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

SUMMARY

Indian shares are set for a muted start on Tuesday as rising crude oil prices raised fresh concerns about inflation and trade deficit. Flat trades in global markets may also weigh on the local equities. At 7:00 am, the SGX Nifty Futures traded higher by 0.13 percent, or 14.50 points, at 10,990.50, indicating a flat start for the Sensex and the Nifty.

By Mousumi Paul Sept 17, 2019 7:12:19 AM IST (Updated)

1. Asia: Oil futures shed some of their massive gains on Tuesday. While equity market losses have not been large, the shaky investor confidence continues to support safe-haven assets, with gold edging higher and Treasury prices rising, reported Reuters. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.1 percent. Japanese stocks slid 0.48 percent, while Australian shares were down 0.18 percent.

2. US: Energy stocks spiked while the rest of Wall Street fell on Monday after weekend attacks on Saudi Arabia's oil facilities added to investors' concerns about geopolitical risk and a slowing global economy, reported Reuters. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 142.70 points, or 0.52 percent, to 27,076.82, the S&P 500 lost 9.43 points, or 0.31 percent, to 2,997.96 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 23.17 points, or 0.28 percent, to 8,153.54.

3. Markets at close on Monday: Indian shares slumped on Monday as oil prices surged over 10 percent after attacks on key oil producer Saudi Arabia’s crude facilities over the weekend, reducing over 5 percent of the global oil supply. The Sensex ended 262 points lower at 37,123, while the broader Nifty50 index lost 72 points to end the day at 11,003. Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors sold Rs 751 crore in the cash market while domestic institutional investors bought Rs 308 crore.

4. Crude Oil: Oil fell more than 1 percent on Tuesday as the market hung on tenterhooks following attacks on Saudi Arabian crude facilities that cut the kingdom's production in half and sent prices soaring by the most in decades. Brent crude was down 77 cents, or 1.1 percent, at $68.25 a barrel by 0051, while West Texas Intermediate was down 82 cents, or 1.3 percent, at $62.08 a barrel.

5. Currency: Logging its first fall in eight sessions, the Indian rupee on Monday plunged by 68 paise to 71.60 against the US dollar amid concerns over soaring crude prices following drone attacks on Saudi Arabia's oil facilities. Surging crude oil prices have emerged as major fears for India -- the world's third-largest oil importer -- in form of fiscal slippage and inflationary pressure.

6. WPI Inflation In August: Wholesale price-based inflation was unchanged at 1.08 percent in August, reinforcing the expectation of a rate cut by the RBI in the October policy review. Although the RBI takes into account the consumer price index-based inflation while deciding its monetary policy stance, the decline in core inflation has strengthened the case for a rate cut, said an expert. According to the data released by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry on Monday, the increase in prices of certain food items was partially neutralised by static prices of manufactured goods during August 2019.

7. SBI Report On Repo Rate Cut: Lose-monetary policy alone cannot arrest the deepening slump, instead government must take demand-boosting measures, especially in rural areas, by frontloading expenditure primarily through the national rural employment scheme, says a report. Economists at State Bank Research Monday also warned that any attempt to trim government spending to maintain the fiscal numbers will be severely detrimental to growth. "The current slowdown cannot be tackled by monetary policy in isolation. The government must address demand weakness by continuing to meaningfully frontload expenditure say through Mgnrega and PM-Kisan," the report said.

8. Experts On Lost Oil Output: Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, is expected to restore Monday at least a third of the production lost to weekend attacks on two major oil facilities, according to experts and reports. Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said Sunday the kingdom would use its vast inventories to partially compensate for the lost production, and the US also authorised the release of its reserves. The Energy Intelligence specialist newsletter cited industry sources as saying Aramco was "close to restoring as much as 40 percent" of the lost production, or about 2.3 million bpd. The Wall Street Journal cited people familiar with the damage estimates as saying the hit facilities would take weeks to return to full production capacity.

9. Special Customs Panel For Liquor Disposal: The revenue department has worked out a new framework for expeditious disposal of seized foreign liquor lying with Customs formations, including defence establishments, in absence of a response from bidders. The seized/confiscated alcohol will now be disposed of by liquor disposal committees at various Customs locations. In a circular, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) said it has been brought to its notice that Customs field formations are facing difficulties in disposing of seized foreign origin liquor due to lack of response from CSD or from other defence establishments. (Stock Image)

10. Government On Apple Manufacturing: The government on Monday exhorted iPhone maker Apple to expand manufacturing base in India, and use the country as export hub, as it promised to line up fresh incentives and sops to galvanise electronics as well as phone industry in coming 2-3 months. Apple's manufacturing investment so far is only the "tip of the iceberg", IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, adding the government wants global giants like Apple and Samsung to have a "robust presence" here. "India will offer you Human Resource, investor-friendly policies, and incentives for making in India, and for exports," the minister said after holding a CEOs roundtable with over 50 electronics and phone companies.