10 things you need to know before the opening bell on February 16

SUMMARY

The Indian market is likely to open flat on Tuesday as the trend on SGX Nifty indicates a subdued start for the broader index in India. The Nifty futures were trading 4.0 points or 0.03 percent lower at the 15,336.00 level on the Singaporean Exchange at 7:15 am.

By CNBCTV18.comFeb 16, 2021 7:41:58 AM IST (Published)

1. Wall Street: The S&P 500 drifted higher on Friday, recovering from early weakness as major stock indexes closed at an all-time high. In the trading on Friday, the S&P 500 gained 18.45 points, or 0.5 percent, to 3934.83, its 10th record close of 2021. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 27.70 points, or 0.1 percent, to 31458.40, its 7th record close of the year. The Nasdaq Composite rallied 69.70 points, or 0.5 percent, to 14095.47, its 12th record close this year.

2. Asian stocks: Stocks in APAC rose in Tuesday morning trade as markets in mainland China remain closed for the Lunar New Year holiday. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 advanced 0.74 percent in early trade while the Topix index gained 0.43 percent. South Korea’s Kospi edged 0.52 percent higher. Stocks in Australia also rose, with the S&P/ASX 200 up 0.46 percent. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.1 percent higher.

3. Dalal Street: Indian shares settled at all-time highs on Monday with banking and financial stocks leading broad-based gains. The sentiment was also lifted as Asian stocks hit record highs as successful coronavirus vaccine rollouts globally boosted hopes of a quick economic recovery amid new fiscal aid from Washington. The Sensex ended 610 points higher to its record close of 52,154 while the Nifty rose 151 points to settle at its closing high of 15,315.

4. Oil: Oil prices soared to their highest in about 13 months on Monday as vaccine rollouts promised to revive demand and producers kept supply reined in. Brent crude was up 93 cents, or 1.5 percent, at $63.36 a barrel by 1523 GMT after hitting a session peak of $63.76, its highest since Jan. 22 last year. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained 86 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $60.33 after touching $60.95, its highest since Jan. 8 last year. Oil prices gained about 5 percent last week.

5. Rupee: The rupee on Monday rose by 7 paise to settle at a nearly one-year high of 72.68 against the US dollar supported by positive macroeconomic data, weak dollar and a rally in domestic equities. The local currency opened higher at 72.61 and rose to a day's high of 72.57 following a rally in stock markets. However, suspected RBI intervention capped its rise and the rupee finally closed at 72.68, showing gains of 7 paise over the previous close.

6. Gold: Gold prices declined marginally by Rs 19 to Rs 46,826 per 10 gram here on Monday in line with weak global cues and rupee appreciation, according to HDFC Securities. In the previous trade, the precious metal had closed at Rs 46,845 per 10 gram. Silver, however, gained Rs 646 to Rs 69,072 per kg from Rs 68,426 per kg in the previous trade.

7. COVID-19 vaccine: The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday listed AstraZeneca and Oxford University's COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, widening access to the relatively inexpensive shot in the developing world. The listing by the UN health agency comes days after a WHO panel provided interim recommendations on the vaccine, saying two doses with an interval of around 8 to 12 weeks must be given to all adults, and can be used in countries with the South African variant of the coronavirus as well.

8. Bitcoin: Bitcoin on Monday hit a new record high, nearing $50,000 after following a rally in global markets as companies and financial institutions increasingly move towards accepting the cryptocurrency. The digital currency stood at $49,716 on Monday, however, it later pared some gains on profit-booking to decline 3 percent to around $46,600.

9. Privatisation: Government has shortlisted four mid-sized state-run banks for privatisation, under a new push to sell state assets and shore up government revenues, three government sources said. The four banks on the shortlist are Bank of Maharashtra, Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank and the Central Bank of India, two officials told Reuters on condition of anonymity as the matter is not yet public.

10. WPI inflation: The Wholesale price-based inflation (WPI) in January rose to 2.03 percent from 1.22 percent a month ago in December, according to the government data released on Monday. This is the highest level of WPI inflation since February 2020 when it was 2.26 percent. Meanwhile, January WPI Core Inflation expanded to 5.2 percent against 4.1 percent last month.