The National Stock Exchange benchmark - NSE Nifty 50 index - is set to stage massive gap up opening as indicated by the Nifty Futures on Singapore Exchange amid strong cues from global markets. The Nifty Futures on Singapore Exchange also known as SGX Nifty Futures rose 1.6 per cent or 270 points to 16,923.
Asian Markets
Most of the Asian markets were trading higher ahead of Federal Open Market Committee decision on the back as falling crude oil prices kept inflation worries at bay. Japan's Nikkei surged 1.73 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 2.4 per cent and Singapore's Straits Times jumped 1.44 per cent.
US Markets
Technology companies led stocks broadly higher on Wall Street Tuesday, as oil prices slid sharply for the second day and inflation worries ebbed. The market rally came a day ahead of the Federal Reserve’s highly anticipated interest rate policy update.
The S&P 500 rose 2.1 per cent, ending a three-day losing streak, after a report showed inflation’s rapid acceleration paused at the wholesale level last month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.8 per cent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite rose 2.9 per cent.
US Fed Meet in Focus
Central banks around the world are preparing to pull the plug on the support they poured into the global economy after the pandemic struck. The Fed began a two-day meeting on interest rates, and the wide expectation is that it will announce on Wednesday an increase of 0.25 percentage points to its key short-term rate.
That would be the first increase since 2018, pulling it off its record low of nearly zero, and likely the first in a series of rate hikes. The Fed is trying to slow the economy enough to tamp down the high inflation sweeping the country, but not so much as to trigger a recession.
Foreign Flows
Foreign institutional investors sold shares worth Rs 1,250 crore on Tuesday while domestic institutional investors bought shares worth Rs 98 crore.
Paytm, Infibeam Avenues, Zomato Among Stocks In Focus
Paytm: Munish Varma, managing partner at SoftBank Investment Advisors, has stepped down from the board of Paytm citing "personal commitments and other pre-occupations", the company informed the BSE on Tuesday evening.
Paytm informed the BSE that Varma had resigned from the board along with his alternate director Vikas Agnihotri.
Zomato: The food-tech firm has acquired Mukunda Foods for an aggregate cash consideration of $5 million and it has also granted a loan of $150 million to Grofers India.
Infibeam Avenues: The company has appointed Sunil Bhagat as the Chief Financial Officer and Key Managerial Personnel of the Company with effect from the start of business hours on March 19, 2022.
(With inputs from AP)