The Indian equity benchmarks are expected to open flat today, as trends in SGX Nifty indicate a muted start for the broader index with a gain of 5 points.
The BSE Sensex declined 40 points to 57,614, while the Nifty50 settled the session yesterday with 34 points loss at 16,952 after trading largely in a range of about 60 points for major part of the session and taking support at 16,900 and facing resistance at 17,100 levels.
The pivot charts indicated that the Nifty may get support at 16,919, followed by 16,884 and 16,828, whereas if the index advances, 17,032 is the initial key resistance levels to watch out for, followed by 17,067 and 17,124.
Stay tuned to Moneycontrol to find out what happens in the 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
US stocks ended slightly lower on Tuesday as investors weighed comments from a top US regulator on struggling banks and sold shares of technology-related names after their recent strong run.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 37.83 points, or 0.12 percent, to 32,394.25, the S&P 500 lost 6.26 points, or 0.16 percent, to 3,971.27 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 52.76 points, or 0.45 percent, to 11,716.08.
Asian Markets
Asian indices were trading positive in the early trade on Wednesday with Japan's Nikkei and Taiwan Weighted up 0.5 percent each, while Kopsi up with marginal gains.
SGX Nifty
Trends in the SGX Nifty indicate a flat start for the broader index in India with a gain of 5.50 points. The Nifty futures were trading around 16,996 levels on the Singaporean exchange.
Vedanta announces fifth interim dividend of Rs 20.50 per share
The Vedanta board on March 28 announced the payment of the fifth interim dividend for this year. The board of billionaire Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta Ltd, after holding a meeting earlier in the evening, said the company will pay Rs 20.50 per equity share dividend, amounting to a total of Rs 7,621 crore.
It said in an exchange filing that the Board has approved the fifth interim dividend of Rs 20.50 per equity share, which is 2,050 percent on the face value of Re 1 per share for 2022‐23, amounting to Rs 7,621 crore.
“The record date for the purpose of payment of the dividend is Friday, April 07, 2023,” it said.
NPCI recommends additional charges for merchant transactions via UPI
A recent circular issued by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has suggested that Prepaid Payment Instrument (PPI) charges be applied from April 1 for merchant transactions made using the Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
NPCI, UPI's governing body, will review the stated pricing on or before September 30.
According to the NPCI circular, using PPIs on UPI will attract interchange at 1.1 percent of the transaction value for transactions worth over Rs 2,000.
US consumer confidence ticks up in March
Consumer confidence inched up in March after two straight monthly declines, even as persistent inflation, bank collapses and anxiety over a possible recession weighed on American households.
The Conference Board reported Tuesday that its consumer confidence index rose to 104.2 in March from 103.4 in February. Optimism about current conditions fell, though consumers grew slightly more positive about the short-term future. That's a reversal from recent surveys.
The board said that despite the uptick in confidence, the index remains below 2022's average level of 104.5.
Oil
Crude oil prices edged up on Tuesday, extending sharp gains from the previous session on supply disruption risks from Iraqi Kurdistan and hopes that banking sector turmoil is contained.
Brent crude futures settled at $78.65 a barrel, up 53 cents, or 0.7 percent. West Texas Intermediate US crude settled at $73.20 a barrel, gaining 39 cents, or 0.5 percent.
Dollar
he US dollar fell against a basket of currencies for a second straight day on Tuesday as easing worries about a banking crisis revived investors' appetite for riskier currencies.
Investors took solace from First Citizens BancShares' agreement to buy all of failed lender Silicon Valley Bank's deposits and loans, and the fact that no further cracks have emerged in global banking in recent sessions.
The dollar index, which measures the currency against six rivals, was 0.31% lower on the day at 102.43, inching closer to the near seven-week low of 101.91 touched on Thursday.
Gold
Gold prices rose on Tuesday, drawing support from a weaker US dollar even as higher bond yields and receding fears of a full-blown banking crisis limited gains for the safe haven asset.
Following two sessions of declines, spot gold gained 0.3 percent to $1,961.70 per ounce by 10:25 a.m. EDT (14:25 GMT). US gold futures rose 0.5 percent to $1,963.70.
FII and DII
Foreign institutional investors (FII) bought shares worth Rs 1,531.13 crore, whereas domestic institutional investors (DII) sold shares worth Rs 156.11 crore on March 28, National Stock Exchange’s provisional data showed.
With inputs from Reuters and other agencies