Market Ahead, March 18: Top factors that could guide markets today

The Indian equity markets look set to open with mild gains on Wednesday after steep losses in the previous session. The SGX Nifty ticked up over 100 points after the US markets' up move in the overnight session. The US central bank's announcement to purchase short-term corporate debt, while the Trump administration's $850 billion stimulus package proposal lifted the Dow Jones 5.2 per cent higher on Tuesday. The S&P500 and the Nasdaq Composite also gained over 6 per cent each. 

However, the overall mood continues to remain somber with investor fear about the coronavirus' impact to the global economy still intact. In fact, global brokerages have declared the onset of a global recession, with the focus shifting on its likely length and depth. Morgan Stanley expects global growth to fall to 0.9 per cent in such a scenario, while Goldman Sachs predicts weakening of growth to 1.25 per cent. S&P Global, meanwhile, pegs it between 1 and 1.5 per cent.

Apart from the coronavirus headlines, oil price fluctuation, foreign capital flow, and the rupee's value against the dollar would also impact sentiment.

Telecom stocks are likely to be in focus today as the Supreme Court is expected to hear the AGR case later in the day. The government moved the Court to allow telcos to spread their payment dues over 20 years or less.

Besides, Indian Banks’ Association is planning to approach the Reserve Bank of India to provide some reprieve in bad-debt classification in the small and medium enterprises sector amid virus outbreak, according to Reuters.

On Tuesday, the S&P BSE Sensex slipped 811 points or 2.58 per cent to end at 30,579, while the Nifty50 breached the crucial 9,000-mark to settle at 8,967 levels, down 230 points or 2.5 per cent.

As for Asia, major indices started mixed on Wednesday. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dipped 0.1 per cent while Japan's Nikkei gained 1.9 per cent. In the commodities segment, Brent crude was up 0.3 per cent at $28.81 a barrel by 6:00 am.

Read by: Kanishka Gupta