10 things you need to know before the opening bell on February 1

SUMMARY

The Indian market is likely to open higher on Monday ahead of the Union Budget 2021-2022 to be presented in the Parliament today. The trend on SGX Nifty indicates a positive start for the broader index in India. The Nifty futures were trading 31.50 points or 0.23 percent higher at the 13,752.50 level on the Singaporean Exchange at 7:45 am.

By CNBCTV18.comFeb 1, 2021 8:05:37 AM IST (Updated)

1. Wall Street: US stock indexes fell on Friday after COVID-19 vaccine data from Johnson & Johnson hurt sentiment, while a standoff between Wall Street hedge funds and small, retail investors weighed. All the three main indexes tracked their biggest weekly fall since the end of October. At 12:00 p.m. ET on Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 404.60 points, or 1.32 percent, at 30,198.76, the S&P 500 was down 47.75 points, or 1.26 percent, at 3,739.63, and the Nasdaq Composite was down 139.68 points, or 1.05 percent, at 13,197.48.

2. Asian Shares: Asian shares wavered on Monday amid worries that problems with vaccine rollouts combined with new strains of COVID-19 will delay a global economic recovery that has already been baked into the market's rich valuations. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.4 percent, following four straight sessions of losses. Japan's Nikkei bounced 0.4 percent, after shedding almost 2 percent on Friday.

3. Indian Shares: Indian benchmark equity indices, Sensex and Nifty, ended Friday's volatile session more than 1 percent lower dragged by heavy selling in IT and auto stocks. The Sensex plunged 588.59 points, or 1.26 percent to 46,285.77, while the Nifty settled at 13,634.60, lower by 182.95 points, or 1.32 percent. Among sectors, metal, pharma and FMCG also reeled under pressure, while banking and realty index ended in the green.

4. Rupee: The rupee gained 9 paise to settle at 72.96 against the US dollar on Friday even as the domestic equity markets closed with significant losses. At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened at 73.01, and hit an intraday high of 72.93 and a low of 73.01. It finally finished at 72.96, higher by 9 paise over its last close.

5. Oil: Oil prices edged up on Friday but traded in a tight range as demand concerns caused by new coronavirus variants and slow vaccine rollouts offset a cut in Saudi Arabian oil supply and falling U.S. oil inventories. Brent crude futures for March rose 60 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $56.13 a barrel by 1455 GMT. The Brent March contract expires on Friday. The more active April contract was up 69 cents, or 1.2 percent, at $55.79. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 70 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $53.04.

6. Gold: Gold gained Rs 132 to Rs 48,376 per 10 gram in the national capital on Friday, according to HDFC Securities. In the previous trade, the precious metal had closed at Rs 48,244 per 10 gram. In the international market, gold was trading in the green at USD 1,844.35 per ounce and silver was flat at USD 26.35 per ounce.

7. Union Budget 2021: In a few hours from now, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman will table the Union Budget 2021 in the Parliament. The government is expected to provide more support for investment and spending, as economic growth remains among its highest priorities.

8. Economic Survey 2021: The Economic Survey 2020-21, tabled in the Parliament by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday, has forecast India's FY22 real GDP growth at 11 percent. The nominal GDP growth is estimated at 15.4 percent. Among the key figures in the Survey are gross domestic product (GDP) growth projections for 2021-22 and estimates for the current year (2020-21) as these reflect the pace at which the government expects the economy to show a firm recovery. The Survey outlines a roadmap for the rival of the Indian economy.

9. US Stimulus:On stimulus, President Biden announced that he would seek to avoid the passage of his $1.9 trillion stimulus plan via piecemeal legislation. Nonetheless, Democrats in both the Senate & House are preparing budget resolutions next week as a pre-requisite to passing stimulus via the reconciliation process.

10. GST Revenue: The gross GST revenue collected in January 2021 reached a record level of Rs 1,19,847 crore. Out of the total GST collection, CGST was Rs 21,923 crore, SGST was Rs 29,014 crore, IGST was Rs 60,288 crore (including Rs 27,424 crore collected on import of goods) and cess was Rs 8,622 crore (including Rs 883 crore collected on import of goods).