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

The Indian stock market is expected to open flat after Nasdaq closed at a new record high. Asian markets look poised to track Wall Street’s tech-fueled rally. Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a flat opening for the index in India with a 2-point gain.

Sensex closed at 38,050.78, up 173.44 points on August 17 and the Nifty climbed 68.70 points to 11,247.1. The bounce back after August 14 sharp downtick indicated that the market could see another bout of upside, amid volatility, in the coming session. But if the index breaks the previous week's high decisively, then there could be a sharp rally, experts told Moneycontrol.

According to pivot charts, the key support level for the Nifty is placed at 11,172.03, followed by 11,096.97. If the index moves up, the key resistance levels to watch out for are 11,294.63 and 11,342.17.

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 Nasdaq surged to a record high close on Monday, while the S&P 500 approached its own record level, with both indexes lifted by Nvidia and other technology stocks.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.31 percent to end at 27,844.91 points, while the S&P 500 gained 0.27 percent to 3,381.99. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 1 percent to 11,129.73, its fifth closing high this month.

Asian Markets

Asian equities were poised to track Wall Street’s tech-fueled rally on Tuesday that saw the Nasdaq benchmark hit a fresh record while oil prices perked up on Chinese demand and hope that Sino-US trade tensions were easing. Australian S&P/ASX 200 futures rose 0.52, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures rose 0.56.

SGX Nifty

Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a flat opening for the index in India with a 2 points gain. The Nifty futures were trading at 11,289 on the Singaporean Exchange around 07:30 hours IST.

Oil edges lower as suppliers try to hold the line on output cuts

Oil prices edged lower on Tuesday, mostly holding onto overnight gains after OPEC+ said the producer grouping is almost fully complying with output cuts to support prices amid a drop in demand for fuel due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Brent crude was down 6 cents, or 0.1 percent, at $45.31 a barrel by 0027 GMT, after gaining 1.3 percent on Monday. US crude was down 8 cents, or 0.2 percent, at $42.81 a barrel, having risen 2.1 percent in the previous session.

India's power output rises for first time in five months in early August

India's electricity generation in the first 15 days of August rose for the first time since early March, provisional government data showed, as the country opened up industries and lifted restrictions.

Power generation rose 2.6 percent in the first 15 days of August compared to the same period of last year, a Reuters analysis of daily load despatch data from federal grid operator POSOCO showed, compared to a 1.8 percent fall in July. In the second half of last month, electricity generation declined 3.1 percent.

Hiring activity picks up in India, but job seekers double, shows LinkedIn data

Hiring activity in India is slowly picking up, even as concerns over the second wave of COVID-19 remains, data from professional networking site LinkedIn has shown. LinkedIn’s labour market update showed that between early-April to end-June, hiring increased by 35 percentage points. In April, hiring had slumped to a low of below -50 percent year-on-year (YoY), before starting to slowly recover.

The data showed that hiring sentiment stands at -15 percent YoY as of June-end. As risks of second-wave of infections emerge, some states have imposed lockdown measures again.

SEBI to meet brokers, depositories today as September 1 deadline nears

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) will meet brokers’ associations, clearing corporations and depositories on August 18 to discuss the proposed framework on margin obligation, to be given by way of pledged or repledged shares in the depository system. The market regulator will review the preparations of depositories and brokers’ backend systems before implementing the new facility from September 1, sources said.

The depositories have been finding it tough to implement the new mechanism owing to technical issues. "SEBI has already extended the deadline to implement the pledge-repledge policy twice and does not want to delay it any further. Tomorrow’s meeting is to check the stakeholders’ readiness to implement it," a source told Moneycontrol.

SBI sees India's GDP contracting 16.5% in Q1 FY21 from 20% in May

State Bank of India expects India's GDP to contract 16.5 percent in the April-June quarter from the earlier expected 20 percent decline. In its earlier report in May, Ecowrap had estimated Q1 FY21 GDP contraction at over 20 percent and now pegs it at much lower "though with the relevant caveats in the current uncertain scenario."

It said degrowth in corporate GVA (better than expected results of some financial and non-financial companies) has been significantly better than revenue degrowth in Q1 FY21 as far as the results of the listed companies are concerned.

OPEC+ compliance with oil output cuts in July around 97%

Compliance with OPEC+ oil output cuts is seen at around 97 percent in July, two OPEC+ sources told Reuters on August 17, two days ahead of a meeting of key OPEC+ producers to review adherence with their production pact as demand slowly recovers.

The figure has not yet been finalised by a technical panel of key OPEC and non-OPEC producers, known as the JTC, which is meeting later on Monday, the sources said. A ministerial OPEC+ monitoring committee, known as the JMMC, is meeting on Wednesday to review the oil market and compliance with the global oil supply reduction pact.