10 things you need to know before the opening bell on November 2

SUMMARY

The Indian stock market is expected to open sharply higher on Monday as the SGX Nifty was trading 86 points higher at 11,679.20, at 7:35 am, indicating a positive opening for the Sensex and the Nifty50.

By CNBCTV18.comNov 2, 2020 8:24:11 AM IST (Published)

1. Asia: Stocks in Asia-Pacific rose in Monday morning trade, as data showed China’s manufacturing activity grew in October. Shares in Japan led gains among the region’s major markets: The Nikkei 225 gained 1.56 percent while the Topix index jumped 2.12 percent. South Korea’s Kospi added 1.19 percent. Mainland Chinese stocks were also higher, with the Shanghai composite up around 0.3 percent while the Shenzhen component gained 1.12 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index edged 0.9 percent higher. Meanwhile, shares in Australia advanced, with the S&P/ASX 200 last trading 0.46 percent higher. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.4 percent higher, reported CNBC International.

2. US: Stock futures fell slightly in overnight trading on Sunday amid concern rising coronavirus cases could slow the global economy. The move came as England adopted a stay-at-home order and as traders braced for Tuesday’s U.S. presidential election, where a contested fight for president or the Senate could delay a much-needed fiscal stimulus for the U.S. economy. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down by 40 points. S&P 500 futures dipped 0.1 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures traded 0.2 percent lower, reported CNBC International.

3. Closing Bell On Friday: Indian shares ended lower on Friday dragged by losses in banks, FMCG and auto sectors. The sentiment was further weighed by a decline in world stocks as jitters over a rising global COVID-19 infection rate and next week’s U.S. presidential election. The Sensex ended 136 points lower at 39,614 while the Nifty 28 points to settle at 11,642. Both indices ended around 2.5 percent lower for the week. Meanwhile, broader markets were mixed during the day. The Nifty Midcap index rose 0.5 percent while the Smallcap index fell 0.5 percent.

4. Crude Oil: Oil prices fell more than 1 percent on Friday, extending losses and on track for a second monthly fall, on growing concerns that the rise in COVID-19 cases in Europe and the United States could hurt fuel consumption. Brent crude slipped for a third day and settled 19 cents, or 0.5 percent, lower at $37.46 per barrel, after touching a five-month low in the previous session. December Brent contract expires on Friday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude settled 38 cents, or 1.1 percent, lower at a five month low of $35.79 per barrel, reported CNBC International.

5. Rupee Close: The rupee closed at 74.10 amid weak domestic equity markets and a firm greenback.

6. GST Collections in October: The finance ministry has said that the last months GST collection stood at over Rs 1.05 lakh crore making it the first time since February that the GST collection in the country crossed the Rs one lakh crore mark. The gross GST revenue collected in the month of October stood at Rs 1,05,155 crore. This includes Rs 19,193 crore of CGST, Rs 5,411 crore of SGST, Rs 52,540 crore of IGST (including Rs 23,375 crore collected on import of goods) and Rs 8,011 crore (including Rs 932 crore collected on import of goods) of cess, the ministry said in a statement. The revenue for the month is 10 percent higher than Rs 95,379 crore collected in the same month last year. (stock image)

7. Subhash Chandra Garg on FM Sitharaman: Former finance secretary Subhash Chandra Garg has said finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman asked for and insisted on his transfer from the ministry of finance in June 2019, within a month of her taking over as minister. "Serious difference also developed on some key issues like economic capital framework of RBI, a package for dealing with problems of non-banks, resolution of non-banks, partial credit guarantee scheme, capitalisation of non-banks like IIFCL and other financial entities and the like," Garg wrote in his blog explaining the reasons for his voluntary retirement. He said that Sitharaman has a very different personality, knowledge endowment, skill-set, and approach for economic policy issues and that it became quite apparent very early, that working with her was going to be quite difficult and it might not be conducive to undertaking necessary reforms for the attainment of the objective of building a $10 trillion economy of India. (File Photo: IANS)

8. SEBI On Titan: Markets watchdog Sebi has imposed a fine of Rs 2 lakh on an employee of Titan Company for violating insider trading norms back in 2018. Theekevedu B Alexander (noticee) was a designated employee of the company and had traded on two trading days during the period from September 23 to November 12, 2018 -- a period during which the trading window was closed. Besides, his wife Sarina Biju Alexander executed trades during closure of the trading window. As per the Prohibition of Insider Trading (PIT) regulations, designated persons and their immediate relatives shall not trade in securities when the trading window is closed.

9. Report On Fiscal Deficit: The pandemic-induced growth contraction and additional spending to support the needy amounting to a little over 2 percent of the economy are likely to push the combined fiscal deficit to 13 percent of GDP this fiscal - nearly double of the past year, according to a report. Similarly, these numbers will see the government debt, which has been under 70 percent of GDP for long, shooting past the 80 percent mark this year to Rs 75.6 lakh crore or USD 1.01 trillion, making the country the second most indebted in Asia after China. The cumulative fiscal deficit of the Centre and states stood at over 7 percent of GDP in FY20 as against an average 6.6 percent in the previous five years, as the Centre maintained the deficit below 4 percent for four years from FY16 to FY19, before a cocktail of bad data -- revenue and higher spending -- pushed it to 4.6 percent in FY20.

10. NITI Aayog On Production-Linked Incentives: The government will introduce the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for more sectors to boost domestic manufacturing, Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar said on Friday. Addressing a virtual event organised by industry body FICCI, Kumar also highlighted the government's efforts to push electric mobility or e-mobility in the country. He said "85 percent of vehicles on the street are two- and three-wheelers and we want to shift them to electric mobility going forward. We have finalised standard of charging for two- and three-wheelers," he said. On opportunities and facilities for investors, Kumar said, "We will, while attracting FDI, also repose our faith and trust in those who have already invested in India. And we want to recognise them by giving much better logistics, much better infrastructure."