A few cues from the market in India and abroad that could help you with your trade today.
The market traded strong and ended around the day's high. US President Donald Trump's statement that he would postpone tariff hike on Chinese imports, and the approval of the GST Council to lower the tax rate on real estate projects aided sentiment.
The 30-share BSE Sensex rallied 341.90 points to 36,213.38 while the Nifty 50 gained 88.40 points at 10,880.10 and formed bullish candle on the daily charts as bulls took the control on the Dalal Street.
"The Nifty has managed to close above its stiff resistance of 200-day SMA placed around 10,862 & 50 DMA trading around 10,824 levels. Any decisive move above 10,930 will push the index higher towards crucial resistance zone of 10,980-11,000 levels," Shabbir Kayyumi, Head - Technical & Derivative Research at Narnolia Financial Advisors told Moneycontrol.
According to Pivot charts, the key support level is placed at 10,816.37, followed by 10,752.63. If the index starts moving upward, key resistance levels to watch out are 10,915.47 and then 10,950.83.
The Nifty Bank index closed at 27,159.25, up 291.70 points on February 25. The important Pivot level, which will act as crucial support for the index, is placed at 26,995.57, followed by 26,831.93. On the upside, key resistance levels are placed at 27,259.97, followed by 27,360.73.
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 rises after Trump stirs China trade hopes again
Wall Street’s three major indexes ended higher on Monday but well below the session’s highs after President Donald Trump said he would delay a planned hike in tariffs on Chinese imports.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 60.14 points, or 0.23 percent, to 26,091.95, the S&P 500 gained 3.44 points, or 0.12 percent, to 2,796.11 and the Nasdaq Composite added 26.92 points, or 0.36 percent, to 7,554.46.
Asian shares take a breather
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan held near its highest since mid-September as US and Chinese negotiators work to hammer out a deal that would end a tit-for-tat tariff battle that began in mid-2018.
Monday’s losses in the MSCI Asia-Pacific index was led by Australian shares which slipped 0.7 percent, weighed by energy stocks as oil prices tumbledovernight. South Korea’s KOSPI was flat while Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.2 percent.
SGX Nifty
Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a flat to negative opening for the broader index in India, a fall of 6.5 points or 0.06 percent. Nifty futures were trading around 10,886-level on the Singaporean Exchange.
Oil steadies after selloff; market eyes Trump intervention
Oil prices edged higher on Tuesday, finding steady ground after tumbling more than 3 percent in the previous session when US President Donald Trump called on OPEC to ease its efforts to boost the market.
International Brent futures were at $64.95 a barrel at 0108 GMT, up 20 cents, or 0.3 percent, from their last close. Brent fell 3.5 percent on Monday when prices hit $64.54 a barrel - the lowest since February 15.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $55.54 per barrel, up 5 cents, or 0.1 percent. WTI futures fell 3.1 percent on Monday to touch $55.08 a barrel, also the lowest since February 15.
North Korea's Kim arrives in Vietnam for summit
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrived in Vietnam on Tuesday for a summit with US President Donald Trump where they will try to reach an agreement on a North’s Korean pledge to give up its nuclear weapons programme.
Trump is due to arrive in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, on Tuesday evening. Trump will meet Kim for a brief one-on-one conversation on Wednesday evening, followed by a social dinner, at which they will each be accompanied by two guests and interpreters, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters on Air Force One.
SBI Research pegs Q3 GDP at 6.6-6.7%
The economy is likely to grow at 6.6-6.7 percent in the third quarter and 7.2 percent for the full financial year, says report. The yearly SBI composite index for February saw a marginally rise to 50.60 (a score of under 50 indicates negative growth). The index remained volatile and declined to 11-month low of 46.10 (low decline) in February from 52.8 (moderate growth) in January.
"Based on the annual performance of these leading indicators, we are expecting GDP to grow around 6.6-6.7 percent in the December quarter, SBI Research said Monday. The report said the CSO has recently revised GDP growth for FY18 from 6.7 percent earlier to 7.2 percent. At this rate, FY19 growth rate would have been at 5.9 percent (earlier 7.2 percent), it said.
Rupee strengthens against US dollar on easing trade war concerns
The Indian rupee on Monday firmed up by 17 paise to close at 70.97 against the US dollar in line with most Asian currencies amid hopes that the US and China will soon reach an agreement to settle their trade tariff issues. Besides, the American currency's weakness against its major rivals and a rally in domestic equities supported rupee prospects.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened on a positive note at 71 against the US dollar. The domestic unit swung intra-day between a high of 70.96 and a low of 71.09, before settling at 70.97 -- a rise of 17 paise over its previous close.
EPFO begins survey to assess quantum of fund parked in IL&FS bonds by pvt PF trusts
Retirement fund body EPFO has started a survey to assess the amount of investments parked in crisis-hit infrastructure finance company IL&FS by 1,374 private provident fund trusts regulated by it, a source said. After assessing the loss, the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) would provide the findings of the survey to the government.
The source also informed that the EPFO has also written to the ministries of corporate affairs and finance to protect the body in this situation as its investment is nearly Rs 574 crore in IL&FS bonds. This is a miniscule amount in view of its overall corpus of over Rs 10 lakh crore with investible deposits of Rs 1.5 lakh crore at hand every year, the source added.
"The EPFO has begun a survey to assess the quantum of investment made by as many as 1,374 private provident fund trusts regulated by it. The findings of the survey would be provided to the government," according to the source.
Foreign direct investment inflows fall amid pre-election uncertainty
The flow of foreign direct investment into India is dropping and may suffer its first full-year decline since Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014. The reversal from strong numbers in Modi's initial years in charge may indicate that investors are being deterred by the government's recent protectionist policies and uncertainty about this year's general election result.
Inbound foreign direct investment (FDI) dropped 7 percent to $33.5 billion in the nine months between April and December 2018, compared with $36 billion in the year-earlier period, according to figures released over the weekend.
Six 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 26, Adani Enterprises, Adani Power, Allahabad Bank, IDBI Bank, Jet Airways and Reliance Power stocks are present in this list.
With inputs from Reuters & other agencies
