What changed your market while you were sleeping

The US government shutdown has so far limited impact on US index futures, which can be a sign of relief for domestic stock investors as they begin the F&O expiry week. However, with the market in the overbought territory, they may want to stay light in the run-up to the Budget.

Let’s check out what all might influence Dalal Street all through Monday.

Singapore trading signals weak start
At 7.45 am, Nifty futures on the Singapore Stock Exchange were trading 6 points, or 0.06 per cent, down at 10,907, indicating a weak start for the Nifty50 in India.

Nifty50 makes strong bullish candle

The index on Friday formed a strong bullish candle on the daily chart. It also made a similar pattern on the weekly chart. It managed to close above the upper Bollinger Band on both daily and weekly charts, which portrays great possibility of the uptrend continuing. But the overbought nature of the lead indicators will require market participants to remain vigilant at higher levels.

US stock futures unfazed by shutdown
Stock investors in US gave a muted reaction to the second day of a government shutdown on Sunday, with US stock index futures dipping only slightly on expectations that the political impasse will not hurt the US economy, Reuters reported.

EPFO limit may be raised to 25 per cent
The government is considering a plan to raise the equity investment limit for EPFO to 25 per cent from 15 per cent. The move follows a higher-than-expected return on equity while that on debt has been falling.

Q3 earnings today
Axis Bank, Asian Paints, Havells India, GNFC, Just Dial Rallis India, Videocon Industries and DHFL would be among companies that would announce their quarterly numbers on Monday.

Budget may not be populist, says PM
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has indicated that the forthcoming Union Budget will not be a populist one and it's a myth that the common man expects "freebies and sops" from the government. In an interview with Times Now, he said his government would stay the course on its reforms agenda

ONGC to buy govt stake in HPCL
Oil and Natural Gas (ONGC) agreed to acquire the government's entire 51.11 per cent stake in Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL) for about Rs 37,000 crore in an all-cash deal that would close by the month end. This would help government meet the disinvestment target for FY18.

Vedanta, Torrent in race for GMR plant
Anil Agarwal’s Vedanta group, Torrent Power and state-run NLC India (formerly known as Neyveli Lignite) have joined the race for acquiring a controlling stake in GMR Energy’s 1370 mw power plant in Chhattisgarh. In all, five companies including Adani Power and JSW Energy have put in final bids for the project, industry sources said. Resurgent Power, backed by Tata Group, opted out of the bidding.