The benchmark stock market indices opened lower on Tuesday (October 12) in line with mostly lower Asian markets today and negative US markets on Monday

At 9.15 AM, the Sensex was down 117.08 points or 0.19 percent at 60018.70, and the Nifty was down 11.70 points or 0.07 percent at 17934.30. About 1086 shares have advanced, 531 shares declined, and 133 shares are unchanged.

After swinging over 200 points in the opening session, the 30-share Sensex was trading 34.62 points or 0.06 per cent lower at 60,101.16. Similarly, the Nifty slipped 2.45 points or 0.01 per cent to 17,943.50.

HCL Tech was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding over 2 per cent, followed by M&M, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finance and IndusInd Bank.

On the other hand, Bajaj Auto, Titan, Dr Reddy’s, SBI and ITC were among the gainers.

In the previous session, the 30-share index closed 76.72 points or 0.13 per cent higher at 60,135.78, and Nifty rose 50.75 points or 0.28 per cent at its all-time closing high of 17,945.95.

US markets close lower on Monday

US stocks ended a choppy session lower on Monday as investors grew nervous ahead of third-quarter earnings reporting season.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 250.19 points, or 0.72 percent, to 34,496.06, the S&P 500 lost 30.15 points, or 0.69 percent, to 4,361.19 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 93.34 points, or 0.64 percent, to 14,486.20.

All three major US stock indexes posted their largest one-day point drops in a week, as investors remained focused on the release of fresh inflation data and third-quarter earnings this week. Wednesday’s US consumer-price report for September is the next major data release in the week ahead. Higher commodity prices and bond yields in Europe also weighed on stocks. The US bond market was closed for Columbus day. Soaring oil prices that hit multi-year peaks stoked fears about rising prices and tighter monetary policy, lifting the dollar to a near-three-year high against the yen.

Analysts have expressed concern that supply-chain issues that have spread throughout the global economy will compress profit margins, and that rising inflation will limit consumer demand.

Asian stock decline in early trade

Asian stocks fell Tuesday on concerns about elevated inflation stoked by energy costs and the possibility of a widening Chinese crackdown on private industry clouding investor sentiment before the US corporate earnings season. A report suggesting Beijing is widening scrutiny of private industry by examining ties to state banks soured the mood.

Asian indices were trading weak with Hang Seng, Kospi and Taiwan Weighted down 1 percent each, while Nikkei and Straits Times fall 0.5 percent each.

RBI revises operational guidelines on SLTRO

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday issued revised operational guidelines on the special long-term repo operations (SLTRO) scheme for small finance banks (SFBs). In the monetary policy announced last week, the RBI had extended the on-tap SLTRO for SFBs till December 31, 2021. This facility was earlier made available till October 31, 2021.

The RBI in a statement on Monday said all SFBs eligible under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) can participate in the scheme.

NSE introduces weekly futures contracts for USD-INR

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Monday introduced weekly futures contracts in the US Dollar-Indian Rupee (USD-INR) currency pair. The first day witnessed participation from 122 trading members, with volumes of 1.43 lakh contracts worth Rs 1,079.6 crore traded at the end of the day in the weekly futures contracts of USD-INR.

"The launch of weekly futures in the US Dollar Indian Rupee currency pair, will only complement the existing currency derivatives product suite and will further help in deepening the market," as per a release.

Quarterly earnings results today

Bhansali Engineering Polymers, GM Breweries, Indbank Merchant Banking Services, Ind Bank Housing, JTL Infra, and DRC Systems India will announce its quarterly earnings on October 12.

India Inc has raised $9.7 billion through their initial public offerings (IPOs), the highest amount in a nine-month period over the last 20 years. So far, 43 companies launched public issues in the mainboard and the same number of firms in the SME segment during January-September 2021. In rupee terms, the total fundraising via IPOs stood at Rs 78,520 crore in the mainboard segment and Rs 551 crore in the SME segment.

RBI likely to change stance on MPC in Q1 2022

The Reserve Bank is likely to change the stance of its monetary policy and hike rates from the first quarter of 2022, a Japanese brokerage said on Monday. The central bank will start with liquidity normalisation moves this month, narrowing the difference between the rate at which it funds the system and at which it absorbs excess liquidity in December, Nomura said.

The brokerage upped its consumer price index (CPI) inflation target for 2022 to 5.2 percent from 5 percent earlier.

Demand strong, supply-side headwinds a bother

Demand remains strong in India, but there are supply-side headwinds in areas like chips which is bothering the auto sector and coal shortages which threatens to put parts of the country into darkness, it said.

Oil declines

Oil was down Tuesday morning in Asia, falling for the first time in four days. The black liquid was taking a breather after weeks of gains fueled by a rebound in global demand, with the gains contributing to energy shortages in economies from Europe to Asia, according to some investors.

Brent oil futures edged down 0.12 percent to $83.55 by 10:56 PM ET (2:56 AM GMT) and WTI futuresedged down 0.16 percent to $80.39. Both Brent and WI futures stayed above the $80 mark, however.

Gold prices unchanged

Gold (24 carat) is selling at Rs 46,940 per 10 gram on Tuesday in India, unchanged from the previous trade.

Silver is selling at Rs 61,700 per kg, a sharp decline of Rs 4,200 from yesterday's trading price, according to Good Returns website.

9 stocks under F&O ban today

Nine stocks – Bank of Baroda, BHEL, Canara Bank, Indiabulls Housing Finance, IRCTC, NALCO, Punjab National Bank, SAIL, and Sun TV Network – are under the F&O ban today.