SGX Nifty down 35 points; here's what changed for market while you were sleeping

Nifty crossed the 18,000 mark for the first time since late February on the last day of trading in April. Analysts say domestic equities have been continuously gaining strength for the last five trading days supported by healthy Q4 earnings, declining VIX and FIIs turning positive.

"Nifty showed resilience despite global headwinds, gaining over 4% in April - the best in 5 months and managing to close above the crucial 18,000 mark. We expect this momentum to continue and expect Nifty to head towards 18,200 zones," said Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial.

The current week would be crucial as US Fed and ECB policy meetings are lined up. Apart from this, PMI data from US, China and India would also be keenly watched. Investors would continue to track Q4 results along with global cues and auto monthly sales data.

Here's breaking down the pre-market actions:

STATE OF THE MARKETS

SGX Nifty 50 signals a negative start
Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange traded at 18,238.50, down 34.50 points or 0.19% around 7.40 am, signalling a negative start for Dalal Street on Tuesday.

• Tech View: The Nifty 50 continues to witness time correction as the benchmark index remained mostly range bound before closing flat. After correcting from the recent high of 17863, Nifty has been consolidating around the 200-day moving average for the last three days. A fall below 200 DMA, currently pegged at 17605, might trigger a panic button. Below 17600, the Nifty may slip towards 17400. On the higher end, a resistance is placed at 17700, above which, the index may move towards 18000.

• India VIX: India VIX, which is a measure of the fear in the markets, fell 2.6% to settle at 11.63 levels.

Asia stocks rise; eyes on Fed
Asian stocks rose as trading resumed in most of the region’s markets following a holiday on Monday. Investors are weighing JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s purchase of First Republic Bank along with expectations the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates once again this week. MSCI Inc.’s Asia Pacific Index climbed 0.3%, supported by shares in Hong Kong that gained at the open.

• Japan’s Topix index rose 0.2%
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 1.1%
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.1%

Wall St ends lower after First Republic takeover
Wall Street stocks ended lower on Monday as markets digested the takeover of the embattled First Republic Bank, while awaiting a key Federal Reserve policy decision this week. US financial authorities announced the seizure of First Republic on Monday and that it had been sold to JPMorgan Chase, making it the second biggest bank by assets to collapse in US history.

• Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.1%
• Nasdaq Composite Index shed 0.1%
• S&P 500 dipped less than 0.1%

Dollar climbs to 2-week high
The dollar rose to an almost two-week high against a basket of currencies on Monday before the Federal Reserve is expected to hike interest rates by an additional 25 basis points and after data showed that U.S. manufacturing pulled off a three-year low in April.

The dollar index was last up 0.41% on the day at 102.13 after reaching 102.19, the highest since April 19. The euro fell 0.43% to $1.0970. The single currency is holding just below a one-year high of $1.1096 reached last Wednesday.

Oil falls as economic fears weigh
Oil prices fell in thin early Asian trade on Tuesday as the market digests weak economic data from China and expectations of another U.S. interest rate hike.

Brent crude fell by 2 cents to $79.29 a barrel by 0021 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 2 cents to $75.64. Both benchmarks fell by more than $1 last session.

Stocks in F&O ban today
No stocks are under F&O ban today. Securities in the ban period under the F&O segment include companies in which the security has crossed 95% of the market-wide position limit.

FII/DII action
Foreign portfolio investors remained net buyers for the third straight day at Rs 3,304 crore on Friday. DIIs too bought shares worth Rs 264 crore.

Rupee
The rupee pared all its initial gains to settle lower by 3 paise at 81.82 against the US currency on Friday amid a strong greenback overseas.

Corporate results
Tata Steel, Adani Total Gas, Varun Beverages, Ambuja Cements and a slew of other companies will announce their quarterly results today.

Macro News
Manufacturing activities in India accelerated further and touched a four-month high in April, boosted by robust new business growth, mild price pressures, better international sales, and improving supply-chain conditions. The seasonally adjusted Manufacturing PMI increased from 56.4 in March to 57.2 in April.

Meanwhile, in other news, GST collections for the month of April 2023 stood at Rs 1.87 lakh crore, the highest ever.