Falling Gold Prices, Global Stock Market Drivers, and Top Cues in Focus Today

Wed, 18 Mar Pre-Open

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On Tuesday, Indian share markets ended deep in the red with Sensex and Nifty witnessing a sharp fall during closing hours.

While Indian share markets opened on a negative note, losses were recovered thereafter as indices rose sharply over 500 points. The gains were again wiped out amid panic selling as coronavirus fears mounted.

At the closing bell yesterday, the BSE Sensex stood lower by 811 points (down 2.6%) and the NSE Nifty closed down by 229 points (down 2.5%).

Barring FMCG sector, all sectoral indices ended on a negative note, with stocks in the banking sector, finance sector and telecom sector, leading the losses.

And here's some futures and options data from Vijay Bhambwani, editor of Fast Income Alerts...

Here's what Vijay wrote about the same...

• NSE f&o turnover was Rs 7,95,772 Crs (yesterday Rs 6,45,831 Crs). Higher turnover was seen in the first half when markets were rising.
  
  The marketwide average MWPL was 18.92% (yesterday 19.19%). The gradual unwinding of positions continues.
  
  A shallow market is highly volatile, can turn on a dime. I had indicated today morning that the Nifty had made its first attempt to make a bottom. A few failed / false attempts are likely before a real bottom is made.

To track such data on a daily basis and get our latest views on stock markets and more, you can join our Telegram channel here.

Top Stocks in Action Today

Sun Pharma share price will be in focus today as the company's board on Tuesday approved a Rs 17 billion share buyback offer at a maximum price of Rs 425 per share.

At the maximum buy-back size and the maximum buy-back price, the indicative maximum number of equity shares to be bought back under the buy-back would represent 1.67% of the total number of equity shares of the company.

ONGC share price will also be in focus today as the company's board approved an interim dividend of Rs 5 per share at its meeting held on Monday.

The company also stated that during the last few days due to sudden and sharp decline in crude oil prices, the share prices of oil sector entities have witnessed a lot of volatility, and particularly the share prices of the upstream companies have been hit hard.

Market participants will also track Delta Corp share price. The company has decided to close casinos at Sikkim to combat the outbreak of Covid-19.

YES Bank's Rating Upgrade

On Tuesday, Yes Bank share price zoomed more than 70% intraday after rating agency Moody's upgraded the private lender's outlook to positive (from negative) while also upgrading its rating by a notch.

Moody's said that the upgrade of YES Bank's long-term issuer rating to Caa1 from Caa3, placing it at the same level as its long-term deposit ratings, takes into account the bailout of the bank's depositors and senior creditors under the YES Bank Reconstruction Scheme.

Note that seven banks led by State Bank of India (SBI) have invested Rs 100 billion, boosting its core capital. The troubled bank will restart full-fledged banking services from tomorrow 6 pm onwards.

Yesterday, in the RBI press conference, the RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said if needed, the central bank would give additional liquidity support to the crippled lender.

The central bank had superseded Yes Bank board on March 5 and placed it under an administrator.

Das said the moratorium on Yes Bank will be lifted on March 18 at 6 pm and new board will assume position on March 26 and administrator will vacate office.

He assured depositors their money is completely safe and there is no need for worry saying that in the history of Indian banking, depositors of SCBs have never lost money.

It was announced that depositors can withdraw their money after 6pm on March 18.

Das also added that interactions with the banks investing in Yes Bank gives the RBI committee confidence that the revival plan will work out.

In one of the articles, we have written about the entire timeline of how YES Bank went from a stock market darling to a pariah. You can read the entire article here: How the YES Bank Collapse Unfolded - 10 Points.

Gold Prices Continue Downtrend

On Tuesday, domestic gold prices extended their decline, falling more than 1.5% following a steep correction in global rates.

In global markets, gold prices edged lower, extending their recent loss as investors preferred to sit on cash amid heightened panic in financial markets over the coronavirus pandemic.

Note that, gold prices have fallen around Rs 5,500 in previous five sessions, falling from Rs 44,500 levels.

In one of his videos, Vijay Bhambwani shares his view on gold and silver prices. He talks about how the bullion prices will move in the short term.

You can check the same here: Will Gold and Silver Prices Fall because of the Coronavirus?

Companies Shelve IPO Plans

Burger King India on Monday joined a growing list of companies putting their initial public offerings (IPO) on hold.

As per a leading financial daily, the company initially planned to launch the issue before the end of this month to raise about Rs 4 billion.

Last week, Rosary Biotech shelved its IPO plan due to fear spillover.

On Monday, Antony Waste Handling Cell had to withdraw its IPO as the issue failed to receive requisite subscription even after an extension of its initial subscription period. It became the first mainboard IPO of the year to go unsubscribed.

The issue attracted bids for only 24,08,200 shares against the total issue size of 48,24,544 shares.

The IPO was initially opened for three days from March 4 to 6, but later the subscription period was extended till March 16.

A number of IPOs, including Home First Finance and Equitas Small Finance are waiting for regulatory nod from the markets regulator.

