US Fed meet, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das address, among 5 factors to set market direction today

Domestic equity market benchmarks BSE Sensex and Nifty 50 were starting at a negative opening on Wednesday taking cues from mixed Asian markets. Market participants will keenly watch the two-day US Federal Reserve meeting which is going to end today. Besides, newsflow on the India-China front, developments around COVID-19 vaccine, trends in coronavirus cases, oil prices and other global cues will set the market direction for today. Investors will also watch RBI Governor’s address to Ficci. “The participation of the banking pack is critical for any directional move in the index. Consider the prevailing scenario, we suggest keeping a close watch on the outcome of the US Fed meet for cues,” said Ajit Mishra, VP – Research, Religare Broking Ltd.

SGX Nifty in red: Early trends in SGX Nifty indicated a negative opening of Sensex and Nifty on Wednesday. Nifty Futures were trading 22.80 points or 0.19 per cent at 11,512.20 on Singaporean Exchange.

Bulk and block deals: Rajasthan Global Securities bought 3,83,071 shares in the company at Rs 66.41 per share. While Societe Generale bought 15,25,000 shares of Hexaware Technologies at Rs 443.01 per share. Similarly, Nippon India Mutual Fund A/C Nippon India Small Cap Fund lapped up 5,46,650 equity shares in of BSE at Rs 554 per share. However, Deutsche Boerse Aktiengesellschaft offloaded another 7,86,933 shares in the BSE at Rs 554.36 per share.

FII and DII: On Tuesday, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs 1,170.89 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) offloaded shares worth Rs 895.63 crore on a net basis, according to the provisional data available on the NSE.

Global markets: Asian peers were seen trading mixed in early morning trade on Wednesday. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was marginally higher while the Topix index advanced 0.21 per cent. On the other hand, South Korea’s Kospi added 0.1 per cent. In overnight trade on Wall Street, US stocks jumped as investors anticipated the Federal Reserve would stick with its supportive policy stance. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.01 per cent, the S&P 500 gained 0.52 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite added 1.21 per cent.

Technical take: “The short term trend of Nifty is range bound with positive bias. Renewed buying enthusiasm could only occur above 11600 and that is likely to pull the market towards 11800 levels in a quick period of time. Important lower supports to be watched at 11380 and a breach below this support could trigger more weakness in the near term,” said Nagaraj Shetti, Technical Research Analyst, HDFC Securities.