10 things to know before opening bell on October 25

SUMMARY

Indian equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty50 are likely to make a muted start on Monday. Nifty futures trading on Singapore Exchange -- an early indicator of NSE's Nifty50 index in India -- were last seen trading up one point at18,145.5 ahead of the opening on Dalal Street.

By CNBCTV18.comOct 25, 2021 8:46:38 AM IST (Published)

1. Wall Street: The US market ended a volatile session on a mixed note on Friday, after comments on stimulus tapering from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell spooked markets trading at record levels. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indices declined 0.1 percent and 0.8 percent respectively, whereas the Dow Jones rose 0.2 percent.

2. Asian equities: Asian shares started largely lower on Monday ahead of a week packed with major quarterly earnings announcements. The dollar hovered near October lows after three weeks of risk-friendly sentiment hurt safe-haven currencies. MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan was last seen trading 0.2 percent lower. Japan's Nikkei 225 index was down one percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng down 0.3 percent and China's Shanghai Composite down 0.1 percent. Singapore's Straits Times was flat and South Korea's KOSPI index was up 0.1 percent.

3. D-Street: Indian equity benchmarks extended losses to the fourth session in a row on Friday, dragged by auto, metal, IT and pharma shares. However, strength in the banking pack limited the downside. Broader indices tumbled around one percent each, hurting investors' sentiment.

4. Crude oil: Oil prices rose, extending pre-weekend gains, with US crude hitting a seven-year high as global supply remained tight amid strong demand worldwide as economies recover from coronavirus pandemic-induced slumps. Brent crude futures were last seen trading up 0.3 percent at $85.79 per barrel. US WTI futures were up 0.6 percent at $84.24 per barrel.

5. Gold: Gold prices held steady on Monday after cutting gains in the prior session on Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s comment that inflation could ease next year and the central bank was on track to start tapering its stimulus. Spot gold was little changed at $1,793 per ounce. US gold futures fell 0.1 percent to $1,793.7 per ounce. Spot silver was flat at $24.3 per ounce.

6. Rupee: The rupee declined by three paise to settle at 74.90 against the dollar on Friday, weighed down by a muted trend in domestic equities and firm crude oil prices. The rupee moved between 74.69 and 74.94 against the greenback during the session.

7. Dollar: The dollar steadied on Monday after its steepest weekly loss in more than a month, as traders weigh the effect of inflation on the relative pace of looming rate hikes - with a wary eye on US growth data and a European Central Bank meeting. The greenback was firm at $1.1643 per euro and found a footing on the yen at 113.54 after Friday's slide. The Australian and New Zealand dollars were held below the multi-month peaks they had scaled during last week.

8. Cryptocurrency: Bitcoin was last seen trading up 1.4 percent at $62,095.9 on Monday. Last week, the cryptocurrency surpassed $64,895 to a new record high of $66,975 following the launch of an exchange traded fund (ETF) in the US which has dramatically increased its exposure to investors. The fund, which opened on October 19, allows investors to speculate on the future value of Bitcoin without actually owning it.

9. Earnings: Coforge reported an 18.7 percent sequential rise in net profit to Rs 146.7 crore for Q2, over a 7.4 percent increase in revenue to Rs 1,569.4 crore, missing Street estimates. Tech Mahindra, CEAT and Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC are among the companies scheduled to post their quarterly numbers later in the day.

10. Evergrande shares: China Evergrande Group shares shot up four percent on Monday after the embattled property developer announced plans to prioritise growth of its electric vehicles business over its core real estate operations. Reeling under more than $300 billion in liabilities, Evergrande last week appeared to avert a costly default with a last-minute bond coupon payment, buying it another week to wrestle with a looming debt crisis. The developer separately said on Sunday it had resumed work on more than 10 projects in six cities including Shenzhen. Many of its projects across the country had been halted due to payments owed to suppliers and contractors.