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 as trends on SGX Nifty indicate a gap-up opening for the index in India with a 171 points gain.

The BSE Sensex jumped 355.01 points to close at 40,616.14 on November 4 while the Nifty50 rallied 95 points to 11,908.50. According to pivot charts, the key support levels for the Nifty is placed at 11,800.03, followed by 11,691.57. If the index moves up, the key resistance levels to watch out for are 11,973.33 and 12,038.17.

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

US stocks surged to close higher on Wednesday as the presidential election race remained cloudy but the likelihood of gridlock in Congress made investors optimistic that major policy changes would be difficult to enact.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 371.42 points, or 1.35%, to 27,851.45, the S&P 500 gained 74.3 points, or 2.21%, to 3,443.46 and the Nasdaq Composite added 427.53 points, or 3.83%, to 11,588.10.

Asian Markets

Asian share markets firmed on Thursday while bonds held big gains as investors awaited a clear result from the U.S. election, with the likely prospect of policy gridlock seemingly warmly welcomed by Wall Street overnight.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.5% to reach its highest since March 2018. Japan's Nikkei rose 0.9% to a nine-month top and South Korea put on 1.5%.

SGX Nifty

Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a gap-up opening for the index in India with a 171 points gain. The Nifty futures were trading at 12,079 on the Singaporean Exchange around 07:30 hours IST.

US elections

Joe Biden won the battleground prizes of Michigan and Wisconsin on Wednesday, reclaiming a key part of the “blue wall” that slipped away from Democrats four years ago and dramatically narrowing President Donald Trump's pathway to re-election.

“I will govern as an American president,” Biden said. ”There will be no red states and blue states when we win. Just the United States of America."

Both candidates this year fiercely fought for the states, with Biden's everyman political persona resonating in blue collar towns while his campaign also pushed to increase turnout among Black voters in cities like Detroit and Milwaukee.

Oil slips on rising US dollar on bets of no big fiscal package

US oil prices fell in early trade on Thursday as the dollar strengthened on expectations the Republican Party would keep control of the Senate following the U.S. election, holding back any huge COVID-19 relief package.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures dropped 29 cents, or 0.7%, to $38.86 a barrel at 0042 GMT. Brent crude futures had yet to start trading. Both benchmark contracts jumped around 4% on Wednesday.

ED files first chargesheet in Rs 1,875-crore ICICI Bank-Videocon loan case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed its first chargesheet on Wednesday in the ICICI Bank-Videocon loan case, involving Deepak Kochhar, businessman and husband of ICICI Bank’s former CEO Chanda Kochhar, and Videocon promoter Venugopal Dhoot.

The ED has filed the chargesheet against 10 entities and three individuals. Videocon International Electronics Ltd (VIEL), Videocon Industries Ltd, Nu Power Renewables Ltd, Supreme Energy Pvt Ltd, Venugopal Dhoot, and Deepak and Chanda Kochhar are among them.

Bourses to hold 1-hour special Diwali muhurat trading session on November 14

Leading stock exchanges BSE and NSE will conduct one-hour special muhurat trading session on the occasion of Diwali on November 14. The session trading would be held between 1815 hrs and 1915 hours, the stock exchanges said in separate circulars. All trades executed in the Diwali Muhurat trading session would result in settlement obligations.

India's services activity grows in October for first time in eight months

Activity in India’s dominant services industry, expanded for the first time in eight months in October as demand surged, but pandemic-hit firms continued to cut jobs, a private survey showed on Wednesday.

The Nikkei/IHS Markit Services Purchasing Managers’ Index climbed to 54.1 in October from September’s 49.8. It was the highest reading since February and comfortably above the 50-mark separating growth from contraction.

Results on November 5

ABB India, Aarti Surfactants, Aditya Birla Capital, Adani Power, Adani Transmission, Astrazeneca Pharma, Bajaj Electricals, Berger Paints India, Birla Corporation, Birlasoft, Dalmia Bharat, Dish TV India, eClerx Services, Emami, Godrej Consumer Products, Gujarat Gas, ICRA, Inox Leisure, Minda Corporation, Spencers Retail, Torrent Power, Trent and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) among 127 companies will declare their quarterly earnings on November 5.

FII and DII data

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net bought shares worth Rs 146.22 crore, whereas domestic institutional investors (DIIs) net sold shares worth Rs 8.13 crore in the Indian equity market on November 4, as per provisional data available on the NSE.