Sensex, Nifty set to rise after Wall Street gains

 Indian benchmarks are set to extend gains at opening bell today, going by the trends on SGX Nifty, an early indicator of NSE Nifty 50 Index’s performance in India, and strong Wall Street session. 

The Nifty futures were at 9,320, up 53 points, on the Singapore Stock Exchange around 7:30 am while the US markets had ended with gains of more than 1 per cent.

While investors are turning attention to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, they also are looking forward to March quarter earnings report cards as earnings season continues this week, second round of fiscal stimulus, roadmap for lifting of the national lockdown and Covid-19 situation for further cues on market direction.

Indian equity markets tracked global peers on Monday. Stimulus packages from some central banks around the world, and the Reserve Bank of India’s liquidity facility of Rs 50,000 crore for mutual funds to calm nervous investors after the Franklin Templeton fiasco, helped lift the mood.

The BSE Sensex closed the day 416 points, or 1.33 per cent, higher at 31,743.08, while the Nifty settled 128 points, or 1.40 percent, up at 9,282.30.

Meanwhile, shares in Asia were mixed in early trade today. The mixed start in Asia follows Wall Street gains as easing lockdown restrictions by some countries and US states buoyed market sentiment but the crash in crude prices is expected to check gains.

In early trade on Tuesday,  Australia’s ASX200  added 0.1 per cent while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.2 per cent. South Korea’s KOSPI was up 0.1 per cent. Japan’s Nikkei 225 is down 0.5 per cent and the Shanghai Composite Index is off 0.3 per cent.

Governments of Italy and New Zealand announced the loosening of restrictions, while Britain said it was too early to announce relaxations there. 

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average  rose 1.51 per cent, the S&P 500  gained 1.47 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite  added 1.11 per cent.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index  rose 1.77 per cent and MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe  gained 1.76 per cent.

Crude oil prices continued their wild swings amid  a lack of storages to put an overflow of crude sent the June contract to its second-lowest settlement on record. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for June delivery slipped 23.14 per cent, or $3.92 to settle at $13.02. 

Brent crude, the global benchmark, fell $1.43, or 6.67 per cent, at $20.01 a barrel, after touching a session low of $19.11. The June Brent contract expires on Thursday. 

Last Monday, prices dipped into negative territory for the first time in history when WTI’s May contract crashed to minus $40.32 before clawing back to settle at minus $37.63.

Kippler data reveals that fuel demand is down 30 per cent globally, and storage is becoming precious, with roughly 85 per cent of worldwide onshore storage full as of last week.

Confirmed Covid-19 cases worldwide climbed above 3 million, with more than 210,000 virus-related deaths.