After a mammoth plunge on the Wall Street, the Indian markets are also expected to open in deep red today. The SGX Nifty is down more than 300 points, indicating a gap-down open at around 9,540 levels. Wall Street plummeted overnight as investors reacted to renewed fears of a pandemic resurgence and digested dour economic forecasts from the US Federal Reserve.
The Dow Jones fell 6.9 per cent, the S&P 500 lost 5.9 per cent, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 5.27 per cent to post their worst one-day percentage drops since March 16.
Asian equities followed their US peers into the deep sea of red. Australian ASX 200 was down 2.8 per cent, while Japan’s Nikkei and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index slipped 2.08 per cent each.
Oil prices also dropped over 8 per cent overnight. Benchmark Brent crude futures were last down 2.8 per cent at $37.47 a barrel.
Back home, too, the news on the Covid-19 infections front is grim as India recorded its biggest-ever spike in the number of cases and deaths in a single day. The cases now stand at 2.98 lakh, and death toll is at 8,501, according to Worldometer, even as Indian Council of Medical Research reaffirmed that there was no community transmission of Covid-19 at the national level.
Besides, investors will also track the GST Council meeting to be held today. Today's scheduled Supreme Court hearing on interest loan waiver case, sought by home buyers, on the loans under moratorium will also be of prime interest to market participants.
The case is even more crucial for NBFCs, who also have granted moratoriums to their borrowers until August. Add to it, a paper released by the RBI has warned that despite interventions by the central bank and the government, the NBFC system may see deterioration in credit quality on account of Covid-19 related disruptions.
Bank stocks may also react to the RBI's directive that has barred People's Co-operative Bank from granting fresh loans and accepting deposits for six months, due to its weak financial position.
On the macro front, market participants will keep a keen eye on industrial production data for April and CPI inflation for May which are due later in the day.
On the results front, a total of 30 companies including Mahindra & Mahindra and Eicher Motor are scheduled to announce their results today.
Now, let's look at some other top news for the day.
Sources have told Business Standard that AION Capital-backed Clix Capital is in talks to buy a majority stake in capital-starved Lakshmi Vilas Bank and that a formal letter of intent will be sent to the bank next week.
According to a separate Business Standard report, a group of US-based foreign portfolio investors is looking to pick up a stake worth $300 million in YES Bank by investing in its forthcoming share sale via the structured, unsponsored ADR route.
State Bank of India yesterday said its board will consider raising up to $1.5 billion by issuing bonds during the current financial year.The bank will also pare 2.1 per cent of its stake in the subsidiary SBI Life Insurance via an offer for sale which opens today with a floor price of Rs 725 apiece.
And, in the end, HDFC has said it will raise up to Rs 4,000 crore by issuing bonds on private placement basis. The issue size would be worth Rs 2,100 crore and will open on June 15.
Read by: Kanishka Gupta
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