10 things you need to know before the opening bell on May 11

SUMMARY

The Indian market is likely to open higher on Monday tracking global markets as investors expect more countries to restart their economies. At 7:15 am, the SGX Nifty traded 90.55 points or 0.98 percent higher at 9,363, indicating a higher start for the Sensex and Nifty50.

By CNBCTV18.comMay 11, 2020 7:51:39 AM IST (Published)

1. Asia: Stocks in Asia traded higher on Monday morning as hopes rise on economies reopening, even as U.S. reported record job losses in April. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 edged 0.81 percent higher while the Topix index gained 0.86 percent. South Korea’s Kospi also added 0.4 percent. Meanwhile, shares in Australia traded in positive territory, with the S&P/ASX 200 gaining 0.61 percent. Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan traded 0.15 percent higher.

2. US: U.S. stock futures rose on Sunday night after Wall Street posted consecutive rallies to end last week amid the prospects of the global economy reopening soon. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures traded 102 points higher, or 0.4 percent. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures were also up after trading slightly lower earlier in the session. The S&P 500 gained more than 1 percent on Thursday and Friday, leading to the broader-market average’s first weekly advance in three weeks. On Friday, investors shrugged off the biggest one-month job losses on record as expectations of an economic reopening outweighed the negative data.

3. Market At Close On Friday: Indian domestic market slipped from morning highs and ended with minor gains on Friday due to the losses in PSU banks and auto stocks.

The S&P BSE Sensex closed the session with gains of 200 points at 31,643 while the Nifty50 index ended at 9,251, up 52 points. Nifty Bank index slipped 234 points from highs to close 42 points lower at 12,789. Among sectoral indices, Nifty Pharma and Nifty FMCG surged 2 percent while PSU banks and auto index slipped nearly 2 percent lower.

4. Crude Oil: Oil prices rose on Friday and were on course for a second consecutive week of gains as U.S. producers rapidly shut crude production and more states moved ahead with plans to relax lockdowns intended to prevent the spread of the worst public health crisis in a generation. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude gained $1.19, or 5 percent, to settle at $24.74 per barrel, while international benchmark Brent crude gained $1.51 to settle at $30.97 per barrel.

5. Rupee Close: The rupee appreciated 18 paise to provisionally settle at 75.54 against the US dollar on Friday, tracking higher domestic equities and weakness in the American currency. Forex traders said positive cues from domestic equities and significant foreign fund inflows supported the local unit. At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 75.36, then pared some initial gains to finally close at 75.54 against the US dollar, registering a rise of 18 paise over its previous close.

6. Nirmala Sitharaman To Meet PSU Bank Chiefs: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will hold a review meeting with CEOs of public sector banks (PSBs) on Monday to discuss various issues, including credit offtake, as part of efforts to prop up the economy hit by the COVID-19 crisis. The meeting, to be held via video-conferencing, will also take stock of interest rate transmission to borrowers by banks and progress on moratorium on loan repayments, sources said.

7. MHA Issues Guidelines For Manufacturing Units: In a fresh note to states and union territories, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), under the aegis of Ministry of Home Affairs, has issued fresh guidelines for re-starting manufacturing industries post-lockdown. The move comes after government took detailed analysis of the recent Vizag gas leak incident. NDMA has now issued a set of generic guidelines followed by specific guidelines for storage of products, raw material, for workers and for manufacturing processes. Among its guidelines, NDMA has asked state governments and industries “consider the first week as the trial or test run period”, when restarting a unit.

8. Former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan Calls For Debt Monetisation: After the government hiked market borrowing by 54 percent over the weekend in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, calls for monetising debt seem to be gaining traction with experts suggesting that repercussions of not spending to support the economy will be irreparable. Conservative monetary economist and former RBI chief Raghuram Rajan, over the weekend, has also pitched for monetising public debt and higher fiscal deficit in a ''measured'' manner to protect the economy and the poor and the vulnerable in these ''abnormal times''.

9. Government Mulls On Credit Guarantee For MSMEs: As part of a stimulus package for the coronavirus-hit economy, the government is working on a credit guarantee scheme to enable banks to provide additional 10-15 per cent working capital to MSMEs for payment of wages, sources said. Currently, banks are offering an extra line of credit of 10 per cent based on working capital limits, which the government intends to increase further. Since units are closed due to lockdown and there has been no operation for the past two months, most micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) do not have money for paying wages and financial assistance for them is under consideration of the government, the sources said.

10. British PM Boris Johnson Permits Easing Of Lockdown: The coronavirus lockdown will not end yet, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Sunday, urging people to “stay alert” to the risks as he outlined plans to begin slowly easing measures that have closed much of the economy for seven weeks. "No, this is not the time simply to end the lockdown this week. Instead we are taking the first careful steps to modify our measures. And the first step is a change of emphasis that we hope that people will act on this week. And we want it to be safe for you to get to work. So you should avoid public transport if at all possible – because we must and will maintain social distancing, and capacity will therefore be limited," Johnson said.