10 things you need to know before the opening bell on May 20 – CNBCTV18

1. Wall Street: Stocks closed broadly lower on Wall Street Wednesday, extending the markets downturn to a third day. The S&P 500 fell 0.3 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5 percent and the Nasdaq fell less than 0.1 percent.

2. Asian stocks: Stocks in Asia-Pacific were mixed in Thursday morning trade, with data showing Japan’s exports surging in April, the Nikkei 225 was largely flat. Mainland Chinese stocks dipped, with the Shanghai composite down 0.34 percent. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong shed 0.56 percent. South Korea’s Kospi declined 0.49 percent. Over in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.57 percent. MSCI’s broadest index of APAC shares outside Japan traded about 0.1 percent lower.

3. Dalal Street: Indian indices ended lower on Wednesday after a two-day rally, pressured by financial, auto and metal stocks. The sentiment was also weighed as Asian peers slipped, with concerns over an uptick in US inflation keeping investors away from assets that have risen during the pandemic. The Sensex ended 291 points lower at 49,902 and the Nifty fell 78 points to settle at 15,030.

4. Oil: Oil prices dropped over $2 a barrel on Wednesday to their lowest in three weeks, on worries that surging COVID-19 cases in Asia would dent demand for crude and that US inflation fears could prompt the Federal Reserve to slow economic growth with interest rate hikes. Traders also cited rumours that the Iran nuclear talks were making progress, which could boost global crude supplies and depress prices. Brent futures fell 3.0 percent to settle at $66.66 a barrel, while US WTI crude fell 3.3 percent to settle at $63.36.

5. Rupee: Snapping its three-day winning run, the rupee on Wednesday declined by 13 paise to close at 73.18 against the US dollar in line fall in Asian currencies ahead of the release of US Fed minutes. Dollar demand from importers and weak regional risk appetite and losses in the domestic equities also weighed on the local unit.

6. Gold: Gold in the national capital on Wednesday fell by Rs 97 to Rs 47,853 per 10 gram amid muted global precious metal prices. Silver also tumbled Rs 1,417 to Rs 71,815 per kilogram from Rs 73,232 per kilogram. In the international market, both gold and silver were trading marginally lower at USD 1,867 per ounce and USD 27.88 per ounce, respectively.

10. NBFCs: Smaller NBFCs have written to RBI requesting liquidity support as they continue to face challenges in raising funds. In a letter addressed to RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, Finance Industry Development Council (FIDC), a representative body of NBFCs, said the announcements made on May 5 by the central bank have addressed liquidity needs of small microfinance institutions MFIs, but NBFCs have missed out.