As of March 13, the market regulator was considering seven more applications including those of UTI AMC, Esaf Small Finance Bank, CAMS, Likhitha Infrastructure, Stove Kraft, NCDEX and Barbeque Nation.

Global Stock Market Drivers

Coronavirus fears led to a historic drop in US stocks, shut borders and disrupted daily life around the world, as governments took increasingly drastic measures to try to reduce the severity of the global outbreak.

Financial markets had their worst day in 30 years despite emergency action by global central banks to try to prevent a recession, with US stock markets falling 12% to 13%.

Japanese policymakers are considering new stimulus measures to tackle the economic fallout from the coronavirus, aiming to further bolster markets after the central bank's biggest cash injection since the global financial crisis.

On Tuesday, economy minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said that the government will consider tax cuts and other measures to battle the damage from the outbreak.

With global stock markets reeling from the crisis, the Bank of Japan pumped US$ 30.272 billion into the financial system with an 84-day dollar funding operation, the largest since December 2008.

On the commodities front, crude oil prices rose by US$ 1 per barrel on Tuesday as bargain hunters emerged after recent sharp falls due to the coronavirus pandemic and the price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia.

The United States has said it will take advantage of low oil prices to fill its Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), and other countries and companies are planning similar measures to fill storage tanks.

As per the economic schedule released by Vijay Bhambwani, editor of Weekly Cash Alerts, here are the important events due later today:

• Japan - Export, Imports & Trade Balance February
• US - Fed Interest Rate Decision
• US - Crude Oil Inventories

To know what's moving the Indian stock markets today, check out the most recent share market updates here.

For information on how to pick stocks that have the potential to deliver big returns, download our special report now!

Read the latest Market Commentary

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INDICESBSE (Rs 0 to 1)BSE (Rs 1 to 2)BSE (Rs 2 to 4)BSE (Rs 4 to 10)BSE (Rs 10 to 20)BSE (Above Rs 20)BSE - AllBSE-30BSE-100BSE-200BSE-500BSE AutoBSE BankexBSE Capital GoodsBSE Consumer DurablesBSE FMCGBSE HealthcareBSE ITBSE MetalBSE Oil & GasBSE PSUBSE TeckBSE RealtyBSE PowerBSE A GroupBSE B GroupBSE Mid-CapBSE Small-CapBSE Basic MaterialsBSE Consumer DiscretionaryBSE IndustrialsBSE UtilitiesBSE Sensex 50BSE Sensex Next 50BSE Bharat 22BSE 150 MidCapBSE 250 SmallCapBSE 250 LargeMidCapBSE 400 MidSmallCapBSE AllCapBSE LargeCapBSE SmallCap SelectBSE 100 LargeCap TMCBSE InfraBSE ManufacturingBSE CPSEBSE Private BankBSE Diversified FinancialsBSE MomentumBSE Low VolatilityBSE QualityBSE Enhanced ValueBSE Divident StabilityS&P BSE IPOBSE SMEIPOBSE 100 ESGBSE CarbonexBSE GreenexNSE (Rs 0 to 10)NSE (Rs 10 to 20)NSE (Above Rs 20)NSE - AllNSE-50NSE ITNSE Nifty Midcap 50NSE JR. NiftyNSE Bank NiftyNIFTY Next 50NIFTY 100NIFTY 200NIFTY 500NIFTY MidCap 100NIFTY SmallCap 250NIFTY SmallCap 50NIFTY SmallCap 100NIFTY LargeMidCap 250NIFTY MidSmallCap 400NIFTY AutoNIFTY Consumer DurablesNIFTY FinanceNIFTY FMCGNIFTY MediaNIFTY MetalNIFTY PharmaNIFTY Private BankNIFTY PSU BankNIFTY RealtyNIFTY Oil & GasNIFTY SME EmergeNIFTY CommoditiesNIFTY CPSENIFTY EnergyNIFTY India ConsumptionNIFTY InfraNIFTY MNCNIFTY PSENIFTY Serv SectorNIFTY100 Liquid 15NIFTY Midcap Liquid 15NIFTY Midcap 150 Quality 50NIFTY50 Equal WeightNIFTY100 Equal WeightNIFTY100 Low Volatility 30NIFTY100 Alpha 30NIFTY Alpha 50NIFTY Dividend Opportunities 50NIFTY High Beta 50NIFTY Low Volatility 50NIFTY200 Quality 30NIFTY 500 Value 50NIFTY 100 Quality 30SECTORSAgricultureAirlinesAluminiumAsset Management CompaniesAutomobilesAuto AncillariesBanks (Private)Banks (PSU)BankingCementChemicalsDefenceDiagnosticsDronesEngineeringElectric VehicleElectric Vehicle BatteryEnergy SourcesESGEthanolFertilizersFintechFMCGFoodGreen HydrogenHotelsInfrastructureInsuranceInvestment and FinanceInvITIT (Large)IT (Others)LogisticsMediaMetalMiningIndia's Big Tech StocksIndian PharmaMNC PharmaPSUPaintPaperPlasticPowerRating AgenciesReal EstateREITsRenewable EnergyRetailingSemiconductorShippingSteelSugarSupply ChainTelecomTextilesTravel Support Services

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