SGX Nifty up 120 points; here's what changed for market while you were sleeping

Ahead of the D-day, equity benchmarks ended Tuesday with marginal gains as investors adopted a cautious approach ahead of the Union Budget presentation and the US Federal Reserve's interest rate decision. According to experts, the market has a mixed view on both the events.

Widespread positions in options suggests a broader trading range between 17200 to 18200 zones for Nifty 50, while an immediate trading range is 17450 to 17850 zones.

Here's breaking down the pre-market actions:

STATE OF THE MARKETS

SGX Nifty signals a positive start
Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange traded 118 points, or 0.66 per cent, higher at 17,870, signaling that Dalal Street was headed for a positive start on Wednesday.

• Tech View: Nifty has reversed from the support zone and managed to close above its 200 EMA placed at 17,550 levels. A relief rally can be expected up to 17,900 levels from where selling pressure may be witnessed again until 18050 - 18100 takes out on a closing basis. On the lower side, immediate support is seen at 17,550 and below that at 17,400 levels.
• India VIX: The index which is a measure of the market sentiment, moved down by 4.7% from 17.71 to 16.87 levels on Tuesday.

US stocks rise
Major U.S. stock indexes closed over 1% higher on Tuesday as labor cost data encouraged investors about the Federal Reserve's aggressive approach to taming inflation a day ahead of the central bank's critical policy decision.
Dow up 1.09%,
S&P 500 rises 1.46%,
Nasdaq gains 1.67%

Asian shares advance
Stocks in Asia advanced after US shares ended January on a high note as signs of cooling inflation encouraged risk appetite ahead of the Federal Reserve’s Wednesday meeting. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.6% in early trade, following a 1.2% drop on Tuesday, while Japan's Nikkei rose 0.7%.

• S&P 500 futures fell 0.4% as of 10:01 a.m. Tokyo time. The S&P 500 rose 1.5%
• Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.5%. The Nasdaq 100 rose 1.6%
• Hang Seng futures rose 0.1%
• Japan’s Topix rose 0.4%
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.5%
• Euro Stoxx 50 futures rose 0.2%

Oil climbs
Oil prices climbed on Wednesday underpinned by a weaker dollar, which fell on signs of slowing inflation in the United States, easing fears that the world's largest oil user may face a recession because of further interest rate hikes.

Brent crude futures gained 20 cents, or 0.2%, to $85.66 a barrel at 0128 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 34 cents, or 0.4%, to $79.21 a barrel, extending gains of about 1% in the previous session.


Dollar pauses
The dollar was broadly flat against major currencies on Wednesday after easing in the previous session following U.S. data that showed moderating wage pressure, with investors keenly awaiting the conclusion of a Federal Reserve policy meeting

FII/DII action
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) on Tuesday net sold Indian shares worth a whopping Rs 5,439 crore, provisional data showed. DIIs on the other hand, net bought shares to the tune of Rs 4,506 crore.

Stocks in F&O ban today
Ambuja Cements. 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.

Rupee
The rupee depreciated by 41 paise to close at 81.93 against the US dollar on Tuesday.

Earnings
Britannia, Siemens, Ashok Leyland, Jubilant Foodworks, Tata Chemicals, Ajanta Pharma are among a host of companies that will announce their third quarter earnings on Wednesday.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget FY24 on Wednesday and it would be the last full-year budget before the big general elections in 2024. The Budget is likely to put heavy emphasis on infrastructure and capex spending. The impact of the Budget on the market has reduced over the past few years, with the government undertaking most of the reforms outside the purview of the Budget, but market participants will keep a close eye on how critical aspects of the document affects various sectors.

Fed meeting
The US Federal Reserve will set interest rates on Wednesday and markets will likely react to the pace of hikes in the rates. The Fed is expected to raise interest rates by 25 basis points (bps), its smallest increase since March 2022, to a range of 4.5% to 4.75%. Outlook on rate trajectory for 2023 will be closely tracked by the market.