Summary: Oil prices, Fed meet outcome, auto sales numbers, rupee movement and March quarter earnings will be key triggers for the Indian indices on Thursday. Markets will resume trading today after a day’s off on account of Maharashtra Day. BSE Sensex, on Tuesday, closed at 39,032, down 36 points, or 0.09 per cent while the broader Nifty50 slid 6.5 points, or 0.06 per cent, to end at 11,748. Rupee closed at Rs 69.56 per dollar. India’s Manufacturing Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI) data is also due for release later today. Earnings corner Close to 40 companies will release their Q4 earnings for the financial year 2018-19. These will include Bandhan Bank, Bombay Dyeing, Dabur, MRF, and Tata Power. Global cues Oil prices will be under watch as the US’ decision against oil import from Iran will come into effect from today. Trump administration, last month, had ended waivers given to oil importing countries. Oil prices dipped on Thursday after data showed record US crude oil production even as oil markets, outside of the US, remained tense. Spot Brent crude futures were at $72.09 per barrel, down 0.1 per cent. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was off 0.1 per cent, trading in a tight band. Indices in Japan and China were shut and will resume trading from next Tuesday and Monday respectively. US indices ended marginally lower after the Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged in the target between 2.25 per cent and 2.5 per cent, against expectations of “precautionary cut” to stoke inflation. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended at 26,430, down 163 points, S&P500 shed 22 points to close at 2,924. Nasdaq ended 46 points lower at 8,050.
