10 things you need to know before the opening bell on May 14

SUMMARY

The Indian equity market is expected to open slightly higher on Thursday after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman released first tranche of relief package for the MSMEs, NBFCs, real estate, EPF and few others. On the other hand, global markets traded on a mixed note after U.S. Federal Reserve chairman warned that economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic would take many months. At 7:25 am, the SGX Nifty traded 40 points or 0.43 percent higher at 9,250, indicating a positive start for the Sensex and Nifty50.

By CNBCTV18.comMay 14, 2020 8:07:07 AM IST (Published)

1. Asia: Stocks in Asia traded lower on Thursday morning following an overnight drop for stocks stateside. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 dipped 0.6 percent in early trade while the Topix index also shed 0.61percent. South Korea’s Kospi also declined 0.9 percent. Shares in Australia were also lower, with the S&P/ASX 200 down 0.7 percent. Overall, the MSCI Asia-ex Japan index traded 0.37 percent lower.

2. US: U.S. stock futures roseon Wednesday night after concerns over the U.S. economy and the market’s overall valuation sparked another sell-off in equities earlier in the day.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures traded 61 points higher, or 0.3 percent. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures gained 0.2 percent each. The Dow and S&P 500 fell 2.2 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively, during regular trading hours while the Nasdaq Composite lost 1.6 percent. Those declines followed a stark warning from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

3. Market At Close On Wednesday: Indian indices surged over 2 percent on Wednesday after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a Rs 20 lakh crore economic stimulus to fight the economic impact of coronavirus-led lockdown. The Sensex settled 637 points higher at 32,008, while the Nifty rose 187 points to 9,383. Both Nifty Midcap and Nifty Smallcap indices also rose around 2.5 percent each for the day.

4. Crude Oil: Oil prices fell more than 1% on Wednesday despite the first decline in U.S. crude inventories since January, as markets were affected by a solemn address from U.S. Federal Reserve chairman warning that economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic would take many months. Brent crude fell 79 cents, or 2.6 percent, to settle at $29.19 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude shed 49 cents, or 1.9 percent, to settle at $25.29 per barrel.

5. Rupee Close: The rupee appreciated by 5 paise to 75.46 against the US dollar on Wednesday as a fiscal stimulus by the government bolstered investor sentiment. Forex traders said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Rs 20 lakh crore economic stimulus package enthused investors. However, risk sentiments are negative and investor sentiments remain fragile over coronavirus concerns, they added. At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened on a strong note at 75.31 but lost most of its gains in day trade.

6. Finance Minister Announces 15 Schemes Of Economic Package: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday unveiled the first tranche of the mega economic stimulus package aimed at uplifting the economy. In a big push to revive the economy, the FM announced 15 schemes for MSMEs, HFCs, NBFCs, MFI, Discoms, RERA and on EPF.

7. Government Extends Deadline For Filing ITR: In a major initiative, the government has extended the due date for filing belated income tax returns (ITRs) for the year 2019-2020 from July 31, 2020 and October 31, 2020 to November 30, 2020. According to the Income Tax (I-T) department, an assessee who does not submit a return of income within the deadline (which was March 30, 2019 for FY20) is allowed to file a belated return at a later time with certain penalty charges. Also, one can revise ITR in case a mistake has been made in the original one. (Representational Image)

8. Startups Look To Register As MSMEs: Startups are looking at registering themselves as MSMEs to avail the relief measures announced for the sector by the Finance Minister on Wednesday. The push, in some cases, is coming from their investors. The government announced several measures for MSMEs, including Rs 3 lakh crores of collateral free loans , Rs 20,000 crore of subordinated debt for stressed MSMEs and moreover, a fund of funds for MSMEs with a corpus of Rs 10,000 crore. The change in the definition of MSMEs announced on Wednesday could also help many startups become eligible to register as MSMEs. (Representational Image)

9. Labour Crisis May Deepen: The property market will have to make peace with the COVID-induced labour shortage prevalent across the country and look to work around it, say real estate developers. One of the methods at play is the mass re-skilling of existing construction labour, according to Niranjan Hiranandani, President, NAREDCO. “Barring a minuscule percentage, construction labour may not turn to project sites -- thanks to a fear factor,” said Hiranandani. “This opens up an opportunity to re-skill and train existing labour, which will help reduce dependency on existing labour," he added.

10. Former CEA Kaushik Basu On India Exiting Lockdown: India took the right call by announcing a prompt lockdown in March in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, but a lot will depend on how the country makes an exit from it as the landscape of the global economy will change by then, former chief economic advisor Kaushik Basu said on Wednesday. The basic issues at present are the concerns about the food chain, jobs and migrant workers, which have to be resolved immediately, he said. Extending tax benefits might not be enough as the poor need direct support, he added.