ahead of the next meeting of RBI's Monetary Policy Committee scheduled during February 5-7. At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (forex) market, the rupee opened lower at 71.57 and fell further to touch the day's low of 71.82.

April- December fiscal deficit touches 112.4% of FY19 budget target

Fiscal deficit touched 112.4 percent of the full-year budget target of Rs 6.24 lakh crore at the end of December on account of lower revenue collections,

government data showed on February 4. At the end of December 2017, the deficit was 113.6 percent of the Budget Estimate (BE).

The government has budgeted to cut the fiscal deficit to 3.3 percent of GDP or Rs 6.24 lakh crore in 2018-19, from 3.53 percent in the previous financial year.

According to the data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA), the revenue receipts of the government totalled Rs 10.84 lakh crore or 62.8

percent of BE in 2018-19 till December, compared with 66.9 percent during the same period last year.

SEBI re-considers liquidity enhancement scheme for commodities market

The Securities and Exchanges Board of India (SEBI) may re-consider the liquidity enhancement scheme (LES) framework for the commodities segment. The regulator-appointed secondary market advisory committee discussed this issue at-length on January 21.

A commodity market expert said the government has allowed around 90 commodities for trading and presently only two dozen commodities trade on exchanges. "However, new exchanges are also looking to launch a product, which has already sufficient liquidity on a particular exchange.”

141 companies to report Q3 numbers today

As many as 141 companies on the BSE will declare their results for the quarter ended December on Tuesday which includes names like ACC, Apollo Tyres, CESC, LT Foods, Dish TV India, GAIL India, Marico, Punjab National Bank, Sobha Ltd, Tata Chemicals and Usha Martin among others.

2 stocks under ban period on NSE

Securities in ban period for the next day's trade under the F&O segment include companies in which the security has crossed 95 percent of the market-wide position limit.

For February 5, DHFL and IDBI Bank stocks are present in this list.

With inputs from Reuters & other agencies