10 things you need to know before the opening bell on April 26

SUMMARY

Indian shares are set to open flat on Friday following subdued trading in Asia amid higher oil prices and ongoing earnings season. Asian shares traded marginally lower ahead of the US gross domestic product data. On Thursday, benchmark indices reverse gains and ended around 0.8 percent lower after Brent crude prices rose above $75 per barrel for the first time in 2019. At 07:14 AM, the SGX Nifty, an early indicator of the Nifty 50's trend in India, was up 0.03 percent at 11,734, indicating a positive start for the Sensex and Nifty.

By CNBC-TV18Apr 26, 2019 7:52:33 AM IST (Updated)

1. Asia: Nikkei and Topix slipped 0.86 percent each in early trade, over in South Korea, the Kospi declined 0.66 percent. Losses were seen in Australia, where the ASX 200 fell marginally by 15.60 points at 29,549.80.

2. US: The Dow Jones plunged 134.97 points, or 0.51 percent, to 26,462.08, the S&P 500 ended at 2,926.17 points, down 0.04 percent and the Nasdaq Composite added 16.67 points, or 0.21 percent, to 8,118.68.

3. Markets At Close On Thursday: Indian equity benchmarks erased half of the previous day’s gains and closed negatively in late trade pulled by banking and financial sector. Sensex fell 323.82 points to 38,730.86 and the Nifty50 dropped 84.40 points to 11,641.80 amid rising crude oil prices.

4. Crude Oil: Oil prices dipped on Friday on expectations that producer club OPEC will soon raise output to make up for a decline in exports from Iran following a tightening of sanctions by the United States against Tehran. Brent crude futures were at $74.09 per barrel at 6 AM, down 26 cents, or 0.4 percent, from their last close. US WTI crude futures were at $64.82 per barrel, down 39 cents, or 0.6 percent, from their previous settlement.

5. Rupee: The rupee on Thursday slumped 39 paise to close at more than the six-week low of 70.25 against the US dollar.

6. US Dollar: Against a basket of currencies, the dollar was 0.8 percent firmer for the week so far at 98.128 having touched its highest since May 2017. The dollar was down at 111.51 yen, after shedding 0.5 percent overnight, but was buoyed elsewhere by solid data on US capital goods orders.

7. FIIs & DIIs: Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs 3,786 crore on a net basis in the cash market, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth Rs 4,070 crore on April 25.

8. India on US Trade Watchlist: The United States on Thursday placed India on its 'Priority Watch List', alleging lack of "sufficient measurable improvements" to its Intellectual Property (IP) framework on long-standing and new challenges that have negatively affected American right holders over the past year. The US Trade Representatives (USTR) in its report identified 11 countries, including India, in its 'Priority Watch List'. China, Indonesia, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela are among others.

9. Brexit: The number of Indian companies investing in the UK registered a jump over the previous year despite the ongoing uncertainties around Brexit, according to a new report tracking Indian investments in the UK. The annual 'India Meets Britain Tracker' released in London on Wednesday finds that the number of Indian companies doing business in Britain has increased from 800 in 2018 to 842 in 2019, with a combined turnover of 48 billion pounds.

10. Japan On India Import Duty: Japan has expressed interest to join consultations in a dispute case filed by the European Union in the World Trade Organisation against India's import duties on some information and communications technology (ICT) products, including mobile phones, according to a communication of the WTO. Japan is the sixth country which wants to join the consultations sought by the EU against India under the aegis of the WTO's dispute settlement mechanism.