Stock Markets Live: SGX Nifty Climbs Amid Weak Asia Cues; HDFC AMC, Wipro In Focus

India’s shorter sovereign bonds are expected to gain after the government said it will keep its fiscal first-half borrowing plan unchanged. Traders are expected to bid at a Rs 32,000-crore ($4.3 billion) auction on Friday.

• India’s federal government has released Rs 75,000 crore from its own borrowings to compensate states for a shortfall in tax revenues due to pandemic-induced lockdowns

  • The amount has been funded via borrowings from 5-year bonds totaling Rs 68,500 crore and 2-year debt amounting to Rs 6,500 crore, the government said Thursday. The borrowings were done at a weighted average yield of 5.6% and 4.25% for the respective tenors, it said.

• RBI said it will buy Rs 20,000 crore of government bonds on July 22 as part of its government securities acquisition program

  • RBI to buy 6.18% 2024 bond, 6.97% 2026, 8.60% 2028 bond and 6.79% 2029 debt

• USD/INR down 0.1% at 74.5462 on Thursday

  • Implied opening from forwards suggests spot may start trading around 74.58

• Yield on 5.63% 2026 bond steady at 5.69% on Thursday; 5.22% 2025 yield steady at 5.52%; new 6.1% 2031 bond yield up 1bp at 6.12%

• RBI to hold Rs 2 lakh crore of 14-day reverse repo auction Friday

• June trade deficit at $9.37b, est. -$9.4b: government statement

• India’s current spike in inflation is driven by “adverse supply shocks” caused by the pandemic and is expected to ease in the final three months of 2021, the RBI said Thursday

  • The easing will occur once monsoon-sown crops arrive in the markets, the RBI said in its monthly bulletin

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Asian stocks and U.S. equity futures dipped Friday amid concerns about the economic growth outlook and coronavirus flareups in some parts of the world.

Shares posted modest drops in Japan, China and Hong Kong. China Evergrande Group soared after the country’s most-indebted developer said it will consider a special dividend. U.S. contracts slipped after energy and technology sectors led Wall Street lower. Moderna Inc. rallied in extended trading on an announcement that the vaccine maker is set to join the S&P 500.

India's SGX Nifty 50 Index futures for July delivery rose 0.2% to 15,954.50, while MSCI Asia Pacific Index down 0.4%. The NSE Nifty 50 Index added 0.4% Thursday to 15,924.20.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell overnight defended the central bank’s accommodative stance in the face of uncomfortably high inflation. Officials expect a transient surge in price pressures amid the reopening from the pandemic, but some others fear stickier inflation that could hurt economic prospects. The 10-year Treasury yield is set for a third weekly retreat.

Crude oil steadied but was on course for the biggest weekly decline since mid-March, hurt by virus flareups and amid uncertainty over an OPEC+ deal to boost supply. New Zealand’s dollar jumped after the nation’s inflation breached the central bank’s target range, reinforcing bets on an interest-rate increase.

Back home, Wipro, L&T Infotech, Cyient, Tata Elxsi, Angel Broking may react as the companies reported quarterly results after the market closed Thursday. HDFC Asset, L&T Finance, Just Dial are among the companies scheduled to report earnings Friday. HDFC Asset, Century Textiles, L&T Technology, Piramal Enterprises, Indian Bank among companies holding their annual shareholders’ meeting. Foreign investors sold net Rs 1,220 crore of stocks on Wednesday, according to NSDL website.