PremiumMUMBAI: Markets are likely to be in on Monday while trends in SGX Nifty suggest a weak opening of Indian benchmark indices. On Friday, the BSE Sensex ended at 52,344.45, up 21.12 points or 0.04%. The Nifty ended at 15,683.35, down 8.05 points or 0.05%.
Asian stocks dropped on Monday as investors mulled the implications of a surprise hawkish shift last week by the US Federal Reserve, while the Treasury yield curve flattened further with 30-year yields dropping below 2%.
Japan's Nikkei led declines with a 3.3% drop and dipped below 28,000 for the first time in a month, while MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 1% in early trading.
Chinese blue chips opened 0.4% lower, and Australia's benchmark slid 1.8%.
Viacom18 Media Pvt. Ltd, the owner of the Colors general entertainment channel, and Subhash Chandra’s Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd are in initial talks for a potential merger that could create a large media firm with interests spanning broadcast, OTT, live entertainment and movie production, according to a Mint exclusive report.
Authum Investment and Infrastructure Ltd has emerged as the highest bidder for Reliance Home Finance (RHF), a group company of the debt-ridden Anil Ambani-promoted Reliance Group, with a ₹2,900 crore offer. According to reports, lenders led by Bank of Baroda would receive ₹2,587 crore or 90% upfront and remaining ₹300 crore within a year.
India's largest telecom operator Reliance Jio gained over 79 lakh mobile users in March, comfortably surpassing the combined net adds by rivals Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea during the month, according to data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on Friday.
Markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has asked mortgage lender PNB Housing Finance to temporarily halt its proposed share sale programme.
Info Edge (India), Oil India, Bharat Dynamics, Jaiprakash Associates, VST Tillers Tractors, Rico Auto Industries and Rana Sugars are among key companies which will announce their March quarter results today.
Benchmark 10-year US Treasury yields fell to the lowest since early March at 1.4110%, while those on 30-year bonds slid as low as 1.9990% for the first time in more than four months.
The yield curve—measured by the spread between two- and 30-year yields—was the flattest since early February.
The US dollar hovered near the 10-week high touched on Friday versus major peers, following its biggest weekly advance in more than a year.
Shares of banks, energy firms and other companies that tend to be sensitive to the economy’s fluctuations have fallen sharply following the Fed’s meeting on Wednesday, when the central bank caught investors off guard by anticipating two quarter-percentage-point rate increases in 2023 amid a recent surge in inflation.
St. Louis Fed president James Bullard further fuelled the sell-off on Friday by saying the shift toward faster policy tightening was a "natural" response to economic growth and particularly inflation moving quicker than expected as the country reopens from the coronavirus pandemic.
Several Fed officials have speaking duties this week, including chair Jerome Powell, who testifies before Congress on Tuesday.
The MSCI world equity index, which tracks shares in 45 nations, fell another 0.2% on Monday, extending its retreat from a record intraday high reached Tuesday.
In commodities, gold rebounded 0.6% to $1,773.12 an ounce on Monday, looking to snap a six-day losing streak, but still remained near the lowest since early May, pressured by a stronger dollar.
Crude oil rose for a second day, with the initial move triggered by Opec sources saying the producer group expected limited US oil output growth this year despite rising prices.
Brent crude futures rose 46 cents to $73.97 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 55 cents to $72.19 a barrel.
(Reuters contributed to the story)
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