10 things you need to know before the opening bell on August 24

SUMMARY

The Indian equity indices are likely to open higher on Tuesday following upbeat global markets. The trends on SGX Nifty also indicate a strong start for the broader index in India. The Nifty futures were trading 143.40 points or 0.87 percent higher at the 16,574.50 level on the Singaporean Exchange at 7:55 am.

By CNBCTV18.comAug 24, 2021 8:12:36 AM IST (Published)

1. Wall Street: Major US stock indexes closed higher Monday, allowing the S&P 500 to regain the ground it lost last week and bringing it just shy of another record high. The tech-heavy Nasdaq closed at a record high of 1.5 percent. The S&P 500 and DJIA rose 0.9 percent and 0.6 percent respectively.

2. Asian stocks: Shares in Asia-Pacific largely rose in Tuesday morning trade, after the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite jumped to a record closing high. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index surged 1.65 percent in morning trade. The Hang Seng Tech index gained 3.38 percent. Mainland Chinese stocks were higher as the Shanghai composite rose 0.65 percent. The Nikkei 225 in Japan gained 1.15 percent. South Korea’s Kospi jumped 1.55 percent. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 edged 0.29 percent higher. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 1.16 percent higher.

3. Dalal Street: Indian equity benchmarks rebounded Monday, following two days of losses, tracking mild gains in global markets. The S&P BSE Sensex index ended 226.47 points higher at 55,555.79, and the Nifty50 benchmark settled at 16,496.45, up 45.95 points.

4. Oil: Oil prices rose more than 5 percent Monday, as a weaker dollar and strong global equities markets boosted crude futures after seven days of declines. Brent crude climbed 5.6 percent to $68.82 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for October delivery rose 5.8 percent to $65.75.

5. Rupee: The rupee rose by 17 paise to close at nearly two-month high of 74.22 against the US dollar Monday, supported by a firm trend in domestic equities and weak American currency overseas. Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, dipped 0.25 percent to 93.27.

6. Gold: Gold price rose by Rs 404 to Rs 47,158 per 10 gram Monday amid firm global trends and weaker dollar. Silver also gained Rs 1,160 to Rs 61,721 per kilogram. In the international market, gold was trading with gains at USD 1,804 per ounce and silver was marginally up at USD 23.64 per ounce.

7. Bitcoin: Bitcoin's price surged past $50,000 on Monday for the first time since May, but the rebound from a months-long slump later ran out of steam. The world's largest cryptocurrency was last down over a percent at $49,118. It had risen to $50,562 as investors bet that the prospect of more US stimulus spending would lead to further gains, and more mainstream financial services firms made moves in the nascent asset class.

8. National monetisation pipeline: Unveiling the Rs 6 lakh crore National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP), the union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said the government will not sell off any assets and there will be a mandatory hand-back. "The ownership of assets remains with the government. There will be a mandatory hand back. They (private sector partners) will have to give it back after a certain time," Sitharaman said.

9. IT portal glitches: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday conveyed to Infosys CEO Salil Parekh in no uncertain terms the government's "deep disappointment and concern" over the continuing glitches in the new income tax filing portal and set September 15 as the deadline for the software major to resolve all snags.