SGX Nifty down 100 points; here's what changed for market while you were sleeping

The domestic equity market was set for a negative opening, following a gap-down start in Asian markets. US stocks dropped in overnight trade. Dollar gained some footing as the Fed remains aggressive in combating inflation. Back home, traders would be awaiting RBI monetary policy outcome, scheduled tomorrow. Here's breaking down the pre-market actions:

STATE OF THE MARKETS

SGX Nifty signals negative start
Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange traded 103.5 points, or 0.58 per cent, lower at 17,764, signaling that Dalal Street was headed for a negative start on Thursday.

• Tech View: Nifty50 on Wednesday saw a gap-down opening and ended up forming a small bearish candle on the daily chart. It was the second day of fall for the index. Analysts said Nifty50 has support near 17,700 level while they see resistance at around 17,900 level.
• India VIX: The fear gauge spiked about 3 per cent to 19.02 level on Wednesday over its close at 18.49 on Tuesday.

Asian shares tank at open
Tokyo stocks opened lower on Thursday amid surging US bond yields as minutes from the Fed fueled expectations of more aggressive future rate hikes. MSCI's index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down by 0.64 per cent.

• Japan's Nikkei tumbled 1.79%
• South Korea's Kospi dropped 0.85%
• Australia's ASX 200 declined 0.54%
• China's Shanghai retreated 0.04%
• Hong Kong's Hang Seng plunged 1.87%

US stocks end lower
Wall Street's main indexes fell on Wednesday, with steep declines in tech and other growth stocks, after minutes from the Federal Reserve's March meeting sharpened investors' focus on the U.S. central bank's plans to fight inflation.

• Dow Jones dropped 0.42% at 34,496.51
• S&P 500 tumbed 0.97% to 4,481.15
• Nasdaq plunged 2.22% to 13,888.82

Dollar remains buoyant
The dollar hovered near a two-year high against a basket of currencies on Thursday, after meeting minutes showed the Federal Reserve preparing to move aggressively to head off inflation.

• Dollar Index held steady at 99.575
• Euro recovered mildly to $1.0911
• Pound was pinned at $1.3076
• Yen was hovering near 123.64 per dollar
• Yuan exchanged hands at 6.3601 against the greenback

Oil prices rose mildly
Oil prices clawed back some losses on Thursday after tumbling more than 5 per cent to a three-week low in the previous session after consuming nations announced a huge release of oil from emergency reserves to offset supply lost from Russia.

Brent crude futures climbed $1.32, or 1.3 per cent, to $102.39 a barrel at 0119 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose $1.18, or 1.2 per cent, to $97.41 a barrel.

FIIs sell shares worth Rs 2,280 cr
Net-net, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) turned sellers of domestic stocks to the tune of Rs 2,279.97 crore, data available with NSE suggested. DIIs turned net buyers to the tune of Rs 622.92 crore, data suggests.

Two listings today
Veranda Learning Solutions and Uma Exports will make their debut on the bourse today. The former one's Rs 200 crore IPO was open for subscription between March 29-31 in the price range of Rs 130-137 per share, whereas the latter one raised Rs 60 crore via primary issue between March 28-30 in the price range of Rs 65-68 apiece.

MONEY MARKETS
Rupee: Snapping its three-day winning streak, the rupee tanked 55 paise, its steepest single-day fall in a month, to close at a one-week low of 75.84 against the US dollar on Wednesday as expectations of aggressive rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve bolstered the American currency.

10-year bonds: India 10-year bond jumped by 0.26 per cent to 6.92 after trading in 6.91 - 6.93 range on Wednesday.

Call rates: The overnight call money rate weighted average stood at 3.27 per cent on Wednesday, according to RBI data. It moved in a range of 2.20-3.55 per cent.