Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a positive opening for the index in India with a 86-points gain. The Nifty futures were trading at 16,811 on the Singaporean Exchange around 07:30 AM.
Wall Street rallied on Friday, pushing the S&P and the Nasdaq to record closing highs for the fourth time this week, as US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's remarks at the Jackson Hole Symposium calmed fears over the tapering timetable and sent investors into the weekend in a buying mood.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 242.68 points, or 0.69 percent, to 35,455.8, the S&P 500 gained 39.37 points, or 0.88 percent, to 4,509.37 and the Nasdaq Composite added 183.69 points, or 1.23 percent, to 15,129.50.
"The Nifty is expected to open around 16,610 up by 100 points. 16,825 to 16,850 will act as a resistance zone for Nifty while 16,700 to 16,720 will act as a support zone. Nifty has been rising in lower volumes therefore there is a possibility of a minor correction. Buy on dips can be a good strategy for the current markets," said Gaurav Udani, Founder & CEO, ThincRedBlu Securities.
Mohit Nigam, Head-PMS at Hem Securities, said, "Stock specific actions can be witnessed in stocks such as Bharti Airtel (Plans to raise up to Rs 21,000 crore through a rights share issue), Cipla (University of Iceland sue Cipla to block Nayzilam copies), M&M (The Ministry of Defence has awarded a contract worth Rs 1,349.95 crore to Mahindra Defence Systems), Nazara Technologies (Acquired 100 percent stake in Hyderabad-based skill gaming company OpenPlay Technologies). On the technical front, 16,650 and 16,900 are immediate support and resistance in Nifty 50."
Asian shares start week with gains
Asian shares started the week with gains in the early Monday trade with Chinese markets up by 1.1 percent.
The dollar was not far off two-week lows after US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell struck a more dovish tone than some investors expected in long-awaited speech on Friday.
Japan's Nikkei rose 0.9 percent soon after the bell, and MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.32 percent in early trading before Chinese markets had opened. Australia climbed 0.39 percent and Korea's Kopsi gained 0.54 percent.
The US economic recovery is on track to return to a strong labor market, and the central bank could begin to withdraw its stimulus measures by year-end, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Friday. But the Fed leader stressed that there was no hurry to raise the benchmark lending rate in response to temporary inflation pressures.
In his highly anticipated speech to the annual Jackson Hole central banking symposium, Powell said despite the impact of the Delta variant of Covid-19, the economy has continued to recover and show strong job growth.
FDI increase two-fold
Foreign direct investment (FDI) into the country rose by more than twofold to $17.57 billion during April-June this fiscal on account of measures such as policy reforms and ease of doing business, an official statement said on Saturday.
Total FDI inflow rose to $22.53 billion during the first three months of 2021-22 as against $11.84 billion in the same period of the last year, it said. Total FDI comprises equity inflows, reinvested earnings and other capital.
"FDI equity inflow grew by 168 per cent in the first three months of 2021-22 ($17.57 billion) compared to the year ago period ($6.56 billion)," it said.
Bank credit up
Bank credit grew by 6.55 percent to Rs 108.89 lakh crore and deposits by 10.58 percent to Rs 155.70 lakh crore in the fortnight ended August 13, 2021, RBI data showed. In the year-ago fortnight ended at August 14, 2020, bank advances had stood at Rs 102.19 lakh crore and deposits at Rs 140.80 lakh crore, according to RBI's Scheduled Banks' Statement of Position in India as of July 30, 2021, released on Friday.
In the previous fortnight ended July 30, 2021, bank credit had risen by 6.11 percent and deposits by 9.8 percent.
Kotak Mahindra AMC banned from launching any new FMP scheme
Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company (AMC) has been barred from launching any new fixed maturity plan (FMP) scheme for the next six months, as per an order issued by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on August 27.
SEBI also noted that by postponing the payment to its unit holders, Kotak Mahindra mutual fund sort of segregated its units like a side-pocket. This is allowed only if the scheme's offer document explicitly says so, and the fund follows a strictly specified SEBI guideline for side pockets. This, SEBI observed, did not happen here.
Forex declines
The country's foreign exchange reserves declined by $2.47 billion to reach $616.895 billion in the week ended August 20, RBI data showed on Friday.
In the reporting week, the decrease in the reserves was due to a drop in the foreign currency assets (FCAs), a major component of the overall reserves, as per weekly data by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
The market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies jumped to an all-time high of Rs 2,43,73,800.36 crore on Friday, driven by an upbeat sentiment in equities. Investors have gained Rs 2,20,292.05 crore in two days of market rally.
