 "10 things you should know before the opening bell")
Global news:
Jitters over a possible US-led military strike against the Syrian government knocked Asian equities on Wednesday, with Japan’s Nikkei hitting a two-month low, and pushed oil prices and safe-haven gold to multi-month highs.
Wall Street stocks suffered their worst day since June on Tuesday, slumping in a broad decline as geopolitical uncertainty rose over a possible U.S.-led military strike by the West against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces.The S&P 500 closed under its 100-day moving average for the first time since June 24, a sign of weak near-term momentum. The day’s fall extended recent declines on uncertainty over when the U.S. Federal Reserve will start to slow its stimulative monetary policies.
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The safe-haven yen held at one-week highs against the dollar and euro early in Asia on Wednesday, having posted its biggest rally in over two months as investors scrambled for safety amid heightened geopolitical tensions.The dollar fell to 97.10 yen, from a high around 98.54 on Monday. A break below the August 20 low of 96.91 could pave the way for a retest of this month’s trough under 96.00.
Gold rose 1 percent to its highest price in more than three months on Tuesday, as investors sought safe havens from rising geopolitical tension, with an attack by Western powers on Syria seen imminent.
Business/Stock news:
The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has cleared all the brownfield pharma proposals in its meeting today. Among the investments cleared is Mylan’s USD 1.8 billion acquisition of Strides Arcolab.
OMC stocks after the Oil Ministry sources said it is considering a hike in diesel prices of atleast Rs 5 per litre to ease the subsidy burden on oil marketing companies (OMCs).
The National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL) on Tuesday defaulted on its payment commitment for the second week in a row with members paying up only Rs 12 crore as against the required amount of Rs 174 crore for the second settlement. With the crisis deepening, the government has set up a panel of secretaries headed by economic affairs secretary Arvind Mayaram to look into violations by the exchange.
Economy news:
The rupee hit a record low and posted its biggest percentage fall in 18 years on Tuesday as Lok Sabha’s approval of a $20 billion plan to provide cheap grain to the poor renewed doubts about government resolve to control spending ahead of elections due next year.
With rupee breaching 66 mark, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said the currency is undervalued and the government will endeavour to improve investor sentiment to help it find its appropriate level.“At the moment we believe that the value of the rupee has overshot its true value…I am confident that the rupee will find its true (and) appropriate level”, he told the Rajya Sabha during Question Hour.
The Reserve Bank of India has proposed a ‘continuous authorisation’ policy for new private banks and dilution of the government’s stake below the 51 per cent in public sector banks to reduce the fiscal burden on account of recapitalisation of PSU banks.