SGX Nifty futures point to lower start on Dalal Street: 10 things to know before opening bell

Indian shares are set to start lower on Tuesday, June 20, 2023, tracking negative moves across major markets around the globe. SGX Nifty futures, an early indicator of the Nifty index, suggests a lower start on Dalal Street. Indian indices closed weaker on Monday amid profit-booking, while Asian markets fared negative in early trade. 

Here are the top 10 things you should know before the opening bell today:

SGX Nifty Futures: SGX Nifty futures — an early indicator of the Nifty index — were down 78 points or 0.4 per cent at 18,796.5 at the last count ahead of the opening bell on Dalal Street.

Asian shares: Asian shares began the day on a weaker note in the absence of cues from Wall Street, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan quoting 0.7 per cent lower at the last count. Japan's Nikkei was down 0.6 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng 1.3 per cent and China's Shanghai Composite 0.4 per cent.

Wall Street: The US stock market remained shut on Monday for Juneteenth. The three main Wall Street benchmarks — the Dow Jones, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq — closed 0.3-0.7 per cent lower on Friday, amid weakness in market heavyweights such as Microsoft as comments from two Fed officials curtailed optimism that the US central bank is nearing the end of its aggressive interest rate hikes.

Crude oil: Benchmark oil rates fell on Monday as questions over China's economy outweighed output cuts in the OPEC+ grouping of top producers and the seventh straight drop in the number of oil and gas rigs operating in the US. Brent crude settled down by 48 cents or 0.6 per cent at $76.1 a barrel.

Nifty retreated from six points within all-time high on Monday: After coming within a kissing distance of an all-time high, the benchmark index reversed gains on profit-booking in recently outperformed counters on Monday. At the end of the day, the Sensex stood at 63,168.3, down 216 points or 0.3 per cent from its previous close, and the Nifty settled at 18,755.5, down 70.6 points 0.4 per cent on the day.

Rupee closing: The rupee inched lower by three paise to close at 81.93 against the US dollar on Monday amid strong American currency against major rivals overseas.

Gold prices: Spot gold held its ground at $1,950.9 per ounce by 0027 GMT after dipping in holiday-thinned trade on Monday. US gold futures were down 0.4 per cent at $1,962.6 an ounce.

China cuts loan rates: The one-year loan prime rate (LPR) was lowered by 10 basis points to 3.55 per cent, while the five-year LPR was cut by the same margin to 4.20 per cent from 4.30 per cent.

IndiGo: Interglobe Aviation announced that it has made a record order for 500 Airbus A320 aircraft. The massive expansion by India's largest airline comes as the aviation industry is witnessing more competition.

HDFC Credila: HDFC has signed definitive documents for the proposed disinvestment or sale of approximately 90 per cent in its education loan subsidiary, HDFC Credila, to a consortium of private equity firms BPEA EQT and ChrysCapital for around Rs 9,060 crore, according to a regulatory filing. 

Monsoon update: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a warning of heavy rainfall over West Bengal, Meghalaya, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Sikkim, and parts of Karnataka, Rajasthan and Gujarat. However, light to moderate rainfall is predicted over Gangetic West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

With inputs from agencies