Market Ahead, September 20: All you need to know before the Opening Bell

Investors would eye any rate rationalisation by the GST Council, scheduled to meet later today, to give impetus to the distressed economy. Various sectors, including automobiles and biscuit manufacturers, have been demanding a rate cut to arrest a slowdown in sales. 

The fitment panel, however, has rejected rate cut demands for about 200 items — such as automobiles, biscuits, rusks, TVs (screen size more than 32 inches), footwear, mineral water, breakfast cereal, helmets, chemical fertilisers, and itra (perfume), a Business Standard report said.

Moreover, reports suggest that finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman could, today, unveil measures, including review of import tariffs on certain items, to boost economic growth.

That apart, markets would look at oil price movement, the rupee's trajectory against the US dollar, stock-specific action, and fund flow by FIIs and DIIs to steer through the day.

Now let's see how the global markets have performed and what it means for the Sensex and Nifty. 

Asian share prices inched higher on Friday as economic stimulus around the world eased fears of economic deceleration. Resumption of trade dialogues between the US and China for the first time in nearly two months on Thursday, too, boosted investors' sentiment. 

Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.34 per cent, while South Korea's Kospi gained 0.18 per cent.

On Wall Street, shares ended flat during the overnight trade on Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.19 per cent to 27,095 levels, the S&P500 ended unchanged at 3,007, and the Nasdaq Composite settled 0.07 per cent higher at 8,183-mark.

Back home, the S&P BSE Sensex lost 470 points or 1.29% to settle at 36,093 while the broader Nifty50 settled at 10,705, down 136 points or 1.25%.

The top headlines for the day and stocks that will remain in focus --

>> The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) slashes India's economic growth forecast from 7.2% to 5.9% for FY20.

>> RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said on Thursday there was space for rate cuts even as the government had little room for any fiscal expansion.

>> Morgan Credits, the promoter firm of YES Bank, sold Rs 337 crore worth of shares of the lender in a bulk deal on Thursday.