Market LIVE: Sensex tests 59K, Nifty nears 17,600; ITC jumps 2%, metals drag

Share market LIVE updates: So far today, the Sensex has hit a high of 59,114.89 and a low of 58,525.89, while Nifty has moved in the 17,425.30-17,598.15 range. Nifty Metal shed 3%, while PSU Bank, Private Bank and Auto indices fell 1% each

Investors across the world will be eyeing the FOMC meet this week for clarity on the outlook for tapering as well as interest rate timelines. While the Fed's planned reduction of bond purchases has been in focus this year, their view on interest rates will likely be the fresh triggers to move markets world over?

Pension assets under NPS rise 33% YoY till August

Combined assets under management (AUM) of the National Pension System (NPS) and Atal Pension Yojana rose 32.9% year-on-year to touch ?6.47 trillion as of 31 August. In August 2020, the combined AUM of both schemes stood at ?4.87 trillion.

Total NPS subscriber base at the end of August stood at 4.53 crore, up 24% y-o-y.

Cars24 raises $450 mn from Softbank, Tencent, others

India’s largest online marketplace for used automobiles, Cars24 Services, said on Monday it has closed a $450 million round of funding including a $340 million Series F equity round coupled with $110 million debt from multiple financial institutions, in moves that have almost doubled its valuation to $1.84 billion.

The Series F equity round was led by DST Global, Falcon Edge and SoftBank Vision Fund 2 along with participation from Tencent and existing investors Moore Strategic Ventures and Exor Seeds.

Cars24 plans to use the money from its largest funding till date to expand into the UAE and Australian markets and build its cars, bikes and financing business in India, while continuing to invest in technology.

Nifty view: Manish Hathiramani, proprietary index trader and technical analyst, Deen Dayal Investments

"The Nifty opened with a gap down this morning. What needs to be monitored is whether it breaks the low of 17400. If that were to happen, we could slide further to 17250-17300. This would be more of a short-term move. The medium-term trend continues to remain positive until we do not break 17100 on a closing basis."

L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering wins significant order: BSE filing?

L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering, a wholly owned subsidiary of Larsen & Toubro, has won a significant order from Petronet LNG (PLL), a joint venture company promoted by four leading PSUs - Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL), GAIL (India) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL).

L&T classifies orders worth Rs1,000-2,500 crore as significant.

The contract is for engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning of two LNG storage tanks with a capacity of 170,000 m3 each for Phase three of the Dahej Expansion Project at Dahej, Gujarat.?

Bullion Outlook: ICICI Securities?

Gold prices started Friday’s trade on a flat note and consolidated during the whole session in the range of | 45850-46250 levels

Prices recouped some losses on Friday after a drop of nearly 3% in the previous session but a firm dollar kept bullion on course for a second weekly decline with the focus still on this week’s Federal Reserve meeting

Therefore, we expect gold prices to remain subdued in the range of 45800-46200 levels for the day

Jindal Steel and Power wins Kasia iron block in Odisha: media report

Jindal Steel and Power Limited has bagged the Kasia iron ore and dolomite block in in the Keonjhar district of Odisha. JSPL won the ore at 118% premium to the sale value of the ore at the latest auction, as per a report in the Economic Times.

The Kasia mine is spread over 194 hectares and was among the 11 mineral blocks for bauxite, iron ore and dolomite announced for auction in July by the Odisha government.

Other companies including Jindal Steel and Power Ltd, Adani Group, JSW, Tata Steel, ArcelorMittal, Essel Mining and Industries Ltd, Rungta Mines Ltd, MSPL, Vedanta and National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) also participated in the auction.

Jefferies maintains Buy on ITC?

Jefferies has maintained a high conviction Buy on ITC stock and has revised its target price to ?300 from ?275 earlier, with a potential upside of up to ?360 and downward scenario of ?190 apiece.

