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

The market fell for fifth consecutive session on July 24 with the Nifty closing below 11,300 level ahead of F&O expiry, as bears seem to be not in a mood to give control of Dalal Street to bulls. Banks, auto, metals, pharma and select technology stocks dragged benchmark indices.

The BSE Sensex was down 135.09 points at 37,847.65 while the Nifty50 declined 59.70 points to 11,271.30 and formed bearish candle on daily charts.

As the index fell below 200-day exponential moving average (11,297), there could be more sellling pressure with a bit of volatility in coming session, experts feel.

The selling pressure was more in broader markets as the Nifty Midcap and Smallcap indices fell 1.5 percent each. About two shares declined for every share rising on the NSE.

According to the pivot charts, the key support level is placed at 11,214.13, followed by 11,156.97. If the index starts moving upward, the key resistance levels to watch for out are 11,344.13 and 11416.97.

The Nifty Bank closed at 28,952.25, down 175.85 points on July 24. The important pivot level, which will act as crucial support for the index, is placed at 28,797.99, followed by 28,643.8. On the upside, key resistance levels are placed at 29,179.39, followed by 29,406.6.

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.

US Markets

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit record highs on Wednesday after reassuring comments from Texas Instruments about global chip demand blunted the impact of weak earnings reports from Boeing and Caterpillar.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.29 percent to end at 27,269.97 points, while the S&P 500 gained 0.47 percent to 3,019.56. The Nasdaq Composite added 0.85 percent to 8,321.50. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq each closed at their highest levels ever.

Asian Markets

Asian shares were cautious on Thursday, shrugging off a tech-fuelled rally on Wall Street while the euro hovered near two-month lows as soft economic data bolstered expectations of rate cuts in Europe.

Japan’s Nikkei gained 0.5 percent to nearly three-month highs while Australia’s benchmark index hit a new 12-year top on Wednesday. South Korea’s KOSPI was the only index in the red as leading chipmakers shed recent gains amid trade tensions between Seoul and Tokyo. The MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan broadly unchanged.

SGX Nifty

Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a positive opening for the broader index in India, a gain of 21.50 points or 0.19 percent. Nifty futures were trading around 11,294-level on the Singaporean Exchange.

Oil steadies after global demand worries spark fall

Oil ticked higher early on Thursday after falling in the previous session as more signs of slowing global growth added to demand concerns, with Middle East tensions underpinning prices.

Brent crude futures were up 6 cents at USD 63.24 a barrel by 0053 GMT, after dropping 1 percent overnight, falling for the first time in four sessions. US West Texas Intermediate crude were 12 cents, or 0.2 percent, higher at USD 55.99 a barrel, having dropped 1.6 percent in the previous session.

Rupee logs 3rd straight loss on foreign fund outflows, rising crude

The Indian rupee furthered its weakening trend for a third session in a row on July 24, edging lower by 4 paise to 68.98 against the US dollar as foreign fund outflows and higher crude oil prices weighed on sentiment. An unabated sell-off in domestic equities also impacted trading pattern in the forex market.

The rupee opened sharply lower at 69.10 but pared most of the losses during the day and finally settled at 68.98 against the American currency, lower by 4 paise over its previous close at the interbank foreign exchange market.

India's monsoon rains 35% below average this week: IMD

India's monsoon rains were 35% below average in the week ending on July 24, with little rainfall over the central, western and northern parts of the country, the weather office said, raising concerns over the output of summer-sown crops. Monsoon rains are crucial for farm output and economic growth as about 55 percent of India's arable land is rain-supplied and agriculture forms about 15 percent of a USD 2.5 trillion economy that is the third biggest in Asia.

The biggest soybean growing central state of Madhya Pradesh received 67% less rainfall than average in the week, while top cotton producing Gujarat received 47 percent less, data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) showed.

Fed to cut rates for first time in a decade this month: Reuters poll

A quarter-point Federal Reserve interest rate cut in July is almost a done deal, according to economists in a Reuters poll, who expect another

later in the year amid rising economic risks from the ongoing US-China trade war.

Expectations in the July 16-24 poll for the first rate cut in more than a decade have firmed this month after several Fed members have strongly

hinted policy easing is coming soon, pushing US.stocks to new record highs.

While that lines up with most major central banks, which have turned dovish in recent months, the latest poll shows economists, like financial

markets, have settled on a 25 basis point cut in the federal funds rate to 2.00-2.25 percent rather than a half-point reduction.

I-T dept to use data analysis, risk profiling to increase tax mop up: Revenue Secy

The Income Tax Department will use data mining and risk profiling rather than intrusive methods for tax collection, Revenue Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey said on July 24 while exuding confidence of achieving the direct tax mop-up target for the current fiscal.

In the 2019-20 Budget, the government has set a direct tax collection target of Rs 13.35 lakh crore, which includes Rs 7.66 lakh crore being collected as corporate taxes and Rs 5.69 lakh crore as income tax. As per the revised estimates for 2018-19, the government collected Rs 12 lakh crore from direct taxes, of which Rs 6.71 lakh crore was from corporate taxes and Rs 5.29 lakh crore from income tax.

51 companies to report June quarter numbers today

As many as 51 companies will declare their results for June quarter on Thursday which include names like Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, Bank of Baroda, Gruh Finance, IFB Industries, PVR, South Indian Bank, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, and Jubilant Industries among others.

Affle India's Rs 459-cr IPO to open on July 29

The Rs 459-crore initial public offer (IPO) of mobile marketing company Affle India will open for bidding on July 29 with a price band of Rs 740–745 per equity share. The IPO comprises of a fresh issue aggregating up to Rs 90 crore and an offer for sale of up to 49,53,020 equity shares by Affle Holdings, according to a company statement.

The issue will close on July 31, 2019, it added. ICICI Securities, Nomura Financial Advisory and Securities (India) are the book-running lead managers to the offer.

Two stocks under F&O ban period on NSE

For July 25, Dish TV and IDBI Bank are under the F&O ban period. Securities in ban period under the F&O segment include companies in which security has crossed 95 percent of the market-wide position limit.

With inputs from Reuters & other agencies