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

Benchmark indices declined sharply on the very first day of the week on June 15 as bears dominated. Indian equities fell in line with global peers due to rising coronavirus cases, which investors fear could delay an economic recovery. The Sensex slipped 552.09 points, or 1.63 percent, to close at 33,228.80, dented by banking and financial stocks. Nifty dropped 159.20 points, or 1.60 percent, to 9,813.70.

According to pivot charts, the key support level for the Nifty is placed at 9,712.25, followed by 9,610.8. If the index moves up, the key resistance levels to watch out for are 9,929.25 and 10,044.8.

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 closed higher on Monday following an announcement by the U.S. Federal Reserve regarding its corporate bond purchasing program that boosted investor confidence, which had been wavering amid a spike in new COVID-19 cases.

Asian Markets

Asian stocks were set to follow a late Wall Street surge on Tuesday, after the Federal Reserve's fresh move to support financial markets through the coronavirus pandemic cheered investors.

The Fed on Monday announced tweaks to its bond buying program, widening the range of eligible assets to include all U.S. corporate bonds that satisfied certain criteria.

SGX Nifty

Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a positive opening for the index in India with a 182 points gain. The Nifty futures were trading at 9978.50 on the Singaporean Exchange around 07:20 hours IST.

India exports fall 36.47% in May, trade deficit narrows to $3.15 billion

Contracting for the third straight month, India's exports declined 36.47 percent in May to $19.05 billion, mainly on account of drop in shipments by key sectors such as petroleum, textiles, engineering, gems and jewellery. Imports too plunged 51 percent to $22.2 billion in May, leaving a trade deficit of $3.15 billion, compared to $15.36 billion in the same month previous year, according to the data released by the Commerce and Industry Ministry.

During April-May 2020, the exports fell 47.54 percent to $29.41 billion, while imports shrank by 5.67 percent to $39.32 billion. Trade deficit stood at $9.91 billion during the two months of the current fiscal.

RBI may need to choose between FX, bond interventions in second half: Economists

The Reserve Bank of India's interventions in the foreign exchange market have helped reserves climb to a record $501.7 billion in early June, but economists say the pace of increase is likely to taper in the second half of this fiscal year. The RBI bought a total $45 billion in the foreign exchange market in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2020, while reserves have climbed a further $25 billion since the beginning of this fiscal year.

"Given that the money market surplus is running at a high 6.8 trillion rupees, the RBI will likely not want to inject further liquidity through FX operations," Indranil Sen Gupta, economist with Bank of America Securities, wrote in a note.

Federal Reserve launches long-awaited Main Street lending program

The Federal Reserve said on Monday it had opened registration for lenders interested in participating in its Main Street Lending Program, launching arguably the most complex program undertaken yet by the U.S. central bank to help keep the backbone of the economy from buckling under the strains of the coronavirus pandemic.

The program, targeted at companies that were in good shape before the pandemic but may now need financing to retain workers and fund operations, will offer up to $600 billion in loans through participating financial institutions to US businesses with up to 15,000 employees or with revenues up to $5 billion.

GDP contraction poses 'existential threat' to MSMEs, policy measures offer little succour: Report

A 5 per cent contraction in gross domestic product (GDP) during 2020-21 may lead to a 15 per cent fall in corporate India's revenues and poses an "existential threat" for small businesses, a Crisil report said on Monday. However, policy interventions by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the finance ministry offer little hope because they cannot revive demand, which is crucial for the small businesses, the report said.

The micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) sector will have to face a sharper decline in revenues of up to 21 per cent, while operating profit margins will narrow to 4-5 per cent, said the research wing of domestic ratings agency Crisil.

Results on June 16

HPCL, NMDC, Ashiana Housing, Bhansali Engineering Polymers, Bliss GVS Pharma, Globus Spirits, Ipca Laboratories, Bank of Maharashtra, Manali Petrochemical, Navin Fluorine International and Schneider Electric Infrastructure.

FII and DII data

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs 2,960.33 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs 1,076.38 crore in the Indian equity market on June 15, provisional data available on the NSE showed.

4 stocks under F&O ban on NSE

Four stocks including Adani Enterprises, BHEL, Vodafone Idea and Just Dial are under the F&O ban for June 16. 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.

Crude

Oil prices dipped on Tuesday on jitters that a rise in coronavirus infections around the world could hurt fuel demand, but hopes that production cuts could be extended kept declines in check.

Brent crude  was down 14 cents, or 0.4%, at $39.58 a barrel at 0027 GMT, having gained 2.6% on Monday. US oil fell 24 cents, or 0.7%, to $36.88 a barrel, after closing 2.4% higher in the previous session.