What changed for the market while you were sleeping? Top 10 things to know

Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a gap down opening for the index in India with a 101 points loss.

Indian markets are expected to open lower following weak global cues as US markets ended in the red while Asian markets also traded in the negative territory.

Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a gap down opening for the index in India with a 101 points loss.

Sensex closed 595 points, or 1.88 percent, higher at 32,200.59 while Nifty settled 175 points, or 1.88 percent, up at 9,490.10 on May 27. Broader markets slightly underperformed as the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rose 1.34 percent and 1.42 percent, respectively.

The overall market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms jumped to Rs 125.5 lakh crore on May 28 from Rs 123.6 lakh crore on May 27, making investors richer by Rs 1.9 lakh crore in a single day.

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

Wall Street ended lower on Thursday following a late-session reversal, with Facebook weighing on the market after President Donald Trump said he would sign an executive order related to social media companies and would hold a news conference on China on Friday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 147.63 points, or 0.58%, to 25,400.64, the S&P 500 lost 6.4 points, or 0.21%, to 3,029.73 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 43.37 points, or 0.46%, to 9,368.99.

Asian Markets

Asian shares were set to dip in choppy trade on Friday as worries about worsening US-China ties offset the fillip from hopes massive government stimulus can jump-start the world economy.

E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 edged down 0.12% in early Asian trade, while Nikkei futures pointed to a loss of 10 points. Weaker Australian stock futures also indicated a softer open.

SGX Nifty

Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a gap down opening for the index in India with a 101 points loss. The Nifty futures were trading at 9,358 on the Singaporean Exchange around 07:30 hours IST.

Oil prices fall as US fuel demand remains weak

Oil prices edged lower on Friday after US inventory data showed lacklustre fuel demand in the world’s largest oil consumer while worsening US-China tensions weighed on global financial markets.

Brent crude slipped 36 cents, or 1%, to $34.93 a barrel by 0106 GMT and US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $33.20 a barrel, down 51 cents, or 1.5%.

GDP growth likely be at 3.6% in Jan-Mar quarter: CARE Ratings

The country's GDP growth is likely to be at 3.6 percent in January-March 2020 as economic activity came to a complete halt due to the countrywide lockdown imposed to contain the coronavirus outbreak, says a report.

"We expect GDP growth in Q4 to be 3.6 percent with the headline number coming down to 4.7 percent for the entire year," rating agency CARE Ratings said in a report. The expected growth of 3.6 percent will be an all-time low in the GDP new series, it said.

Forced lending to cripple banks; NPAs to soar by up to 600 bps in 2 years: Fitch Ratings

With incremental bank lending making up the bulk of the government's nearly Rs 21 lakh crore stimulus package, lenders face significant asset quality challenges which can increase their dud loan ratios by up to 6 percentage points over the next two years, warns a report.

The impact of forced lending on banks' impaired-loan ratios can be anywhere between 200 and 600 basis points (bps), depending on the severity of stress and banks' individual risk exposures and the higher regulatory provisions, Fitch Ratings said in the report on Thursday.

"These measures will put a heavy onus particularly on state-run banks which already have very weak balance sheets to bail out the affected sectors, due to their quasi-policy role, considering that much of the so-called stimulus measures is in the form of new loans," the report said.

FDI in India jumps 13% to record $49.98 billion in 2019-20

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in India grew by 13 percent to a record of $49.97 billion in the 2019-20 financial year, according to official data. The country had received FDI of $44.36 billion during April-March 2018-19. Sectors which attracted maximum foreign inflows during 2019-20 include services ($7.85 billion), computer software and hardware ($7.67 billion), telecommunications ($4.44 billion), trading ($4.57 billion), automobile ($2.82 billion), construction ($2 billion), and chemicals ($one billion), the the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) data showed.

India's economy seen slowing rapidly in March quarter, with worse to come

Gross domestic product data out later on Friday is expected to show India’s economy grew at its slowest pace in at least two years in the March quarter as the coronavirus pandemic weakened already declining consumer demand and private investment. The median forecast from a Reuters poll of economists put annual economic growth at 2.1% in the March quarter, lower than 4.7% in the December quarter. Forecasts ranged between +4.5% and -1.5%.

Govt rolls out fiscal incentives for bulk drug makers to reduce dependence on China

The government has made 53 bulk drugs eligible for a production-linked incentive (PLI) worth Rs 6,940 crore, in a move aimed at reducing the country's dependence on Chinese raw materials in pharmaceutical manufacturing. The government expects the scheme to benefit up to 136 manufacturing units, generating incremental sales of Rs 46,400 crore and significant additional employment generation over the next eight years.

Financial incentives will be given to eligible manufacturers of identified critical bulk drugs on their incremental sales over the base year (2019-20) for a period of six years. All 53 critical bulk drugs are based on 41 key starting materials (KSMs) or drug intermediates. Around half of the bulk drugs are manufactured using the fermentation process.

Results on May 29

Voltas, Dilip Buildcon, Equitas Holdings, Jubilant Life Sciences, KEC International, Metropolis Healthcare, RCF, Symphony, 3M India, Andhra Paper, Citadel Realty, Everest Industries, Jagran Prakashan, Lemon Tree Hotels, Majesco, NCC, Procter & Gamble Healthcare, Ponni Sugars (Erode), Shree Rama Newsprint, Sagar Cements, Shipping Corporation of India, Shaily Engineering, Sundaram-Clayton, Sundaram Finance, Trigyn Technologies, V-Mart Retail

FII & DII data

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought shares worth net Rs 2,354.14 crore, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs), too, bought net Rs 144.83 crore worth of shares in the Indian equity market on May 28, as per provisional data available on the NSE.

With inputs from Reuters & other agencies

Moneycontrol Ready Reckoner
Now that payment deadlines have been relaxed due to COVID-19, the Moneycontrol Ready Reckoner will help keep your date with insurance premiums, tax-saving investments and EMIs, among others.
Download a copy