1. Asia: Japan’s Nikkei led the way with a rise of 0.7 percent, and MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged up 0.1 percent. E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 were just a fraction lower. The S&P 500 boasted its best weekly gain since the end of November last week, while the Nasdaq had its best week so far this year. (Image: Reuters)
2. US: On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 138.93 points, or 0.54 percent, to 25,848.87, the S&P 500 gained 14 points, or 0.50 percent, to 2,822.48 and the Nasdaq Composite added 57.62 points, or 0.76 percent, to 7,688.53. The S&P 500 posted its best weekly gain since the end of November and Nasdaq had its best weekly gain so far this year. For the week, the S&P 500 was up 2.9 percent, the Nasdaq was up 3.8 percent, and the Dow was up 1.6 percent. (Image: Reuters)
3. Markets At Close On Friday: The 30-share BSE frontline index traded at the highest levels since September 17, 2018. The broader NSE Nifty50 also traded above 11,400 level for the first time since September 18, 2018. (Image: Reuters)
4. Crude Oil: Brent crude oil futures were at $67.03 per barrel at 0053 GMT, down 13 cents, or 0.2 percent, from their last close, but not far off the $68.14 per barrel 2019-high reached last week. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures were at $58.37 per barrel, down 15 cents, or 0.3 percent, from their last settlement, and also not far off their 2019-high of $58.95 from the previous week. (Image: Reuters)
5. Rupee: The rupee closed at 69.09, up by 26 paise against the dollar on Friday. (Image: Stock Image)
6. Dollar: A marked decline in Treasury yields has dragged on the dollar, leaving it at 111.55 yen from a top of 111.89 on Friday. Against a basket of currencies, the dollar was pinned at 96.583 having shed 0.7 percent last week. (Image: Reuters)
7. FIIs & DIIs: Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs 4,323 crore on a net basis, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth Rs 2,130 crore on March 15. (Image: Stock Image)
8. FIIs Market Drivers: Institutional investors, responsible for most of the trading in the financial markets are betting big on Indian markets, especially, banking stocks, which may drive major indices to fresh highs ahead of the polls. The Foreign Institutional Investment (FIIs) in the equities category during the month of March was worth Rs 17,055 crore, highest since November 2017. The Banking stocks have been especially favoured and financials being the backbone, it is seen as a sign that markets will continue to soar. (Image: Reuters)
9. Brexit: British Prime Minister Theresa May's government was scrambling on Sunday to get support in parliament for her Brexit deal at the third time of asking, aiming to persuade doubters with threats and promises to avoid any move to oust her.
After parliament backed a move to delay Brexit, May still has only three days to win approval for her deal to leave the European Union if she wants to go to a summit with the bloc's leaders on Thursday with something to offer them in return for more time. (Image: Reuters)
10. US Fed Reserve: The Federal Reserve will announce policy decision on March 20. Chairman Jerome Powell and his colleagues will leave the Fed's benchmark overnight interest rate unchanged in a range of 2.25 percent to 2.50 percent and stick to their pledge of a "patient" approach to monetary policy are effectively a given. (Image: Reuters)