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

The Indian stock market is expected to open on a flat to positive note following a cautious Asian market. Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a positive opening for the index in India with a 15 points gain.

Sensex closed 45 points up at 38,843.88 on August 25 and the Nifty settled just 6 points higher at 11,472.25. According to pivot charts, the key support level for the Nifty is placed at 11,421.7, followed by 11,371.2. If the index moves up, the key resistance levels to watch out for are 11,524.3 and 11,576.4.

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 the Nasdaq hit all-time closing highs on Tuesday, but a drop in Apple stock capped gains from positive developments in U.S.-China trade and fresh progress in the medical battle against the coronavirus pandemic.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 59.71 points, or 0.21%, to 28,248.75, the S&P 500 gained 12.39 points, or 0.36%, to 3,443.67 and the Nasdaq Composite added 86.75 points, or 0.76%, to 11,466.47.

Asian Markets

Asian stock were set for a choppy session on Wednesday, following a mixed Wall Street lead as markets cheered signs of progress in US-Sino trade negotiations but remained cautious about the broader economic outlook.

Australian S&P/ASX 200 futures were down 0.55%, while Japan's Nikkei 225 futures were up 0.09%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index futures were up 0.1%.

SGX Nifty

Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a positive opening for the index in India with a 15 points gain. The Nifty futures were trading at 11,495 on the Singaporean Exchange around 07:30 hours IST.

Oil hits five-month highs as U.S. producers cut output ahead of hurricane

Crude oil prices rose to a five-month high on Tuesday as U.S. producers shut most offshore output in the Gulf of Mexico ahead of Hurricane Laura even as rising coronavirus cases in Asia and Europe capped gains.

Brent futures rose 73 cents, or 1.6%, to settle at $45.86 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 73 cents, or 1.7%, to settle at $43.35.

Two-wheelers neither luxury nor sin goods, merit GST rate revision: Finance Ministry

Two-wheelers are neither a luxury nor sin goods and so merit a GST rate revision, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said at an industry interaction on August 24. According to a statement issued by CII, which was also issued by the finance ministry's spokesperson, Sitharaman said a rate revision proposal would be taken up by the GST Council.

"Responding to a question about the need for lowering GST rates on two-wheelers, she assured that this was indeed a good suggestion as this category is neither a luxury nor a sin good and hence merits a rate revision," the statements said.

Govt may look at second stimulus once COVID-19 infections ebb: Expenditure Secretary

The government may look at introducing a second set of fiscal stimulus measures once the COVID-19 infections abate and the psychological fears in people's minds ebb, a top Finance Ministry official said on Tuesday. The government has also observed that 40 percent of the cash transfers directly into the beneficiaries' accounts recently have been saved and not spent, leading to a feeling that there are limitations of the stimuli measures and hence, making timing the most important factor, Union Expenditure Secretary T V Somanathan said.

It can be noted that the government's first round of fiscal stimulus was announced in late March, and included measures like extra spend of nearly 2 percentage points of GDP. The RBI delivered two deep rate cuts before surprising all with a pause this month, leading some analysts to opine that the government will have to do the heavy lifting now.

China central bank injects $29 billion via reverse repos

China’s central bank said it has injected 200 billion yuan ($28.94 billion) through 14-day reverse repo operations into the banking system on Wednesday.

On the day, a batch of 150 billion yuan worth of reverse repos is set to mature, leaving the People’s Bank of China to inject 50 billion on a net basis via the liquidity tool.

Indian monsoon 24% above average in August

Monsoon rains, which picked up pace in August, are likely to be heavy for the rest of the month, the chief of the state-run India Meteorological Department (IMD) said, potentially benefiting summer crops such as rice, corn and cotton.

“There’s no doubt that the quantity of rains has been excellent, but the other important feature of this year’s monsoon is that the rainfall has been very well distributed across the country,” Mohapatra said. “And that augurs well for our agricultural output this year.”

Results on August 26

Agarwal Industrial Corporation, Ansal Housing, Cupid, DCM, Dolat Investments, Gillette India, Indraprastha Gas, Minda Finance, NACL Industries, Sharda Motor Industries, Shree Metalloys, Superb Papers, etc.

FII and DII data

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs 1,481.2 crore, whereas domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth Rs 172.97 crore in the Indian equity market on August 25, as per provisional data available on the NSE.

10 stocks under F&O ban on NSE

Ashok Leyland, Bharat Heavy Electricals, Canara Bank, GMR Infra, Vodafone Idea, LIC Housing Finance, National Aluminium Company, Punjab National Bank, Steel Authority of India and Vedanta are under the F&O ban for August 26. 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.​​