Revised air fare caps may lower ticket prices, boost sales

The Centre’s decision to tweak price cap formula, letting airlines set fares for travel beyond 15 days instead of 30, is likely to bring down fares from the current levels during the festival season, industry experts said.

Since the second covid wave was contained, most people travelled within a fortnight of bookings due to varying covid-related restrictions imposed by states, an airline official said, adding that travel beyond 15 days of the booking period has picked up since July.

“For the sector to revive to pre-covid levels, people who are travelling by trains will have to be lured into taking flights again," the official said, seeking anonymity. Besides, corporate travel, which accounted for a significant share of airline’s passenger traffic in pre-covid times, is also witnessing a slow recovery, he said.

Stocks to Watch

Shares of IDBI Bank, Eicher Motors, Lupin, Cadila, among others, will be in focus today.

Vodafone Idea focus on bank repayments, funds

With the government granting a four-year moratorium on regulatory dues, Vodafone Idea Ltd will now have to focus on repaying banks and seeking funding for 5G spectrum purchases.

The telecom operator has to repay ?9,000 crore worth of loans to banks before the end of this fiscal, including ?5,000 crore of non-convertible debentures, according to a senior banker aware of the matter. Lenders expect the company to raise ?15,000-20,000 crore from investors this year, the banker said on condition of anonymity.

Nifty view: Manish Hathiramani, proprietary index trader and technical analyst, Deen Dayal Investments

"The markets resisted at the 17750 levels and what followed was a knee-jerk reaction. The trend continues to remain positive and intraday drops or price corrections can be used to accumulate long positions. The near-term support for the Nifty is at 17300. If we get past 17800 the next level to watch out for would be 17950."

SGX Nifty lower in early deals?

Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange traded 142 points, or 0.81%, lower at 17,463.00, signalling that Indian markets may be headed for a gap-down start on Monday.

Oil down on stronger greenback, rising US rig count: Reuters?

Oil prices fell on Monday, extending losses from Friday, after the US dollar jumped to a three-week high and rig count in the country rose. The fall comes despite nearly a quarter of US Gulf of Mexico output staying offline in the wake of two hurricanes.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 30 cents, or 0.4%, to $71.67 a barrel in early Asian trade, after declining by 64 cents on Friday. Brent crude futures fell 27 cents, or 0.4%, to $75.07 a barrel after losing 33 cents on Friday.

Oil fell with the greenback near a three-week high following a rally on Friday on better-than-expected U.S. retail sales data. That bolstered expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve will begin reducing asset purchases later this year.

Asian stocks await tapering news from US Fed

Asian shares eased and the dollar held firm on Monday ahead of a week graced with no less than a dozen central bank meetings, highlighted by the Federal Reserve which is likely to take another step toward tapering.

Holidays in Japan, China and South Korea made for a thin start, and politics adds extra uncertainty with elections in Canada and Germany bookending the week.

The fate of Chinese property giant Evergrande, and its $300 billion in liabilities, is also in the balance with a bond interest payment due on Thursday.

Concerns about the health of China's economy and Beijing's crackdown on tech firms continues to haunt the region with stocks in Hong Kong especially hard hit last week.

Early Monday, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dipped another 0.2%, after shedding 2.5% last week.

Wall Street stocks end sharply lower on Friday?

US stocks closed sharply lower in a broad sell-off on Friday, ending a week buffeted by strong economic data, corporate tax hike worries, the Delta COVID variant, and possible shifts in the Federal Reserve's timeline for tapering asset purchases.

All three major U.S. stock indexes lost ground, with the Nasdaq Composite Index suffering the biggest decline as rising US Treasury yields pressured market-leading growth stocks.

They also posted weekly losses, with the S&P index suffering its biggest two-week drop since February.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 168.15 points, or 0.48%, to 34,583.17, the S&P 500 lost 41.06 points, or 0.92%, to 4,432.69 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 137.96 points, or 0.91%, to 15,043.97.

The S&P 500 ended the session below its 50-day moving average, which in recent history has proven a rather sturdy support level.

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