10 things you need to know before the opening bell on September 20

SUMMARY

The Indian equity benchmark indices are likely to open lower on Monday amid negative global cues. SGX Nifty futures were trading 0.89 percent or 156 points lower at 17,449, at 7:55 am.

By CNBCTV18.comSept 20, 2021 8:46:06 AM IST (Updated)

1. Wall Street: Stocks closed lower on Wall Street Friday, marking a feeble ending to an up-and-down week of trading. The S&P 500 index fell almost half a percent and notched its second straight weekly loss. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq also fell 0.5 percent and 0.9 percent, respectively. Technology and communications companies were the biggest drags on the market.

2. Asian stocks: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index led losses among Asia-Pacific markets in Monday trade, with shares of embattled Chinese developer China Evergrande Group continuing to drop. The Hang Seng index dropped 2.18 percent. The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia fell 1.21 percent. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 1.23 percent. Markets in mainland China, Japan and South Korea are closed on Monday for holidays.

3. Dalal Street:The Indian equity benchmark indices rose to record highs Friday but gave up gains to close lower. The Sensex fell 125 points to 59,015.89, and the Nifty ended 44 points lower at 17,585.15.

4. Oil: Oil prices fell Monday, extending losses from Friday after the US dollar jumped to a three-week high and the US rig count rose, although nearly a quarter of US Gulf of Mexico output remained offline in the wake of two hurricanes. Both the benchmarks – US WTI and Brent Crude – fell almost half a percent to trade at $71.67 and $75.07.

5. Rupee: The rupee closed 4 paise higher at 73.48 against the US dollar on Friday, tracking a broad weakness in the American currency overseas. Meanwhile, the dollar index fell 0.12 percent to 92.82.

6. Gold: Gold on Friday tumbled Rs 1,130 to Rs 45,207 per 10 grams reflecting an overnight decline in international precious metal prices. Silver also plunged Rs 708 to Rs 60,183 per kg. In the international market, gold was trading in the green at USD 1,762 per ounce and silver was flat at USD 22.95 per ounce.

7. Bitcoin: Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, was trading over 1 percent lower at $47,252 on Monday, having risen almost 5 percent in the last seven days. Altcoins were trading in the red as well, with Ether down over 3 percent in the last 24 hours.

8. GST council meeting: The 45th action-packed GST Council meeting saw a slew of discourses around taxation on a number of imperative issues. The meeting deliberated upon issues such as COVID-19 related relief, taxation implication on services of cloud kitchens and food delivery platforms,and the possibility of taxation on petroleum products.

9. Aviation industry: The government has permitted domestic airlines to deploy 85 percent of their approved flights capacity with immediate effect as the air traffic continues to rise steadily. This limit was so far capped at 72.5 percent.

10. India to reopen for foreign tourists: Amid a decline in COVID-19 cases in the country, India may soon reopen its doors for foreign tourists for the first time in one-and-a-half years, officials said.