Morning comments Indian markets could open higher, in line wi | Make Money with Amit Bhawani 👨‍🏫💲

Morning comments

Indian markets could open higher, in line with mostly higher Asian markets today and positive US markets on Monday.…

U.S. stocks ended higher on Monday, with Dow industrials advancing for the first time in six sessions, as investors monitored efforts to resolve a U.S. debt-ceiling standoff ahead of a potential default.

Worries about a technical government-debt default continued to restrain bulls over much of Monday’s trading session — keeping stocks from breaking out of their recent ranges, despite a generally well-received earnings season and signs of easing inflation that may let the Federal Reserve halt rate hikes.

The New York Fed’s Empire State business-conditions index, a gauge of manufacturing activity in the state, plunged 42.6 points in May to negative 31.8. Economists had expected a reading of negative 5, according to a survey by The Wall Street Journal.

The windfall tax on crude petroleum has been slashed to nil from Rs 4,100 per tonne, according to a notification issued by the government late on May 15. The waiver will come into effect from today. Windfall tax, also referred to as the special additional excise duty (SAED), was already nil on aviation turbine fuel (ATF), petrol and diesel. The same has been left unchanged.

India’s trade deficit narrowed in April to a 21-month low as softening domestic demand and easing commodity prices led to a lower import bill.The combined merchandise and services deficit fell to $1.38 billion compared with $8.37 billion in the same period last year. In March, the overall trade deficit had stood at $6.04 billion. The merchandise trade deficit in April stood at $15.24 billion, down from $19.73 billion in March, data released by the government on May 15 showed. The merchandise imports dropped 14.1 percent from a year earlier to $49.9 billion in April, while exports fell 12.7 percent to $34.66 billion.

China’s economic data for April continued to show an uneven recovery path as the economy continues to emerge from the impact of its stringent Covid restrictions. Industrial production for April rose by 5.6% year-on-year, compared to the 10.9% expected by economists surveyed in a Reuters poll. The figure was up 3.9% in March following a muted start to the year.Retail sales rose by 18.4% – lower than economists’ forecast a surge of 21%. Fixed asset investment rose by 4.7%, against expectations of 5.5%. The reading rose 5.1% the previous month.

Asian equities mostly rose, led by Japanese shares and tech stocks, with traders looking for clues of any breakthrough in negotiations in Washington to avert a US default.
Nifty rose on May 15, managing to hold on to part of the mid session gains. At close, Nifty was up 0.46% or 84.05 points at 18398.85. Nifty made a new 5 month high but gave up part of the intra day gains on May 15. 18267-18490 could be the band for the Nifty in the near term.