Market Ahead, June 18: All you need to know before the opening bell

The Indian markets are likely to open on a weak note today as indicated by the SGX Nifty which slipped around 80 points in early deals. Developments on the India-China border front will be a major trigger for the markets. Although the two countries have for now agreed to 'cool down' tensions on the ground, experts believe that any further escalation is likely to be a dampener for the markets in the near-term.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday said that India is capable of giving a befitting reply, if instigated. He has also called for an all-party meeting to discuss the situation tomorrow at 5 pm.

In his second day of the interaction with chief ministers on the Covid-19 issue, the PM said that businesses and offices must prepare for the second phase of the lifting of restrictions, albeit with proper social distancing norms in the place. India recorded its biggest spike of 2,003 deaths in a single day on Wednesday. According to Worldometer, total cases have now exceeded 3.67 lakh with death toll at 12,262.

On the global front, spiking coronavirus cases and prospects of new lockdowns sent Wall Street lower overnight. The Dow Jones fell 0.65 per cent, the S&P 500 lost 0.36 per cent, and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.15 per cent.

Asian stocks also dipped on Thursday.  Australian ASX 200 index was down 1.7 per cent, while Japan’s Nikkei slipped 1.4 per cent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down 1.4 per cent.

Oil prices swung in and out of the red. Brent was last down 1.06 per cent at $40.28 per barrel.

On the results front, a total of 57 companies, including Bajaj Consumer Care, Whirlpool, and Care Ratings are scheduled to announce their results today.

Apart from this, investors will also keep an eye on the Supreme Court hearing on AGR dues later in the day.

Now, let's look at some other top news.

Sources have told Business Standard that tycoon Radhakishan Damani is considering acquiring a controlling stake in India Cements and has reached the cement manufacturer’s controlling shareholder, N Srinivasan, to explore a takeover.

The Competition Commission of India is reviewing Facebook’s purchase of a 10 per cent stake in RIL's digital assets. The antitrust watchdog is also considering whether new parameters should be included in its assessment criteria. 

Meanwhile, Bernstein in a report has said that Reliance Jio is likely to capture 48 per cent of Indian mobile subscriber market share by 2025 with over half a billion users. It also expects an IPO of Jio sometime over the next few years.

Franklin Templeton Trustee Services has called for an extraordinary general meeting today in which a resolution will be considered to grant indemnity to directors of the trustee company, in relation to any liability with the decision to wind up six debt schemes of the mutual fund arm.

As the new regulator of housing finance companies, the RBI yesterday proposed to modify the rules governing these firms. The central bank set a formal definition for the HFCs and classified them as systematically important and non-systemically important.

Read by Kanishka Gupta