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

The Indian stock market is expected to open in the green tracking positive global cues as increasing optimism for a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine eased concerns. Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a positive opening for the index in India with a 54 points gain.

Nifty gained 128 points, or 1.24 percent, to end at 10,430 on July 1 and the Sensex ended 499 points, or 1.43 percent, higher at 35,414. According to pivot charts, the key support level for the Nifty is placed at 10,337.4, followed by 10,244.8. If the index moves up, the key resistance levels to watch out for are 10,484.8 and 10,539.6.

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

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes closed higher on Wednesday to kick off the third quarter as increasing optimism for a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine eased concerns that another round of business lockdowns was likely.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 77.91 points, or 0.3%, to 25,734.97, the S&P 500 gained 15.57 points, or 0.50%, to 3,115.86 and the Nasdaq Composite added 95.86 points, or 0.95%, to 10,154.63.

Asian Markets

Asian stocks were set to track Wall Street gains on Thursday as investors cheered signs the global economy was emerging from its coronavirus hibernation although trade is likely to be choppy as fresh concerns about Hong Kong keep investors cautious.

E-mini futures for the S&P 500 edged 0.06% higher, while Australian S&P/ASX 200 futures climbed 0.71% and Japan’s Nikkei 225 futures rose 0.4%.

SGX Nifty

Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a positive opening for the index in India with a 54 points gain. The Nifty futures were trading at 10,453 on the Singaporean Exchange around 07:30 hours IST.

Oil prices dip on demand worries as California reimposes restrictions

Oil prices slipped in early trade on Thursday after California reimposed some coronavirus lockdown measures, stoking worries a resurgence in COVID-19 cases will stall a recovery in fuel demand.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 13 cents, or 0.3%, to $39.69 a barrel at 0024 GMT, trimming a 1.4% rise from Wednesday. Brent crude futures fell 15 cents, or 0.3%, to $41.89 a barrel, after rising 1.8% in the previous session.

Finance Ministry rejects NBFC industry’s request for longer-term liquidity assistance

The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) notification on July 1 providing details and eligibility criteria for non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) and housing finance companies (HFCs) to avail the Rs 30,000 crore special liquidity scheme confirms that the industry’s demand for longer-term liquidity assistance has been rejected by the government.

As per the notification, liquidity instruments under the scheme will have a maturity of only three months. Finance Industry Development Council (FIDC), an industry body of NBFCs, in a letter to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on May 20, had sought a minimum three-year extension in the tenure of these instruments.

This is because NBFCs lend for a longer tenure and hence short term borrowings could create asset-liability mismatches. “It may not have the desired effect of encouraging NBFCs to lend to the MSME sector. Any NBFC availing of funds under this scheme may, in fact, end up disturbing its asset-liability matching,” FIDC had said in the letter.

Railways invites proposals from private companies to run passenger trains

The railways ministry has finally walked the talk of opening up the running of passenger trains to private companies, a significant reform that is expected to shake up the creaking infrastructure and foster growth. The ministry on July 1 invited qualification proposals from private entities to run trains over 109 pairs of routes by introducing 151 modern trains. The project would entail private sector investment of about Rs 30,000 crore, the ministry said in a statement.

The 109 original destination pairs of routes have been formed into 12 clusters across the rail network and each train shall have a minimum of 16 coaches.

SEBI issues SoP to deal with possible defaults by trading, clearing members

Sebi on Wednesday came out with a set of standard operating procedures for stock exchanges, clearing corporations and depositories to deal with possible defaults by trading or clearing members. The framework, which will come into force from August 1, is aimed at protecting the interest of non-defaulting clients of trading members or clearing members in the likely event of default by trading member or clearing member.

The Standard Operating Procedure (SoP) enumerates actions that need to taken when a stock exchange or clearing corporation is of the view that a trading or a clearing member is likely to default in repayment of funds or securities to its clients, according to a circular.

The regulator also said the SoP has been prepared in order to harmonise and ensure uniformity in the action amongst all the stock exchanges, clearing corporations and depositories in a time-bound manner.

June auto sales climb to 50% of pre-COVID levels, dealers report surge in online enquiries

Dispatches of cars and SUVs to dealers more than doubled during June compared to May but are still less than half compared to their usual monthly level. The industry recorded zero sales in April due to lockdown restrictions imposed to curb spread of the deadly coronavirus.

Inventory levels with dealers have been at an all-time low since end of May leading to stock replenishment in June. Unserviced bookings, pent up demand and increase in production are believed to be the main reasons behind the surge in June sales.

Carmakers have yet not seen full utilisation of their dealer strength as several showrooms which are in the containment zones, Mumbai for instance, remain shut. While footfalls in showrooms have been low, as per dealers, online enquiries and enquiries over the phone have surged compared to pre-lockdown months.

MSCI defers decision to increase India's weightage

The MSCI has deferred the decision to increase the weightage of India in its global indices. "MSCI will defer until further notice potential increases in Foreign Ownership Limits (FOL) resulting from the recently implemented relaxation of the Foreign Portfolio Investor (FPI) limit of Indian companies to the sectoral limit," the index and multi-asset portfolio analysis tools provider said in its announcement.

NBFCs' bad loans to rise to 5-7% in current fiscal: ICRA

Non-banking financial companies' (NBFCs) asset quality is likely to worsen to 5-7 percent in the current financial year due to weak economic growth on account of disruptions caused by coronavirus-related lockdown, according to a report by rating agency ICRA. The lockdown has significantly impacted the cash flow position of NBFCs' borrowers, it said in the report.

"Assuming a slippage of 5-10 percent of the asset under management (AUM) under moratorium, non-bank NPAs could increase to 5-7 percent by March 2021 from about 3.3-3.4 percent in March 2020," the rating agency said.

SEBI relaxes compliance deadline for REITs, InvITs

Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Wednesday eased the compliance deadline for emerging investment vehicles – REITs and InVITs – by a month in the wake of coronavirus pandemic. In a circular, Sebi said it has extended the regulatory due date for filing and compliance for Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InVITs) for the financial year ended March 31, by one month over and above the timeline given by the regulator in March.

Under the norms, a manager is required to submit an annual report, among other documents, to all unit holders of the REIT or InvIT with respect to activities of such investment vehicle, within three months from the end of the financial year.

FII and DII data

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs 1,696.45 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs 1,377.13 crore in the Indian equity market on July 1, provisional data available on the NSE showed.

2 stocks under F&O ban on NSE

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals and Vodafone Idea are under the F&O ban for July 2. 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.