Market Ahead, September 16: All you need to know before the Opening Bell

This week could be another volatile one for Markets as investors would watch-out for key macro-data on the domestic front along with various global developments. 

Indices could first react to soaring oil prices, that surged nearly 20% on fears of supply disruptions following an attack on Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities. The attack, it is feared, could cut more than 5% of the global oil supply. Brent crude futures rose $7.06 a barrel or 11.7% from their last close on Friday to stand at $67.28 per barrel by 6:40 am. 

That apart, investors could react to measures announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, to boost housing and exports' sector. The government, on Saturday, announced a Rs 10,000 crore fund to give impetus to stalled non-NPA, non-NCLT realty projects.

Besides, eyes would be on wholesale inflation print for August, scheduled to be released later today. D-Street would also track FM's meet with heads of public sector banks scheduled for Thursday, while it would eye decisions of the GST Council meeting, scheduled for Sept 20, to get clarity on whether the government would provide any rate cut to contain the auto-slowdown. 

Globally, the US Federal Open Market Committee will meet on Sept 17 and 18, amid hopes of another 25 bps rate cut to revive the World's biggest economy. Progress in the US-China trade dialogue would also be on investors' radar as any negative move could have a severe impact on the global economy and markets.

Now let's see how global markets are faring today---

Stocks in Asia Pacific were trading mixed in the morning trade. The Shanghai Composite dipped 0.11%, Hong Kong’s index shed 0.95%, and South Korea's Kospi traded 0.26% higher. Markets in Japan are closed on Monday.

On Wall Street, indices ended marginally lower. The S&P500 settled 0.07% lower during the overnight trade on Friday, while the Nasdaq slipped 0.2%.

Back home, the S&P BSE Sensex closed 281 points, or 0.76%, higher at 37,385 while the broader Nifty50 settled at 11,076-mark, up 93 points, or 0.85%. 

For Monday, the trend on SGX Nifty suggests a gap-down opening for domestic indices. At 7:40 am, the Singaporean Exchange for Nifty Futures was trading 100 pts lower. 

The top headlines for the day ---

>> Auto sector's rate-cut hopes fade as GST cess collection declines

>> There aren't any immediate triggers to reverse market trend, Prakash Kacholia of Emkay Global Financial Services told Business Standard in an interview