This is Prachi Sharma, your market jockey, with the morning briefing to get you up and running for a busy day on Dalal Street.
The clock ticks for the Karnataka results day tomorrow. There is no clear signal from the exit polls yet and that is what making investors more nervous.
Nifty futures in Singapore were slightly negative early today, signalling a muted start for Mumbai trading.
That's the trade setup this morning, Ladies and Gentlemen.
Most Asian markets struggled for direction early this morning. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 ruled just above the flat line. The Korean Kospi slipped. MSCI Asia Pacific gauge excluding Japan stood little changed.
The sideways trade in Asia came after US stocks mostly closed higher on Friday driven by energy shares. The trigger came from President Donald Trump's earlier decision to scrap Iran nuclear deal. That marked a strong week for the three main indices, which saw the Dow rise 2.3 per cent — its biggest weekly gain since March.
Oil prices dropped on Monday on relentless rise in US drilling activity. Meanwhile, resistance emerged in Europe and Asia to US sanctions against major crude exporter Iran. And that remains a big uncertainty for the oil price graph.
The dollar was steady. Ten-year US bond yields behaved, staying under 3 per cent. The rupee's woes are far from over. It has been one of the worst performing currencies in the emerging market pack in the past three months.
Corporate earnings will continue to be one of the key market drivers. Hindustan Unilever, Bombay Dyeing and Abbott India are some of the notable names that are set to release their Q4 earnings today.
Flipkart IPO is making news. If all goes according to plan, it could come in as early as four years. That's the latest from Walmart.
The initial public offering of Indostar Capital Finance was overall subscribed 6.7 times on Friday, the third and final day of the bidding process.
Some big corporate action now. SoftBank is figuring it out to invest more in Paytm Mall. The Japanese player is also making up its mind to sell its significant minority stake in rival Flipkart to Walmart, said those privy to the matter.
There is more trouble brewing for tainted businessman Nirav Modi and his companies. The CBDT has given I-T sleuths the goahead for a nationwide probe on suspected cash purchase of diamonds and other jewellery from Nirav Modi stores.
Reliance Jio Infocomm is up in arms against Bharti Airtel. It has asked the telecom ministry to take “severe action” and levy “strictest of penalties” against its rival for allegedly violating licence conditions.
After Dena Bank, the Reserve Bank now is likely to impose certain restrictions on more PSBs under the Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) mechanism due to worsening asset quality, a source said.
Let's wrap with something that may cheer foreign investors. Sebi is trying to make their life easier. It's looking at some grey areas and trying to rework some rules.
Thats it for today. Thank you for listening in. Do log on to www.etmarkets.com for round-the-clock market coverage, lots of investment tips and dozens of stock recommendations from top brokerages.
Enjoy your trading day and make lots of money. Until tomorrow… good bye.
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ET Markets
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