What changed for the market while you were sleeping

Good morning, dear reader!

It’s been an eventful night in global markets as a fresh liftoff in crude oil prices took Wall Street higher while gold and bonds plunged. Brexit fears took the pound down while the euro also slipped. Asian markets are quite pepped up and Dalal Street, too, seems to be gearing up for a positive start.

Here is a lowdown of all major triggers that may have changed your market while you were sleeping.

Oh, crude! Why so moody?
Since the beginning of the year, the crude oil counter has been moody, sulking mostly. Last night, though, WTI crude -- a benchmark of oil prices in the US – headed for the sky like Apollo 11, surging as much as 8 per cent before ending 6.32 per cent higher above the $31 mark. Brent prices rose 5.34%. The rally came as IEA, the world’s oil consumer body, said crude output in the US may fall by 600,000 barrels per day in 2016. The rally, traders are hoping, may finally establish the bottom for oil prices globally.

Wall Street, Europe danced to oil’s tune – again!
Shares rallied in the US and European markets on the back of a super surge in crude oil prices. The S&P500 index ended with a solid 1.45 per cent gain, as the Dow Jones climbed 229 points. European shares climbed, too. The German DAX rallied 2 per cent, French CAC40 1.8 per cent and the Euro Stoxx 50 index 2.13 per cent. Mining, metals and energy stocks hogged the limelight on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.

Nifty50 will have 51 stocks now, new members
This April 1, the Nifty50 will comprise 51 stocks, yeah! after it welcomes four new members to the crew while kicking out three. As part of the reshuffling of the benchmark index that takes place from time to time, the stock exchange notified the changes on Monday. The ones to be booted out include Cairn India, Vedanta and PNB. They will make way for Aurobindo Pharma, Bharti Infratel, Eicher Motors and Tata Motors DVR.

Rupee hits all-time low, pound at 7-yr low
A flight of capital towards safe havens has caused the rupee to slump to its all-time low in the offshore market, futures contracts at Dubai exchange showed. The offshore value was at 68.91 versus the onshore rate of 68.60. The British pound crashed to its seven-year low as fears over Brexit intensified after the London mayor called for leaving the EU. The contagion spread to the euro, too. The currency of the Union slumped over 1 per cent to hit its three-week lows against the US dollar.

Are you worrying about US recession?
As the world grapples with the possibility of a recession in the US, four of its states – Alaska, North Dakota, West Virginia and Wyoming – are already going through one as per Moody’s. The bust in the US energy industry and a strengthening dollar is hitting the country’s oil-producing states hard. Besides these four, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Louisiana are at the risk of recession. Investors will now be watching if the contagion spreads. The Fed says the cases are isolated, only time will tell.

Donald Trump wants your job if he becomes president
The billionaire aspiring to become the president of the US said on Monday night that he would bring back jobs from India and China to the US. The Republican, high from his fresh victory in the South Carolina primary, believes countries like China, India, Vietnam and Mexico have taken away jobs belonging to the African-American community and promised to bring them back soon. If he were to become the president, it could mean more stringent rules for the Indian IT and pharma industries, which have a huge business interest in that country.