SGX Nifty up 60 points; here's what changed for market while you were sleeping

Domestic equity markets are set to open higher on Thursday, tracking the upside in global peers. US stocks saw a sharp rally in overnight trade over upbeat economic data, while Asian peers followed. Back home, traders await the RBI's rate hike decision. 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 62 points, or 0.36 per cent, higher at 17,501.5, signaling that Dalal Street was headed for a positive start on Thursday.

• Tech View: A late rebound on Wednesday helped Nifty50 take its winning run to the sixth trading session. The index ended up forming a bullish candle with a long lower-wick, suggesting the bulls are not ready to give in as yet.
• India VIX: The fear gauge dropped less than a per cent to 18.45 level on Wednesday over its close at 18.53 on Tuesday.

Asian stocks open higher
Asian stocks rose Thursday morning as traders tracked a rally on Wall Street fuelled by a drop in oil prices and better-than-expected US economic data. MSCI's index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up by 0.76 per cent.

• Japan's Nikkei advanced 0.61%
• Australia's ASX 200 gained 0.19%
• New Zealand's DJ surged 0.58%
• South Korea's Kospi jumped 0.49%
• China's Shanghai advanced 0.53%
• Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 2.06%

Wall Street rally on economic data
US stocks jumped to a sharply higher close and Treasury yields touched two-week highs on Wednesday as robust economic data, upbeat corporate guidance and easing geopolitical concerns boosted investor risk appetite.

• Dow Jones rallied 1.29% to 32,812.50
• S&P 500 advanced 1.56% to 4,155.17
• Nasdaq jumped 2.59% to 12,668.16

Dollar continues to climb
The dollar was on the front foot on Thursday, helped by several U.S. Federal Reserve officials pushing back against suggestions they will slow the pace of interest rate hikes, while the pound was flat ahead of a Bank of England meeting.

• Dollar index pinned at 106.39
• Euro traded flat at $1.01635
• Pound little changed to $1.2158
• Yen was struggled at 133.54 per dollar
• Yuan exchanged hands at 6.7493 against the greenback

Oil prices rebound
Oil prices rose in early Asian trade on Thursday, bouncing off multi-month lows in the previous session caused by data signalling weak US fuel demand.

Brent crude futures rose 53 cents, or 0.6 per cent, at $97.31 a barrel by 0020 GMT while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 55 cents, also a 0.6 per cent gain, to $91.21.

FIIs buy shares worth Rs 765 cr
Net-net, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) turned buyers of domestic stocks to the tune of Rs 765.17crore, data available with NSE suggested. However, DIIs turned net sellers to the tune of Rs 518.42 crore, data suggests.

Q1 results today
Adani Total Gas, Adani Enterprises, Dabur India, Britannia Industries, Berger Paints, GAIL (India), Balkrishna Industries, Abbott India, Container Corporation of India, Dalmia Bharat, REC, Bayer Cropscience, LIC Housing and BHEL are among the companies that will announce their earnings for the quarter ended June 2022.

Stocks in F&O ban today
Only one stock- Escorts Kubota- is under the F&O ban for Thursday, August 4. 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 slumped by 62 paise to close at 79.15 against the US dollar on Wednesday, marking its worst single-day fall in the current fiscal as widening trade deficit and US-China tensions dented the investor sentiment.

10-year bonds: India 10-year bond jumped about 0.66 per cent to 7.24 after trading in 7.22 - 7.25 range on Wednesday.

Call rates: The overnight call money rate weighted average stood at 4.66 per cent on Tuesday, according to RBI data. It moved in a range of 3.25-4.85 per cent.