Opening Bell:
Ahead of the monthly jobs data due tomorrow, the US markets
closed higher for a second session with the Dow rallying nearly 100 points
aided by an upbeat beige book report on Wednesday. European markets gained as Q2
GDP data confirms that the euro zone has exited its longest recession on
record.
Back home, Dalal Street managed to stay in the green, yet
during mid-session, we saw those gains getting almost halved. However, towards
the end of the day the Sensex and the Nifty rebounded from the day's lows and
ended with gains of around a percent and a half each. The Sensex rose 332.89
points or 1.83% to close at 18567.55, and the Nifty gained 106.65 points
or 2% at 5448.10.
Asian markets were trading on a firm note today morning.
Meanwhile, RBI governor Raghuram Rajan announced a slew of
reforms measures, from freeing up bank branches, to improved debt recovery
systems, to stricter controls on debt restructuring.
India is one step closer to changing an eight-year old law
and overhaul the pension space, Lok Sabha has passed the Pension Bill and the
finance minister hopes this will bring in more foreign direct investment into
the country.
Stocks in news
Watch for Jet Airways in trade today as agency reports
indicate that the airline has hiked fares by 25 percent with immediate effect
There could some uptick in Axis Bank as the RBI has
withdrawn curbs on foreign equity investment in the bank as the foreign
shareholding has gone below the trigger.
Watch for movement on Apollo Hospitals today. Newspaper
reports suggest that a consortium headed by KKR is close to concluding a deal
with which could see an investment of Rs 500-600 crore.
In a sentiment positive for Unitech , its promoter released
their pledge on 85 lakh shares or 3.3 percent of total shares outstanding in
the dying minutes of trade yesterday.
Look out for green on Coromandel Engineering as CNBC-TV 18
understands that the company will be mulling a rights issue.
Watch for what comes out of the AGMs of Bharti Airtel , HPCL
and Prestige Estates which will be held today.
US
Markets closed higher for a second session with the Dow
rallying nearly 100 points and logging its biggest gain in over a month. What
helped sentiment was the Fed's upbeat beige book report and also as the white
house pressed its case for military action in Syria.
After suffering another tech snag during the session, the
Nasdaq closed sharply higher gaining 1%. Apple climbed near the USD 500
a day after the tech giant sent official invitations to a September 10 event at
which it is expected to unveil the latest version of the iphone.
Meanwhile, the Fed's beige book revealed that the US economy
expanded at a "modest to moderate" pace in most of the country
between early July and late August suggesting that the economy is reaching the
point where the central bank could pull back on its asset-purchase program.
San Francisco Fed president John Williams said the central
bank should start to trim its bond-buying program later this year and end it
mid-2014, as long as the job market continues to heal and inflation heads back
up toward 2%.
The 10-year treasury yields are again inching closer to the
2.9% mark ahead of the jobs data due tomorrow.
Europe
Shares pared losses in afternoon trade on Wednesday to close
higher. Q2 GDP growth confirmed that the eurozone had exited its longest
recession on record. Q2 GDP for the euro zone was revised up from -0.7%
to -0.5%. Meanwhile, euro zone business activity in august was at its
strongest level since June 2011. Also, two key events to monitor today. The ECB
as well as the Bank of England will announce their policy decision.
Currency
The dollar dropped against the euro for the first time in
six sessions and retreated from a six-week high against a basket of currencies
as better eco data boosted risk appetite.
As one newspaper puts it - the rupee has a new boss and
yesterday, it behaved itself recovering some lost ground after starting the day
weak. There is believed to have been some dollar selling by state owned banks
and the rupee also got a boost from the RBI's clarification on overseas direct
investment curbs.
Commodities
There was a bit of bounce in crude prices today morning.
Yesterday they slipped as the prospect of an immediate US military strike on
Syria faded, alleviating fears of a potential supply shock.
From precious metals space, gold fell 1.5% slipping
below USD 1,400/ounce as strong US auto sales boosted economic hopes and fears
of a US-led military strike against Syria lost some of its urgency.
