10 things you need to know before the opening bell on November 4

SUMMARY

Indian shares are likely to open higher on Monday following gains in the global markets over progress in the US-China trade talks. Asian shares rose to 14-week highs after the United States and China said on Friday that they had made progress in talks aimed at defusing their protracted 16-month-long trade war, reported Reuters. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the government is further improving the tax regime. At 7:00 am, the SGX Nifty was trading 26.5 points or 0.22 percent higher at 11,964, indicating a positive start for the Sensex and the Nifty.

By CNBC-TV18Nov 4, 2019 7:16:18 AM IST (Published)

1. Asia: Shares in the Asia Pacific rose in Monday morning trade amid optimism on the US-China trade front. South Korea’s Kospi advanced 0.79 percent in early trade. In Australia, the S&P ASX 200 rose 0.3 percent, with almost all sectors in positive territory. Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index traded 0.2 percent higher. Markets in Japan are closed on Monday for a holiday.

2. US: On Friday, the S&P rose for the fourth straight week, its longest streak since February, while the Nasdaq gained in the past five weeks. Quarterly earnings have come in stronger than anticipated and the US-China trade rhetoric has appeared to be productive. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 301.13 points, or 1.11 percent, to 27,347.36. The S&P 500 gained 29.35 points, or 0.97 percent, to 3,066.91 and the Nasdaq Composite added 94.04 points, or 1.13 percent, to 8,386.40.

3. Markets At Close On Friday: Indian indices ended on a flat note on Friday as gains in media and metal sectors were capped by losses in IT and auto indices. The Sensex ended the day with 36 points higher at 40,165, while the broader Nifty50 index added 13 points to end the day at 11,891. For the week, the indices rose over 2.5 percent. Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors bought 533 crores in the cash market while domestic institutional investors sold 137 crores.

4. Crude Oil: Oil prices rose nearly 4 percent on Friday on signs of progress in U.S.-China trade talks and stronger-than-expected economic data in both countries, including U.S. employment and Chinese manufacturing activity numbers. But the move higher was not enough to recover losses earlier in the week and oil ended the week lower. Brent crude gained $2.12, or 3.6 percent, to settle at $61.74. West Texas Intermediate crude rose $2.02 or 3.73 percent to settle at $56.20 a barrel.

5. Currency: The rupee appreciated by 11 paise to close at 70.81 against the US dollar on Friday due to fag-end selling of the greenback by banks and importers amid persistent foreign fund inflows. Strengthening crude oil prices, however, capped the gains for the domestic unit, forex dealers said. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened weak at 70.96 and touched a low of 70.98 in early trade. On a weekly basis, the rupee fell 9 paise against the greenback.

6. PM Modi Commits Further Tax Regime: Prime Minister Narendra Modi onSunday said that the NDA government is committed to further improve the tax regime in the country after the government decided to cut the corporate tax rates earlier. Speaking at the Aditya Birla Group Golden Jubilee Celebrations, Modi said, "we are committed to further improving it even more." Modi further said: "We are now starting faceless tax assessment so that there is no scope for discretion or harassment".

7. GST Collections In October: The Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections during October 2019 have shown a decline of 5.29 percent on a year on year comparison. The GST revenue collections during April-October, 2019 vis-à-vis 2018, shows that the domestic component has grown by 6.74 percent but the GST on imports, during April-October, 2019 vis-à-vis 2018, has shown negative growth. Since the overall GST collections are yet again way below the monthly asking rate of Rs 1.14 lakh crore, experts see it as a worrisome picture for the government. (Stock Image)

8. Coal Imports Rise 9 Percent In April-September: India's coal imports increased by 9.3 percent to 126.91 million tonnes (MT) in the first six months of the ongoing fiscal, industry data showed. The country had imported 116.04 MT of coal in the April-September period of FY 2018-19. Commenting on the coal import trend, mjunction MD and CEO Vinaya Varma said, "Although domestic coal production has seen negative growth in recent months, the late monsoon has affected demand from the power and other consuming sectors, leading to slackness in import demand for thermal coal." (Stock Image)

9. RBI Revamps Departments: Under attack for not being able to prevent scams in the banking sector, the RBI on Friday reorganized its supervisory and regulatory functions into two departments to deal more effectively with potential systemic risk. The central bank had separate departments for supervisory function as well as regulatory function which have been integrated into two unified departments. The development follows the RBI's central board decided to create separate supervisory and regulatory cadre.

10. Regulatory Actions Stoke Fears Among Audit Firms: Amid a crackdown on erring auditors in cases of alleged financial irregularities, some experts and top executives at some audit firms are raising alarm bells about a possible flight of fresh talent from the profession. While few are willing to speak openly against actions taken by regulatory and enforcement agencies against auditors for failing to flag financing bungling, senior executives at major audit firms said it was wrong at times to ban an entire audit network for alleged lapses by one or two individuals. On the other hand, officials at regulatory and enforcement agencies said the audit firms tend to put the blame on individuals after finding themselves in the dock for their alleged role in frauds. The officials have often pointed out that auditors are supposed to be the conscience-keepers of a company and it is their duty to ring the alarm bells even at the slightest hint of financial wrongdoing.