SGX Nifty gains 50 points on Monday; five things to know before opening bell today

Domestic equity market benchmarks BSE Sensex and Nifty 50 are expected to open with gains on Monday. On the back of developments on COVID-19 vaccine, Indian share markets reached their record high levels last week. Market participants will track rising coronavirus cases, oil prices, newsflow related to COVID-19 vaccine, rupee trajectory and other global cues. According to the analysts, bourses are likely to witness bouts of buying in the lower order stocks hinting a catch-up rally. “Industry laggards such as mid and small caps are ready and are trying to catch-up the industry leaders in terms of a price movement. Investors are advised to book profits at these higher levels and patiently wait for a healthy correction for a buy on dips strategy,” said Nirali Shah, Senior Research Analyst, Samco Securities.

SGX Nifty in green: Nifty futures were trading 50 points up at 12,931 on Singaporean Exchange, suggesting a positive opening for BSE Sensex and Nifty 50 on Monday.

RBI IWG’s suggestion: In a significant shift of stance, large corporates and conglomerates could own banks if the suggestions of an internal working group (IWG) constituted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) are accepted. The well-run non-banking finance companies (NBFCs), with an asset size of Rs 50,000 crore and above could become banks post 10 years of operations once they pass the due exercise.

FII and DII data: On Friday, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) lapped up shares worth Rs 3,860.78 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) offloaded shares worth Rs 2,868.66 crore on a net basis in the Indian equity market, according to the provisional data available on the NSE.

Global watch: Asian stock markets were trading higher in the early trade on Monday. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.62 per cent higher. South Korea’s Kospi gained 1.68 per cent. Markets in Japan are closed on Monday for a holiday. On Friday, the US stock market ended lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.75 per cent, the S&P 500 lost 0.68 per cent, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.42 per cent.

Technical talk: “The near term uptrend status remains intact and upside momentum is expected to continue after this small dip in the market. Hence, one may expect Nifty to move towards the new all time high of 12963 levels by next week. A decisive/sustainable move above 13000 levels could open next upside targets of 13500-13600 in the near term. Immediate supports to be watched at 12680-12730 levels,” said Nagaraj Shetti, Technical Research Analyst, HDFC Securities.