What changed for D-Street while you were sleeping

NEW DELHI: Asian markets are cheering Chinese manufacturing PMI data that suggested the economy is recovering from the virus outbreak. For India, any gains on Tuesday will be limited, thanks to persistent foreign outflows. Here’s breaking down the pre-market actions.

TRADE SETUP

Singapore trading sets stage for positive start
Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange traded 141.25 points or 1.69 per cent lower at 8,484.25, indicating a positive start for Dalal Street.

Tech view: Nifty support at 8,100
On the daily chart, the index formed a bearish candle with a lower wick. This suggests that the intraday recovery was sold into. Analysts said the index may fall towards the support area of 8,100-8,000 in the coming sessions.

Asian shares edge higher on China data
Asian shares managed a tentative rally on Tuesday as factory data from China held out the hope of a rebound in activity. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rise 1.1 per cent. Japan's Nikkei firmed 1 per cent while South Korea added 2 per cent. E-Mini futures for the S&P500 index added another 0.6 per cent.

Oil prices rise, still at 18-year low
Oil prices clawed back some ground in Asian trade after falling to 18-year lows, as the coronavirus pandemic brings economies worldwide to a standstill and throttles demand. US benchmark WTI rose 2.9 per cent to just over $20 a barrel while Brent crude, the international benchmark, was up 0.5 per cent at nearly $23 a barrel.

US stocks ended higher
In overnight trade, the S&P500 index rose 85.18 points, or 3.4 per cent, to 2,626.65. The Dow Jones Industrial Average index gained 690.70 points, or 3.2 per cent, to 22,327.48. The Nasdaq Composite index climbed 271.77 points, or 3.6 per cent, to 7,774.15.

FIIs sell Rs 4,364 crore worth of stocks
Net-net, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) were sellers of domestic stocks to the tune of Rs 4,363.61 crore on Monday, data available with NSE suggested. DIIs were net buyers to the tune of Rs 3,550.33 crore, data suggests.

HAPPENING TODAY

• India Feb Infrastructure Output
• India Feb-end Fiscal Deficit
• India Q4 External Debt
• Japan Feb Unemployment Rate
• China March Non-Manufacturing PMI
• UK Q4 GDP Growth Rate
• Euro Area March Inflation Rate

MONEY MARKETS

Rupee: The Indian rupee tumbled by 70 paise to close at 75.59 against the US dollar on Monday as concerns around coronavirus impact on the economy continued to hurt sentiment globally.

10-year bonds: India 10-year bond yield rose 0.07% to 6.21% on Monday, according to Bloomberg, from 6.14% in the previous session.

Call rates: The overnight call money rate weighted average stood at 5.35 per cent, according to RBI data. It moved in a range of 3-5.75 per cent. (Figures not updated)

MACROS

Tax and duty relief in the works
India is close to finalising a second economic relief package that may include tax concessions for industry sectors hit hard by the disruption due to Covid-19, particularly micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), services and exports. The government has also initiated talks with the World Bank for an unprecedented package from the multilateral lender to speed up the creation of healthcare infrastructure

S&P, Fitch slash India's growth forecast
S&P Global Ratings has further slashed India’s growth forecast to 3.5% for the coming fiscal from a previous downgrade to 5.2%, in its report released on Monday. The latest downgrade came as part of the global ratings agency’s report on deteriorating credit conditions in the Asia-Pacific region. Fitch Solutions slashed its estimate for India's GDP growth in the fiscal starting April 1 to 4.6 per cent due to weaker private consumption and contraction in investment.

China manufacturing PMI at 52 in March
China's official manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) bounced to 52 in March, up from a record-low 35.7 in February and topping Reuters forecast of 45. Analysts cautioned the index could overstate the true improvement as it measures the net balance of firms reporting an expansion or contraction in activity.

US, Russia agree to talk on crude oil prices
US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed during a phone call on Monday to have their top energy officials discuss stablising oil markets, Kremlin said.

India may slash market borrowing in April
India may slash or even cancel its planned borrowings from the market for April amid a nationwide lockdown prompted by the coronavirus outbreak, two finance ministry sources told Reuters. The travel curbs have disrupted routine bond market trading and volumes and prompted primary dealers, who underwrite the bond issuances, to seek finance ministry intervention.

Auto ancillaries look to govt, car makers for cash flows
The 21-day lockdown will choke India's auto component industry that otherwise generates more than $3 billion or Rs 25,000 crore of cash flows in that many days, and companies are seeking timely payment by vehicle makers to take care of their workers. Having assured the government that the industry will not retrench any workforce including temporary workers, auto component makers say they may also need some sops from the government to ensure that their cash does not dry up quickly.

Taxmen, working from home, chase big fish
A three-month extension in deadlines for tax payment and filing of returns notwithstanding, the Income-Tax Department has asked offices to contact large taxpayers over phone or email to follow up on pending collections. Rakesh Gupta, Commissioner of Income Tax (Coordination & Systems), CBDT, last week asked field formations to submit a daily report on follow-ups on pending tax collections from large taxpayers.

No extension of financial year, clarifies govt
The government through a notification, clarified that it has not changed the beginning of its financial year from April 1 to July 1 - as is being claimed by some social media posts. The beginning of the fiscal year (2020-21) would begin normally on April 1. The government's clarification comes after a Gazette notification, which pertained to a change in dates for collection of stamp duties on transfer of shares, debentures, futures, options, currency and other capital market instruments to July 1, 2020.

Govt relaxes compliance norms for SEZs
The government on Monday relaxed the compliance norms to be met by units, developers and co-developers of special economic zones (SEZs) due to the countrywide lockdown amid rising cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic. Such compliances include the requirement to file quarterly progress report attested by independent chartered engineers by developers and co-developers, SOFTEX form to be filed by IT/ITES units, filing of annual performance reports by SEZ units and extension of letters of approval (LoAs) which may expire.