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 161 points gain.

The BSE Sensex climbed 552.90 points, or 1.34 percent, to close at 41,893.06 on November 8 while the Nifty50 rallied 143.20 points, or 1.18 percent, to 12,263.50.

According to pivot charts, the key support levels for the Nifty is placed at 12,170.07, followed by 12,076.63. If the index moves up, the key resistance levels to watch out for are 12,318.67 and 12,373.83.

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 hovered near unchanged on Friday to close out with a big weekly gain as Democratic challenger Joe Biden edged closer to victory in the presidential election, while the monthly jobs report underscored the hurdles still facing the economy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 96.68 points, or 0.34%, to 28,293.5, the S&P 500 lost 4.05 points, or 0.12%, to 3,506.4 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 4.43 points, or 0.04%, to 11,886.50.

Asian Markets

E-mini futures for the S&P 500 jumped 0.6% on Monday, signalling a positive start for U.S. markets. MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside of Japan inched up 0.1%, after climbing 6.2% last week to clock its best weekly performance since early June.

SGX Nifty

Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a gap-up opening for the index in India with a 161 points gain. The Nifty futures were trading at 12,426 on the Singaporean Exchange around 07:30 hours IST.

Joe Biden becomes the 46th US President

Democratic candidate Joseph Biden won the 2020 United States presidential election after the state of Pennsylvania was called in his favour. He becomes the oldest person to be elected President. Along with his, his running mate Kamala Harris will become the first female, Black and Indian-origin vice-president of the United States.

"With the campaign over, it’s time to put the anger and the harsh rhetoric behind us and come together as a nation. It’s time for America to unite. And to heal," the President-elect, who is 78 years old, said.

Biden and Kamala will be sworn in to their new offices on January 20, 2021, taking over from incumbent Republicans Donald Trump and Mike Pence. Biden also tweeted about his victory, saying he was honoured by his win, would be a "President to all Americans", and assuring them he will keep the faith they placed in him.

Oil Prices

Oil prices gained more than 2% on Monday, with Brent futures rising above $40 a barrel, after Joe Biden clinched the U.S. presidency and buoyed risk appetite, offsetting worries about impact on fuel demand from the worsening coronavirus pandemic.

Brent crude futures for January climbed 82 cents, or 2.1%, to $40.27 a barrel by 0101 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for December was at $37.98 a barrel, up 84 cents, or 2.3%.

India's domestic passenger traffic over half of pre-COVID levels: Civil Aviation Secretary

Amid the country's tally of COVID-19 cases reaching 84 lakh and the economy struggling to bounce back, India's domestic passenger traffic has reached more than half of pre-COVID levels, said Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) on November 7.

"India's domestic passenger traffic has reached more than half of pre-COVID levels with a number of daily air travellers crossing over two lakh in November," news agency PTI quoted MoCA Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola as saying.

Sebi introduces Flexi-Cap Fund category for MFs

Capital market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on November 6 introduced Flexi- Cap Fund category, providing relief to mutual funds after issuing new rules for Multi-Cap funds in September.

"In order to give more flexibility to the mutual funds and taking into account the recommendations of Mutual Fund Advisory Committee (MFAC), a new category named 'Flexi Cap Fund' under equity schemes will be available...," Sebi said in its statement.

India's forex reserves up $183 million to record high of $560.715 billion

The country's foreign exchange reserves rose $183 million to touch a record high of $560.715 billion in the week ended October 30, RBI data showed on November 6.

In the previous week ended October 23, the reserves had jumped $5.412 billion to $560.532 billion. In the reporting week, the reserves rose due to an increase in foreign currency assets (FCA), a major component of the overall reserves.

SEBI restores normal cut-off timings for mutual funds effective November 9

The Securities and Exchange Board of India on November 6 restored the normal cut off timings for mutual funds that had been revised during the lockdown due to the coronavirus.

"It is decided that the cut-off timings for applicability of NAV (Net Asset Value) for both subscription and redemption for all schemes, may be restored to normal cut-off timings on accordance with various circulars issued by SEBI in this regard," Assistant Manager of Sebi's IMD Bimal Prasad Panda wrote to AMFI.

MFs withdraw Rs 14,300 crore from equities in October

Mutual funds pulled out a massive Rs 14,300 crore from equities in October, making it the fifth consecutive month of withdrawal, as fund managers sold stocks to meet redemption requirements.

During January-May 2020, mutual funds (MFs) made a net investment of more than Rs 40,000 crore in stock markets, data available with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) showed.

Goldman Sachs to invest $150 million in Biocon's IPO-bound subsidiary Biocon Biologics

Biocon Ltd on November 7 announced that the Board of its subsidiary Biocon Biologics Ltd (Biocon Biologics) has approved a Rs 1, 125 crore ($150 million) capital injection from Goldman Sachs. As per the terms of the proposed agreement, Goldman Sachs will be issued Optionally Convertible Debentures at a post money equity valuation of $3.94 billion. The transaction is subject to customary approvals and conditions.

“We are extremely pleased to welcome a capital injection by Goldman Sachs at this inflection point of Biocon Biologics’ journey in its quest for global leadership in providing affordable access through Biosimilar drugs. This transaction is a part of the overall strategic plan of value creation for our shareholders through Biocon Biologics,” said Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Executive Chairperson, Biocon.

China October exports surge, imports rise amid global recovery

China exports grew at the fastest pace in 19 months in October, while imports also rose, official data showed on Saturday, as the world's second largest economy continued to recover after being hit hard by the coronavirus crisis earlier this year.

Exports in October rose 11.4% from a year earlier, beating analysts' expectations of a 9.3% increase and quickening from a solid 9.9% increase in September. The surge in exports pushed the trade surplus for October up to $58.44 billion, compared with the poll's forecast for a $46 billion surplus and a $37 billion surplus in September.

Results on November 9

IndiaMART InterMESH, Oil India, ADF Foods, Bayer Cropscience, Delta Corp, Dredging Corporation of India, Equitas Small Finance Bank, Honeywell Automation, JK Cement, NOCIL, Parag Milk Foods, PC Jeweller, PSP Projects, PTC India, Shankara Building Products, Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company, SREI Infrastructure Finance, Triveni Engineering, Venky's India, VIP Industries and Zuari Agro Chemicals are among 253 companies to declare their quarterly earnings on November 9.

FII and DII data

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net bought shares worth Rs 4,869.87 crore, whereas domestic institutional investors (DIIs) net sold shares worth Rs 2,938.66 crore in the Indian equity market on November 6, as per provisional data available on the NSE.

2 stocks under F&O ban on NSE

Jindal Steel & Power and SAIL are under the F&O ban for November 9. 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.