The Indian equity benchmarks are likely to open lower on Thursday as indicated by the Nifty Futures traded on Singapore Exchange. The Nifty Futures on Singapore Exchange also known as SGX Nifty Futures declined 0.3 per cent or 49 points to 17,056 amid weak global cues.
Asian Markets
Most of the Asian markets were trading lower with Japan's Nikkei down 0.41 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.02 per cent, Taiwan Weighted fell 0.24 per cent and South Korea's KOSPI declined 0.93 per cent
US Markets
A wobbly day of trading on Wall Street ended with a modest pullback for stocks Wednesday as investors weighed a report showed that inflation remains very hot, likely paving the way for more aggressive interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.
A late-afternoon drop erased tentative gains that the major stock indexes had been clinging to for much of the day. The S&P 500 ended 0.3 per cent lower, its sixth consecutive loss. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq composite each slipped 0.1 per cent.
Treasury yields, which have driven much of Wall Street’s recent trading, ended lower. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which affects mortgage rates, fell to 3.90 per cent from 3.95 per cent late Tuesday. The yield on the 2-year Treasury slipped to 4.28 per cent from 4.30 per cent.
The market remained choppy following the afternoon release of the minutes from the Fed’s last interest rate policy meeting. The minutes underscored the central bank’s commitment to taming “unacceptably high” inflation. At the conclusion of that meeting last month, the Fed announced a hefty interest rate hike and signaled more large rate increases ahead.
Gold and Crude Oil Price Check
Benchmark U.S. crude oil for November delivery fell $2.08 to $87.27 a barrel Wednesday. Brent crude for December delivery fell $1.84 to $92.45 a barrel.
Gold for December delivery fell $8.50 to $1,677.50 an ounce. Silver for December delivery fell 55 cents to $18.94 an ounce and December copper fell 3 cents to $3.43 a pound.
The dollar rose to 146.88 Japanese yen from 145.85 yen. The euro fell to 96.96 cents from 97.06 cents.
Foreign Flows
Foreign institutional investors sold shares worth Rs 542 crore on Wednesday while domestic institutional investors bought shares worth Rs 85 crore.
Infosys: The country's second largest IT company will announce its September quarter earnings later in the day. The company will also announce its decision on share buyback plan.
Wipro: Wipro Ltd on Wednesday reported a 9.6 per cent drop in its net profit in the second quarter, on lower earnings from clients in non-US markets.
The company reported a net profit of Rs 2,649.1 crore in July-September quarter, compared to Rs 2,930.6 crore in the same period a year back, the company said in a statement.
Revenues rose to Rs 22,539.7 crore in the quarter under review, from Rs 19,667.4 crore a year-ago.
HCL Technologies: HCL Technologies on Wednesday posted a 7 per cent rise in its consolidated net profit for September quarter at Rs 3,489 crore, topping street expectations, and raised the full year revenue guidance citing strong demand and deal pipeline despite macro concerns.
Amid widespread fears of global recession, HCL Tech said it clinched a "stellar quarter on all fronts", delivering strong performance in top line. The IT services firm exuded confidence about its near term and the medium term growth, as it uppped revenue guidance to 13.5-14.5 per cent for the full year, against the 12-14 per cent growth band projected earlier.
Sterling and Wilson: Sterling and Wilson Renewable Energy on Wednesday said its consolidated net loss widened to Rs 298.71 crore during the July-September quarter.
The company's consolidated net loss stood at Rs 284.35 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal, according to a BSE filing.
Reliance Industries: Reliance Retail on Wednesday said it has entered into a multi-year collaboration with NBA to sell the global sports organisation's merchandise at its stores in India.
As part of the collaboration, Reliance Retail on Wednesday introduced a wide selection of NBA team and league-branded products to fans in India, said a joint statement.
