Summary: Trade deal negotiations between the United States and China along with March quarter results and rupee movement will be keenly watched by the investors on Thursday. On Wednesday, the benchmark indices, S&P BSE Sensex and Nifty50 lost 488 points and 138 points, respectively to settle at 37,790 and 11,359 levels. The rupee fell for the third consecutive day to Rs 69.71 against the US currency amid weak global growth sentiment. It depreciated by 28 paise. EARNINGS CORNER Q4FY19 results of HCL Technologies, Apollo Tyres, Indian Overseas Bank and PNB Housing Finance will be closely tracked among the 55 companies that are scheduled to announce their quarterly results during the day. GLOBAL CUES The two-day meeting between Washington and Beijing will begin today to finalise the contours of the trade deal. While delegates from China are yet to meet their American counterparts, media reports have suggested that the Trump administration has “done the paperwork” to hike tariffs on $200 billion worth of goods from Friday. On Wall Street, the benchmark S&P 500 fell during the overnight trade on Wednesday for the third day in a row. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 2.24 points higher at 25,967 levels, the S&P 500 lost 4.63 points to close at 2,879 and the Nasdaq dropped 20.44 points to end at 7,943 levels. Among Asian stocks, Japan’s Nikkei was trading 197 points lower in the early trade on Thursday while Korea’s KOSPI was down 17.16 points. OIL PRICES Oil prices dropped in the early trade amid concerns over the escalating trade battle between the United States and China. Brent crude oil futures were at $69.92 a barrel at 6:32 am, down 0.63 per cent from their previous settlement.
