Pre-market: What to watch before the Opening Bell

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Concerns over a hard Brexit is roiling financial markets the world over, making equities to retreat, while crude oil prices dipped following a supply surge despite the Opec-led production cuts.

Cues from Singapore mixed
At 7 am, Nifty50 futures on the Singapore Stock Exchange were trading about 8.50 points higher at 8,256, indicating a flat opening for the domestic market. “We have been fairly surprised by how the market has been holding up particularly the domestic flows in the event of the FII outflows that we have seen. Also the effects of demonetisation is increasingly becoming clear and the direction is clearly downside," said Pramod Gubbi, VP for Institutional Equities at Ambit Capital.

Downturn in US markets
A drop in energy and financial stocks weighed on the S&P500 on Monday and helped stall the Dow's pursuit of the 20,000 milestone ahead of the earnings season and expected US policy changes under the Donald Trump presidency. The Nasdaq notched a record high close, extending its bullish run with help from healthcare stocks. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 76.42 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 19,887. The Standard & Poor's 500 index slid 8.08 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 2,268, while the Nasdaq rose 10.76 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 5,531.

Pound gets knocked, recovers
Sterling steadied in early Asian trade on Tuesday after weekend comments from British Prime Minister Theresa May sent it skidding to 2 1/2-month lows, while the dollar wallowed as investors locked in gains. The pound added 0.2 per cent to $1.2171, after sinking as low as $1.2125 on Monday, its lowest since October 28, following British Prime Minister Theresa May's statement that she was not interested in keeping "bits of membership" of the European Union.

Crude oil tumbles 4 per cent
Oil prices tumbled by 4 per cent on Monday on concern that record Iraqi crude exports and rising US output would undermine Opec's efforts to curb global oversupply. US crude futures settled down $2.03 at $51.96 a barrel, while Brent futures settled down $2.16 at $54.94 a barrel. In Iraq, Opec's second-biggest producer, oil exports from the southern Basra ports reached a record high of 3.51 million barrels per day (bpd) in December, the oil ministry said. Opec members agreed in November on the first deal to cut oil output since 2008, limiting supplies to 32.5 million bpd starting January 1 for six months.

India's tax receipts surge
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday flaunted robust tax receipts to dismiss reports of economic disruption following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision to abolish high-value currency bills. Jaitley said indirect tax receipts grew by an annual 14.2 per cent in December, helped by a surge in excise and service tax collections. In the first three quarters of the fiscal year that ends in March, overall indirect tax collections were up 25 percent from a year earlier. Direct tax receipts during the same period were up 12.01 percent year-on-year.

US economic recovery largely done
Atlanta Federal Reserve bank president Dennis Lockhart said on Monday that a recovery of the US economy from the crisis era is "largely done," and officials should now turn to addressing longer-term issues like how to boost productivity. Lockhart said he felt the economy was entering a "transitional" phase, largely healed from the crisis but in need of fresh policies that could encourage investment, improve productivity, and counter the demographic drag of an ageing population. It will fall to the incoming administration of Donald Trump and the Republican Congress to take up the issue, following years in which the central bank has been the main player in steadying the economy, Lockhart said in one of his last speeches before his retirement at the end of February.

Nifty50 forms ‘Small Bearish Candle’
The Nifty50 formed a ‘Small Bearish Candle’ in Tuesday's trading session. A ‘Small Bearish Candle’ is formed when the index trades lower, but within a defined range, throughout the session. The length of the candle shows the trading range for the day. Two successive bearish candles after a ‘Short Bull Candle’ signal exhaustion or lack of buying at higher levels. If the index slips below the 8,220 level on a closing basis, traders can initiate long positions, traders said.

Rupee tumbles by 25 paise
The rupee on Monday tumbled by over 25 paise to close at 68.21 against the US dollar on renewed worries over a fall in the country’s economic growth, coupled with concerns over quarterly earnings due from this week. Speculation over rate hike by the US Fed following stellar jobs report and frantic dollar demand from importers and companies added pressure on the local currency. The domestic unit opened sharply lower at 68.16 from last Friday’s closing value of 67.96 and ended at 68.21, with a hefty loss of 25 paise.