SGX Nifty falls 315 points; here's what changed for markets while you were sleeping

The domestic equity market was headed for another gap-down start on Thursday, tracking pessimistic global cues. Asian peers dropped sharply lower in early hours, whereas US stocks closed in deep red overnight. Rising inflationary concerns and fear of global economic slowdown is hurting the market sentiments. Here's breaking down the pre-market actions:

STATE OF THE MARKETS

SGX Nifty signals negative start
Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange traded 317.5 points, or 1.96 per cent, lower at 15,918, signaling that Dalal Street was headed for a negative start on Thursday.

• Tech View: Nifty50 on Wednesday failed to capitalise on a firm start, as it ended up forming a small bearish candle on the daily chart, with a long upper wick, reflecting selling pressure near the 16,400 level. But analysts are unfazed and see no major impact on the positive momentum post Tuesday's big bullish candle.
• India VIX: The fear gauge dropped close to 2 per cent to 22.30 level on Wednesday over its close at 22.74 on Tuesday.

Asian shares trade in deep red
Asian stocks tracked a steep Wall Street selloff on Thursday, as investors fretted over rising global inflation, China's zero-COVID policy and the Ukraine war, while the safe-haven dollar held most of its strong overnight gains. MSCI's index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down by 2.14 per cent.

• Japan's Nikkei tanked 2.54%
• Australia's ASX 200 plunged 1.50%
• South Korea's Kospi retreated 1.54%
• New Zealand's DJ dropped 1.22%
• China's Shanghai shed 0.85%
• Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 3.30%

US stocks end sharply lower
Wall Street ended sharply lower on Wednesday, with Target losing around a quarter of its stock market value and highlighting worries about the U.S. economy after the retailer became the latest victim of surging prices.

• Dow Jones plunged 3.57% to 31,490.07
• S&P 500 plummeted 4.04% to 3,923.68
• Nasdaq tumbled 4.73% to 11,418.15

Oil prices trade mixed
Oil futures were mixed on Thursday morning. US crude dipped 0.2 per cent to $109.38 a barrel. Brent crude rose 0.26 per cent to $109.4 per barrel.

FIIs sell shares worth Rs 1,255 cr
Net-net, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) turned sellers of domestic stocks to the tune of Rs 1,254.64 crore, data available with NSE suggested. DIIs turned net buyers to the tune of Rs 375.61 crore, data suggests.

Q4 earnings today
Godrej Consumer Products, Dr Reddy's Labs, Gland Pharma, Bosch, Container Corporation of India, Ashok Leyland, Hindustan Petroleum, General Insurance Corporation of India, Endurance Technologies, Chambal Fertilizers & Chemicals and UCO Bank are among the companies which will announce their earnings today.

Stocks in F&O ban today
Four stocks - GNFC, Indiabulls Housing Finance, Punjab National Bank and Delta Corp - are under the F&O ban for Thursday, May 19. Securities in the ban period under the F&O segment include companies in which the security has crossed 95 per cent of the market-wide position limit.

MONEY MARKETS
Rupee: The rupee declined by 1?7 paise to close at its fresh lifetime low of 77.6?1 against the US dollar on Wednesday amid unabated foreign fund outflows and concerns over aggressive rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve to tame inflation.

10-year bonds: India 10-year bond dropped 0.15 per cent to 7.35 after trading in 7.34 - 7.38 range on Wednesday.

Call rates: The overnight call money rate weighted average stood at 4.05 per cent on Wednesday, according to RBI data. It moved in a range of 2.30-4.30 per cent.