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

Equity market closed in the red again on February 13, snapping the winning run of the last two consecutive sessions on account of weak domestic and global cues as the rise in new cases of coronavirus epidemic weighed on the market sentiment globally.

Sensex ended the day with a loss of 106 points, or 0.26 percent, at 41,459.79 while Nifty finished at 12,174.65, down 27 points, or 0.22 percent.

According to the pivot charts, the key support level for Nifty is placed at 12134.43, followed by 12094.17. If the index continues moving up, key resistance levels to watch out for are 12220.33 and 12265.97.

Nifty Bank closed 0.83 percent down at 31,230.25. The important pivot level, which will act as crucial support for the index, is placed at 31,057.4, followed by 30,884.6. On the upside, key resistance levels are placed at 31,526.2 and 31,822.2.

Stay tuned to Moneycontrol to find out what happens in currency and equity markets today. We have collated a list of important headlines across news platforms which could impact Indian as well as international markets:

US Markets

Wall Street lost ground on Thursday, backing away from record highs as investors digested new coronavirus developments and mixed corporate earnings.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 128.11 points, or 0.43%, to 29,423.31, the S&P 500 lost 5.51 points, or 0.16%, to 3,373.94 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 13.99 points, or 0.14%, to 9,711.97.

Asian Markets

Global shares eased on Friday, as investors were spooked by a sharp rise in the number of coronavirus cases in China this week while oil prices extended gains on hopes of more production cuts.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dipped 0.08% with South Korea's Kospi falling 0.25% while Japan's Nikkei slid 0.67%.

SGX Nifty

Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a positive opening for the broader index in India, with a 28 points gain or 0.23 percent. The Nifty futures were trading around 12,178-level on the Singaporean Exchange.

S&P retains India's rating at 'BBB-' with stable outlook

Global agency Standard and Poor's on February 13 retained India's sovereign ratings at 'BBB-' with stable outlook, saying the country's GDP is likely to gradually recover towards longer-term trend rates over the next two to three years. 'BBB' rating refers to adequate capacity to the rated entity to meet its financial commitments.

The rating agency, however, pointed out that India's fiscal position remains precarious, with elevated fiscal deficits and net government indebtedness. Fiscal deficits have exceeded the government's plan, S&P said, adding it expect limited consolidation over the next few years.

SEBI issues guidelines for portfolio managers

Markets watchdog Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on February 13 issued guidelines for portfolio managers and said they cannot charge upfront fee from clients. SEBI (Portfolio Managers) Regulations, 2020, were notified on January 16.

In addition, certain changes to the regulatory framework for portfolio managers have been mandated. "As provided in Regulation 22 (11) of the PMS Regulations, no upfront fees shall be charged by the portfolio managers, either directly or indirectly, to the clients," SEBI said. According to the regulator, brokerage at actuals should be charged to clients as expense.

India Ratings revises outlook for construction sector to negative

India Ratings has revised its outlook for the construction industry to negative for FY21 on the back of muted order inflows and subdued bank credit flow. The outlook revision follows significant risks emerging from the exposure of certain construction companies to the state governments of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Bihar, the ratings agency said.

"There has been a higher utilisation of working capital limits, especially non-fund based facilities. Also, the delays in the sanction of additional limits is likely to adversely affect the execution capabilities and ability of infrastructure companies to bid for new orders," said India Ratings' Senior Analyst Sudeep Arekar.

Rupee settles flat at 71.33 against US dollar

The rupee on Thursday settled flat at 71.33 (provisional) against the US dollar after weak macro-economic data disappointed market participants. Forex traders said disappointing macro economic numbers and weak domestic equities weighed on the local unit, while easing crude oil prices and weakening of the American currency in the overseas market restricted the fall to some extent.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 71.35, then lost further ground to touch a low of 71.49. The domestic unit finally settled at 71.33 against the US dollar, unchanged from its previous close.

SC to hear telecom companies' plea on AGR-related dues on Friday

The Supreme Court will on Friday hear fresh pleas of telecom firms, including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Tata Teleservices, seeking a new schedule of payment of statutory dues to the tune of Rs 1.47 lakh crore to the Department of Telecommunications. A bench of justices Arun Mishra, S Abdul Nazeer and M R Shah will hear a batch of petitions filed by telecom companies in open court.

The pleas filed by Vodafone Idea, Bharti Airtel, and Tata Teleservices has sought more time for payment of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) related dues.

In an affidavit filed in the top court, DoT said that according to calculations, Airtel owes Rs 21,682.13 crore as licence fee to the government and dues from Vodafone totalled Rs 19,823.71 crore, while Reliance Communications owed a total of Rs 16,456.47 crore. BSNL owed Rs 2,098.72 crore and MTNL Rs 2,537.48 crore.

AIF investment rises to Rs 1.4 lakh crore in December quarter

Investments by alternative investment funds (AIFs) rose to over Rs 1.4 lakh crore in December quarter 2019, registering an increase of 53 per cent over the year-ago period. The investment made by AIFs was pegged at Rs 1,42,115.104 crore in the latest quarter, while in the year-ago period, the figure stood at Rs 92,825 crore, the latest data available with Sebi showed.

At the end of September 2019 quarter, the investment stood at Rs 1.25 lakh crore. The category I AIFs pumped in Rs 13,904 crore, category II Rs 92,433 crore and category III Rs 35,777 crore during the period under review.

RBI new asset recognition norms credit negative for banks: Moody's

The Reserve Bank of India's recent asset recognition norms that allows banks not to treat real estate loans as restructured for one year is credit negative for Indian banks, a report by Moody's said. Last week, the RBI harmonised guidelines for deferment of date of commencement of commercial operations (DCCO) for projects in non-infrastructure and commercial real estate (CRE) sectors.

It said the revisions of the date of DCCO and consequential shift in repayment schedule for equal or shorter duration will not be treated as restructuring provided the revised DCCO falls within the period of one year from the original DCCO stipulated at the time of financial closure for CRE projects.

FPIs turn net buyers; put in $6.3-bn in December quarter

Foreign investors turned net buyers in the Indian markets in the December quarter, pumping in a staggering $6.3 billion on the back of the government's intent to bring reforms for supporting the economic growth. This comes following a net outflow of $3.22 billion by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) in the quarter ended September 2019.

According to a Morningstar report, foreign investors started the quarter on a subdued note as they turned risk-averse with fears of a global recession and trade wars gaining momentum.

FII and DII data

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs 1,061.39 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares of worth Rs 960.48 crore in the Indian equity market on February 13, provisional data available on the NSE showed.

Stock under F&O ban on NSE

Yes Bank is under the F&O ban for February 14. Securities in the ban period under the F&O segment include companies in which the security has crossed 95 percent of the market-wide position limit.