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

SUMMARY

Indian equity benchmarks are likely to make a muted start on Monday amid weakness across other Asian markets. At 8:00 am, SGX Nifty50 futures -- an early indicator of NSE's Nifty50 index in India -- were up 10 points at 17,540, suggesting a flat opening ahead on Dalal Street.

By CNBCTV18.comOct 4, 2021 8:52:04 AM IST (Published)

1. Dalal Street on Friday, Oct 1: The Sensex index ended 360.8 points or 0.6 percent lower at 58,765.6 and the broader Nifty benchmark shed 86.1 points or 0.5 percent to settle at 17,532.1 as the market extended losses to the fourth session in a row. Losses in IT and financial stocks pulled the market further away from record highs. For the week, the 30-scrip index tumbled 1,282.9 points or 2.1 percent and the Nifty50 benchmark lost 321.2 points.

2. Asian shares: Equities across Asian markets dipped on Monday as concerns about China’s property sector and inflation worries offset upbeat US data and positive news on new drugs to fight the coronavirus pandemic. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.3 percent. The index marked its first quarterly fall in six quarters.

3. Gold: Yellow metal moved in a narrow range with the spot gold benchmark down 0.1 percent at $1,759.1 per ounce in early deals. US futures were flat at $1,759.3 per ounce.

4. Rupee: On Friday, the rupee broke a five-day losing streak to settle 11 paise higher at 74.12 against the dollar, tracking strength in global currencies against the greenback. It had begun the volatile session at 74.33 against the US currency that day.

5. Dollar: The dollar found support just below last week’s peaks on Monday as renewed concerns about China’s property sector and looming US labour data put investors in a cautious mood. The greenback scaled a 14-month high on the euro and a 19-month top on the yen last week as markets reckoned US interest rates could rise ahead of global peers.

6. Crude oil: Oil fell on Monday ahead of an OPEC+ supply policy meeting that may decide whether a recent rally in prices can be sustained as the world fitfully recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic. Brent crude was down 24 cents or 0.3 percent at $79.04 per barrel. WTI crude dropped by 27 cents or 0.4 percent to $75.61. Oil prices have risen amid supply disruptions and recovering global demand, pushing Brent last week to an almost three-year high above $80.

7. Bitcoin: The cryptocurrency was last seen trading down 0.1 percent at $47,577 on Monday. Last week, Bitcoin hit its highest level since around mid-September, bolstered in part by seasonal factors as well as supportive comments overall from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Thursday. Some analysts also said October is typically a bullish month for digital assets, with September historically a bearish period for the sector.

8. Foreign exchange reserves: The country's foreign exchange reserves declined by $997 million to $638.646 billion in the week ended September 24, RBI data showed on Friday. In the previous week, the reserves had tumbled by $1.47 billion to $639.642 billion.

9. Evergrande: Trading in shares of debt-laden China Evergrande was suspended on Monday after it missed a key bond interest payment last week, its second offshore debt obligation in a week, with market watchers jittery as the group’s troubles unravel.

10. Market cap: Eight of the top 10 valued companies together suffered an erosion of Rs 1,80,534.34 crore in their market valuation last week, with IT majors Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys emerging as the biggest laggards.