10 things you need to know before the opening bell on September 17

SUMMARY

The Indian market is seen opening higher on Friday following the strength in the Nifty futures contract on the Singapore Exchange. At 7:50 am, the contract was 0.49 percent or 86 points higher at 17,681.

By CNBCTV18.comSept 17, 2021 8:11:16 AM IST (Published)

1. Wall Street: Stocks couldn’t hold on to a brief afternoon gain and ended mostly lower Thursday. The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average each fell 0.2 percent. The tech-heavy Nasdaq managed to eke out a small gain of 0.1 percent. More stocks fell than rose in the S&P 500, and most of the sectors took slight losses.

2. Asian stocks: Shares in Asia-Pacific were mixed in Friday morning trade as investors react to mixed US economic data released overnight. The Nikkei 225 in Japan climbed 0.38 percent while the Topix index traded fractionally higher. South Korea’s Kospi shed 0.22 percent. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.38 percent. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.13 percent lower.

3. D-Street: The 30-scrip index, Sensex, closed at a record high of 59,141, as it rose 442 points. The index closed above 59,000 for the first time. The Nifty50 index surged 110 points to end at 17,631, also a record closing high.

4. Oil: Oil prices steadied Thursday after hitting a multi-week high a day earlier as the threat to US Gulf crude production from Hurricane Nicholas receded. Brent crude ended the session up 0.3 percent, at $75.67 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) ended the session unchanged at $72.61 a barrel after climbing to the highest since Aug. 2 on Wednesday.

5. Rupee: The rupee closed marginally lower at 73.52 against the American currency on Thursday, tracking a rebound in the US dollar index. Meanwhile, the dollar index was trading 0.24 percent higher at 92.77.

6. Gold: Gold on Thursday plunged Rs 807 to Rs 46,896 per 10 grams amid a decline in international precious metal prices and rupee appreciation. Silver also tumbled Rs 2194 to Rs 63,293 per kilogram from Rs 62,265 per kilogram in the previous trade.

7. Bitcoin: Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, drifted lower Friday. It was last trading 0.30 percent lower at $47,933. It was up over 2 percent in the last seven days. Ether also followed Bitcoin as it declined nearly a percent to $3,575.

8. Bad Bank: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday announced that the Cabinet has cleared the formation of a 'bad bank'. The government will guarantee up to Rs 30,600 crore for security receipts issued by the National Asset Reconstruction Company (NARCL).

9. Inflation: Inflation in India is likely to ease only gradually, Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor Michael Patra said on Thursday, adding that the outlook on growth and inflation will help determine the future course of monetary policy.

10. Air India: The government has kept a timeline of three weeks to complete the process of opening the financial bids for Air India, sources told CNBC-TV18 on Thursday. However, it expects to complete the process within two weeks.