10 things you need to know before the opening bell on November 6

SUMMARY

The Indian market is likely to open on a cautious note on Friday following a mixed trend in the Asian markets as investors await the results of the US elections. Meanwhile, the US Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged near zero. At 8.20 am, the SGX Nifty was trading 56.75 points lower at 12,144.50, indicating a slightly negative start for the Sensex and Nifty.

By CNBCTV18.comNov 6, 2020 8:21:35 AM IST (Published)

1. Asia: Stocks in Asia-Pacific traded mixed on Friday morning as investors continue to wait for a result from the U.S. election. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was 0.44 percent higher while the Topix index was up 0.1 percent. South Korea’s Kospi, on the other hand, dipped 0.15 percent. Stocks in Australia advanced, with the S&P/ASX 200 up 0.74 percent. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.18 percent higher, reported CNBC International.

4. Crude Oil: Oil prices dropped on Thursday, weighed down by the steady rise in coronavirus infections and as the outcome of the U.S. presidential election had still not been settled. Brent crude fell 38 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $40.85 a barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude settled 36 cents, or 0.9 percent, lower at $38.79. Both contracts jumped about 4 percent on Wednesday, reported CNBC International.

5. Rupee: The Indian currency staged a recovery on the back of weak American dollar and positive global markets. The rupee ended at 74.36 against the US dollar as compared to the previous close of 74.76.

6. 2020 US Elections: US may have its President today as Joe Biden waits on the verge of 270. Biden's victories in Michigan and Wisconsin have put him in a commanding position to win the presidency and all eyes are on Georgia and Pennsylvania where Biden is closing in on Trump. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump claimed without evidence that Democrats were trying to "steal" the US election with illegal votes, reported News 18.

7. Reliance Industries Receives Another Investment: Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund Public Investment Fund (PIF) will invest Rs 9,555 crore, or roughly $1.3 billion, for a 2.04 percent stake in its retail unit Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL).This is the eighth investment by marquee global investors in Reliance Retail Ventures in less than two months and values RRVL at a pre-money equity value of Rs 4.587 lakh crore (around $62.4 billion).

8. PM Modi On India's Long-term Investment: Calling global investors to invest in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said the government has an ambitious plan to invest $1.5 trillion under the National Infrastructure Pipeline. "A pioneering multi-modal connectivity infrastructure master plan is being finalised. India has embarked on a massive infrastructure building spree of highways, railways, metros, water-ways, airports across the country. We are building millions of affordable houses for the Neo-middle class," the Prime Minister said. The country's growth has the potential to catalyse global economic resurgence as "any achievements by India will have a multiplier impact on the world's development and welfare," the Prime Minister said.

9. RBI On NPAs Declaration: The RBI Thursday urged the Supreme Court to lift its interim order, which held that accounts not declared as non-performing assets till August 31 this year are not to be declared NPAs till further orders, saying it is facing difficulty due to the directive. In a relief to stressed borrowers who are facing hardships due to the impact of COVID-19 pandemic, the apex court had passed the interim order on September 3. The counsel appearing for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) told this to a bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan which was hearing a batch of pleas relating to charging of interest on interest by banks on EMIs, which were not paid by the borrowers who availed of the loan moratorium scheme in view of the pandemic. We are facing difficulty due to order banning declaring of NPAs, senior advocate V Giri, appearing for RBI, told the bench while requesting it to lift the interim order.

10. SEBI On Overseas Investment Limit: Markets regulator Sebi on Thursday enhanced the foreign investment limit for individual fund houses to $600 million from $300 million at present. The watchdog also increased domestic mutual funds' foreign investment limit in the overseas exchange-traded fund (ETF) to $200 million. Currently, it is capped at $50 million. The aggregate ceiling remains at $7 billion for overseas mutual fund investment and $1 billion for overseas ETFs. Laying down the allocation methodology, Sebi said $50 million has to be reserved for each mutual fund individually in case of overseas investments, within the overall industry limit of $7 billion.