Important Information For August 17 Stock Trading Strategy

The Indian equity benchmarks are set to open higher as indicated by the Nifty Futures traded on Singapore Exchange. Nifty Futures on Singapore Exchange also known as SGX Nifty Futures rose 0.16 points or 28 points to 17,884 amid positive cues from Asian markets.

Here are key things to know before markets open on Wednesday

Asian Markets

Most of the Asian markets were trading higher with Japan's Nikkei up 0.8 per cent, Singapore's Straits Times up 0.44 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng up 0.34 per cent and Taiwan Weighted up 0.2 per cent.

US Markets

Another choppy day of trading on Wall Street ended Tuesday with a mostly higher finish for stocks that adds to the market’s recent string of gains.

The S&P 500 rose 0.2 per cent, its third straight gain. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.7 per cent, extending its winning streak to a fifth day. The Nasdaq slipped 0.2 per cent.

Bond yields gained ground. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 2.81 per cent from 2.79 per cent late Monday.

The market’s latest gyrations came as traders cautiously reviewed mostly encouraging financial results from major retailers.

Gold and Crude Oil Price Check

Benchmark U.S. crude oil for September delivery fell $2.88 to $86.53 a barrel Tuesday. Brent crude for October delivery fell $2.76 to $92.34 a barrel.

Gold for December delivery fell $8.40 to $1,789.70 an ounce. Silver for September delivery fell 18 cents to $20.09 an ounce and September copper was unchanged at $3.62 a pound.

The dollar fell to 134.25 Japanese yen from 133.32 yen. The euro rose to $1.0169 from $1.0155.

Foreign Flows

Foreign institutional investors bought shares worth Rs 1,376.84 crore on Tuesday while domestic institutional investors sold shares worth Rs 136 crore.

Stocks In Focus

Life Insurance Corporation: Insurance behemoth Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) on Tuesday announced the launch of a campaign for revival of individual lapsed policies.

This special drive, to be carried out from August 17 to October 21, 2022, is extended to all non-ULIP policies with very attractive concession in late fee.

All policies except ULIP (Unit linked Insurance Plan) can be revived within 5 years from date of the first unpaid premium subject to policy conditions, LIC said in a statement.

HDFC AMC:  Promoter BRDN Investment Management, formerly Standard Life Investments, on Tuesday divested its 5.58 per cent stake in HDFC Asset Management Company (AMC) for a little over Rs 2,300 crore through an open market transaction.

According to bulk deal data available with the BSE, the promoter sold a total of 1.19 crore shares, representing a 5.58 per cent stake, of the asset management company.

The shares were divested at Rs 1,935.63 apiece, a discount from Friday's closing price of Rs 1,956.15.

Max Healthcare: The US private equity major KKR on Tuesday sold 27 per cent stake in hospital chain Max Healthcare Institute for Rs 9,185 crore through open market transactions.

The shares were picked up by a host of entities, including the Government of Singapore, Monetary Authority of Singapore, Smaller Cap World Fund Inc, New World Fund Inc, WF Asian Smaller Companies Fund Ltd and BNP Paribas Arbitrage.

According to block deal data with the BSE, KKR, through its affiliate Kayak Investments Holding Pte. Ltd, sold a total of 26,01,96,762 equity shares, amounting to 27 per cent stake in the company.

SAIL: State-owned steel maker SAIL will produce some quantity of special rails used in high-speed freight corridors and metro rail projects this year, according to a company official.

SAIL has set up a facility for the production of head hardened (HH) rails at the new Universal Rail Mill (URM) at its Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP) in Chhattisgarh.

"...we will be of course producing some quantity in this year," Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) Director Finance Anil Kumar Tulsiani said.

The head hardened rail is still under trial and once the trial is successful the company will be in a position to finalise the quantity to be produced, he spoke during the Q1 Earnings Conference Call.