10 things you need to know before the opening bell on October 16
1. Asia: Stocks struggled to make gains in early Asian trade with Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 down 0.02 percent and Japan’s Nikkei 225 futures adding just 0.06 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures rose 0.36 percent. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed 0.04 percent lower. (Representative Image)2. US: On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.07 percent, the S&P 500 0.15 percent and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.47 percent.3. Market At Close On Thursday: Indian indices ended over 2.5 percent lower on Thursday, snapping gains after 10 straight sessions, amid a selloff in all key sectors. The Sensex ended 1,066 points lower at 39,728 while the Nifty lost 290 points to settle at 11,680. (Image: Reuters)4. Crude Oil: Oil prices were weighed by concerns about the coronavirus and its impact on the world economy. Brent crude futures dropped 16 cents to settle at $43.16 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures slipped 8 cents to settle at $40.96 a barrel.. (Image: Reuters)5. Rupee Close: The rupee ended at 73.38 against the US dollar on Thursday as compared to Wednesday’s close of 73.29. (Image: Reuters)6. Centre To Borrow Under GST Special Window: In a relief to the states which were demanding central borrowing to make good for the shortfall in the compensation cess kitty to pay off to the States, Centre on Thursday said that “the estimated shortfall of Rs 1.1 lakh crore (assuming all states join) will be borrowed by the government of India in appropriate tranches.” Implying that instead of the earlier stand where States were to borrow, now Centre will do the borrowing. (Image: Reuters)7. Small Borrowers In Interest Waiver Case: Analysts believe that these developments in the court are leaning favourably towards financiers and are positive for the sector as there were no discussions on expanding the scope of relief (a huge overhang) to other categories or to interest waiver. Further, a relief on the compounding of interest would benefit small borrowers which constitute around 40 percent of the bank credit. (Image: Reuters)8. Health Minister On COVID Vaccine: India is expected to have a COVID-19 vaccine in a few months and the country should be in the process of delivering it to people in the next six months, union health minister Harsh Vardhan said. He made the comments at the Annual General Meeting of Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS) and St. John’s Ambulance. (Image: PTI)9. Moody’s On Second Stimulus: The government’s second round of stimulus will spur consumer spending in the near term but support to economic growth will be minimal, Moody’s Investors Service said on Thursday. After a long clamour for fiscal stimulus, the government had on October 12 come up with measures with direct fiscal support to people and states and to generate demand. These included a leave travel concession (LTC) cash voucher scheme and special festival advance for government employees and Rs 12,000 crore interest-free loan to states and Rs 25,000 crore additional capex. (Image: Reuters)10. Anarock On Housing Sales: The housing sales in the December quarter are expected to rise by 35 percent over the previous quarter boosted by festive demand amid reduced cost of acquisition. The prevailing low home loan interest rates coupled with limited-period government incentives such as reduced stamp duty and registration charges in certain markets may fuel demand as the homebuyers look to take the most advantage of the festive offers and sops given by the developers. (Image: Reuters)
