1. Wall Street | US stocks soared while Treasury yields fell on Friday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicated the US central bank could begin scaling back its bond-buying program by year-end but did not give a firm timeline. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.69 percent, or 242.68 points, to 35,455.8 and the S&P 500 gained 0.88 percent, or 39.37 points, to end at 4,509.37. The Nasdaq Composite closed 1.23 percent, or 183.69 points, higher at 15,129.50.
2. Asian Markets | Asian shares started the week with gains and the dollar was not far off two-week lows after US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell struck a more dovish tone than some investors expected in a long-awaited speech on Friday. Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.9 percent soon after the bell, and MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.32 percent in early trading.
3. Indian Market on Friday | The Indian equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty ended at record closing high Friday led by across-the-board gains amid mixed global cues. The Sensex gained 175.62 points, or 0.31 percent, to end at 56,124.72, while the Nifty ended 68.30 points, or 0.41 percent, higher at 16,705.20. For the week, both the benchmarks rose over 1 percent, recouping the losses of the previous week.
4. Crude Oil | Oil prices rose around 1 percent on Monday after a powerful hurricane ploughed through the Gulf of Mexico, forcing shutdowns and evacuations of hundreds of offshore oil platforms. Brent crude was up by 84 cents or 1.2 percent at $73.54 a barrel, after gaining more than 11 percent last week in anticipation of disruptions to oil production. US oil gained 53 cents or 0.8 percent at $69.27 a barrel, having jumped a little over 10 percent over last week.
5. Rupee | The rupee surged 53 paise to close at 73.69 against the US dollar on Friday, supported by a firm trend in domestic equities. At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened strong at 74.17 against the greenback, then gained strength and settled for the day at 73.69, higher by 53 paise over its previous close of 74.22.
6. US Federal Reserve | The Federal Reserve will start dialing back its ultra-low-rate policies this year as long as hiring continues to improve, Chair Jerome Powell said Friday, signaling the beginning of the end of the Feds extraordinary response to the pandemic recession.
7. FPIs net buyers in August, invest Rs 986 crore in equities | Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) pumped in a net of just Rs 986 crore in Indian equities during August, as cautiousness continued to persist among overseas investors. According to data from depositories, FPIs bought equities worth Rs 986 crore and invested Rs 13,494 crore in the debt segment between August 2-27. This translated into a total net investment of Rs 14,480 crore. In July, they were net sellers at Rs 7,273 crore.
8. Sebi restrains Kotak Mahindra AMC from launching new FMP schemes for six months | Markets regulator Sebi has restrained Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company from launching any new fixed maturity plan schemes for a period of six months. The action is based on a delay in payments by Kotak Mahindra AMC to unitholders of six Fixed Maturity Plans.
9. Govt extends deadline for various tax compliances, VsV payments | The income tax department on Sunday extended the deadline for various compliances, including the filing of statements for equalisation levy and remittances. The deadline for filing the Equalisation Levy statement in Form-1 for the Financial Year 2020-21 has been extended till December 31, against the original due date of June 30. The quarterly statement in Form 15CC to be furnished by authorised dealers in respect of remittances made for the June and September quarter can now be filed by November 30 and December 31 respectively.
10. Mcap of eight of top-10 most valued firms jumps over Rs 1.90 lakh crore | Eight of the top-10 most valued companies together added Rs 1,90,032.06 crore in market valuation last week, with Tata Consultancy Services and Reliance Industries being the prominent gainers. On the top ten charts, among the gainers were Reliance Industries (RIL), Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), HDFC Bank, Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL), ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finance, State Bank of India (SBI) and Wipro. On the other hand, Infosys and HDFC were the two laggards.