10 things you need to know before the opening bell on April 1
1. Asia: Stocks in Asia traded mixed on Wednesday morning as investors await the release of a private survey of Chinese manufacturing activity in March, expected to be out around 9:45 a.m HK/SIN. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 dropped 1.33 percent in morning trade while the Topix index shed 1.1 percent. Elsewhere, South Korea’s Kospi recovered from its earlier slip to edge 0.3 percent higher while the S&P/ASX 200 traded up 3.08 percent. Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index traded 0.51 percent higher. (Image Source: AP)2. US: Wall Street’s three major indexes tumbled on Tuesday, with the Dow registering its biggest quarterly decline since 1987 and the S&P 500 suffering its deepest quarterly drop since the financial crisis on growing evidence of massive economic damage from the coronavirus pandemic. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 410.32 points, or 1.84 percent, to 21,917.16, the S&P 500 lost 42.06 points, or 1.60 percent, to 2,584.59 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 74.05 points, or 0.95 percent, to 7,700.10. (Image Source: AP)3. Market At Close On Tuesday: Indian shares surged over 3.5 percent on Tuesday, tracking broader Asian peers, mainly led by gains in financials, FMCG, and metal space. The sentiment was upbeat after factory data from China gave investors hope of a rebound in activity, despite a spike in coronavirus cases back home. The Sensex ended 1,028 points higher at 29,468 on the last trading day of the financial year, while the Nifty rose 317 points to settle at 8,598. (Image Source: Reuters)4. Crude Oil: Crude oil benchmarks opened the month mixed on Wednesday, following their biggest-ever quarterly and monthly losses, overshadowed by fears of global oversupply as data showed a bigger-than-expected rise in inventories in the United States. Brent crude was down by 21 cents, or 0.8 percent, at $26.14 a barrel by 0032 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was up by 27 cents, or 1.3 percent, at $20.75 a barrel. (Image Source: Reuters)5. Rupee Close: The Indian rupee settled for the day on a flat note at 75.60 (provisional) against the US dollar on Tuesday, even as the domestic equities witnessed heavy buying on the last day of trading of the 2019-20 fiscal. Forex traders said market participants remained cautious as currency markets will remain shut for the next couple of sessions. The rupee, which opened on a positive note at 75.52, settled for the day down 1 paise at 75.60 against the American currency. (Image Source: Reuters)6. Government Raises MNREGS Wage: The government has increased wage for the workers under Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS) effective from April 1, 2020. The rural development ministry as every year since 2005 has revised the wage for workers under MNREGS, but starting April 1, 2020, hike for the workers will be highest in the 5 years, as the average national wage is increased by Rs 20. It has also expedited the payment timeline for wage and pension payments to the states to help mitigate the hardships of rural India during the nationwide lockdown. (Image Source: Reuters)7. Government Cuts PPF, NSC Rates: The government has cut the small savings interest rate on a number of instruments from anywhere between 70 basis points to 140 basis points. A basis point is a hundredth of a percent. The government cut the rate on the Public Provident Fund (PPF) for the April-June period by 80 bps, or from 7.9 percent to 7.1 percent. It slashed the National Savings Certificate (NSC) rate by 110 bps from 7.9 percent to 6.8 percent. The rate on 5-year recurring deposit has been cut by 140 bps from 7.2 percent to 5.8 percent while that on time deposits has been slashed by 100 bps, from 7.7 percent to 6.7 percent. (Image Source: Representational)8. DEA Atanu Chakraborty On Government Borrowings: The government will borrow Rs 4.88 lakh crore in the first half of fiscal 2020-21 starting April 1 to shore up resources amid a war it is wagging to contain economic fallout of coronavirus pandemic, DEA Secretary Atanu Chakraborty said on Tuesday. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had in her budget for 2020-21 pegged gross borrowing in the new financial year at Rs 7.8 lakh crore, higher than Rs 7.1 lakh crore estimated in the current fiscal. Gross borrowing includes repayments of past loans. (Image Source: PTI)9. Fitch Ratings On RBI Rate Cut: The RBI is likely to cut benchmark interest rate by another 100 bps in 2020-21 fiscal and continue to employ all policy tools at its disposal to support growth and financial stability to contain the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on the economy, Fith Solutions said Tuesday. In an outlook for India’s interest rates, Fitch Solutions said an easing of inflation back within the RBI’s 2-6 percent target range will provide room for the RBI to ease monetary policy further over the course of the year to support the economy. (Image Source: Reuters)10. UN Trade Report On Recession: The world economy will go into recession this year with a predicted loss of trillions of dollars of global income due to the coronavirus pandemic, spelling serious trouble for developing countries with the likely exception of India and China, according to a latest UN trade report. With two-thirds of the world’s population living in developing countries facing unprecedented economic damage from the COVID-19 crisis, the UN is calling for a $2.5 trillion rescue package for these nations. (Image Source: Reuters)
