10 things you need to know before the opening bell on February 11

SUMMARY

Indian markets are expected to open in the green on Tuesday as market participants continue to monitor the developments in China following the coronavirus outbreak. At 7:18 am, the SGX Nifty was trading 37 points or 0.31 percent higher at 12,078.50, hinting at a positive start for the Sensex and Nifty50.

By CNBC-TV18Feb 11, 2020 8:08:38 AM IST (Updated)

1. Asia: Stocks in the Asia Pacific traded higher in Tuesday morning trade as investors continue to weigh the economic impact of the ongoing coronavirus outbreak which has already taken more than 1,000 lives. South Korea’s Kospi gained about 0.7 percent in early trade, with shares of LG Chem surging more than 3.5 percent. The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia traded more than 0.5 percent higher in morning trade as almost all the sectors saw gains. Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index traded 0.17 percent higher. Markets in Japan are closed on Tuesday for a holiday.

2. US: The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed at record highs on Monday as Chinese workers and factories slowly returned to business following a Lunar New Year holiday that was protracted by the deadly coronavirus outbreak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 174.31 points, or 0.6 percent, to 29,276.82, the S&P 500 gained 24.39 points, or 0.73 percent, to 3,352.1 and the Nasdaq Composite added 107.88 points, or 1.13 percent, to 9,628.39.

3. Market At Closing On Monday: Indian markets ended lower on Monday, dragged by metal stocks, as the rising death toll in China raised alarm bells about the severity of the coronavirus outbreak and its economic impact. The BSE Sensex ended 162 points lower at 40,980, while the Nifty50 index settled 67 points lower at 12,031. Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors sold Rs 185 crore in the cash market while the domestic institutional investors sold Rs 736 crore.

4. Crude Oil: Oil prices fell to their lowest level since January 2019 on Monday on weaker Chinese demand in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak and as traders waited to see if Russia would join other producers in seeking further output cuts. Brent crude slipped $1.14, or 2 percent, to $53.33 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate fell 75 cents, or 1.5 percent, to settle at $49.57 per barrel, its lowest settle since January 7, 2019.

5. Rupee Close: The rupee on Monday rose by 10 paise to close at 71.30 against the US dollar amid easing crude oil prices and weakening of the American currency in the overseas market. Forex traders said while the weak dollar and easing crude oil prices supported the rupee, heavy selling in domestic equities weighed on the local unit and restricted the upmove. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local currency opened on a positive note at 71.36. During the day, it saw a high of 71.28 and a low of 71.43. The Indian currency settled higher by 10 paise at 71.30 against its previous close of 71.40 on Friday.

6. FM On Direct Tax Dispute: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday met industry representatives on the proposed direct tax dispute resolution scheme that provides an opportunity for taxpayers to pay outstanding taxes and get a waiver of interest and penalty. Once passed by Parliament, the scheme would be notified and rules would be framed. "During the meeting, industry associations gave their suggestions for the scheme," a source said. Under the proposed scheme, taxpayers willing to settle disputes shall be allowed a complete waiver of interest and penalty if they pay the entire amount of tax in dispute up to March 31, 2020, after which 10 percent additional disputed tax shall have to be paid over and above the tax liability.

7. Government On GST Rejig: The Centre has informally proposed to the goods and services tax council that rationalisation of rates be done once in a year and not every three months, as the present system was bringing in a certain level of uncertainty for both the government and the business, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in Kolkata on Sunday. "In GST, when you have come to certain level or grade, periodically changing it leads to inversion problems, refund issues, and so on. So, therefore, when one item's rate of taxation is brought down, a lot of other ripple effect is created, and with that, either the refund gets affected, or businesses rightly feel they cannot plan how much they have to keep aside for taxation in a whole year," Sitharaman told a media meet. (Stock Image)

8. RBI Eases CRR Rule: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday announced detailed rules for exempting incremental car, home and MSME loans from maintaining cash reserve ratio (CRR). The RBI said CRR will not have to be maintained for five years or for the tenure of the loan, depending upon which-ever is less. This will essentially mean a lower cost for banks and will help improve liquidity, CNBC-TV18’s Latha Venkatesh reports. RBI had announced during the monetary policy committee meeting that car, home and MSME loans will be deducted from the total amount of deposits while calculating CRR. Now, the actual rules have come.

9. NCLAT On Realty Projects: In a relief to realty players, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has held that any insolvency process initiated by a flat buyer or financial institution would be limited to the project concerned only and not impact other projects of developers. An NCLAT bench headed by chairman Justice SJ Mukhopadhaya said that the entire insolvency process initiated over the plea of either a flat buyer or bank or any other financial institution would be limited to the project only. Besides, the appellate tribunal has also suggested that there should also be a reverse corporate insolvency process in such cases.

10. Mutual Funds Asset Base Hits All-Time High: The mutual fund industry saw its asset base rise to an all-time high of Rs 27.85 lakh crore at the end of January, on the back of inflows in equity and debt-oriented schemes including liquid funds. The 44-player industry logged an assets under management (AUM) of Rs 26.54 lakh crore at the end of December, compared with Rs 27.85 lakh crore by January-end. At the end of January 2019, the asset base of the mutual fund industry had stood at Rs 23.37 lakh crore. Mutual fund houses witnessed an overall inflow of Rs 1.2 lakh crore last month as compared to an outflow of Rs 61,810 crore in December 2019. (Stock Image)