Market Live Updates Today: Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a positive opening for the index in India with a 74 points gain.

Stocks under F&O ban on NSE

Five stocks - Adani Ports, BHEL, Canara Bank, Escorts, and Punjab National Bank - are under the F&O ban for June 18. Securities in the ban period under the F&O segment include companies in which the security has crossed 95 percent of the market-wide position limit.

FII and DII data

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold shares worth Rs 879.73 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) net bought shares worth Rs 45.24 crore in the Indian equity market on June 17, as per provisional data available on the NSE.

Report on 3 million jobs losses incorrect, IT sector hired 1.38 lakh in FY21: NASSCOM

Indian IT-BPM sector continues to be a net-hirer of skilled talent, clarifies IT industry body NASSCOM, after a report suggested that the sector could face 3 million job losses in 2022.

A recent report by Bank of America (BofA) Securities revealed that the Indian IT outsourcing companies could see 30 percent reduction in low-skilled jobs globally by 2022 due to robotic process automation upskilling. This, the report said, translates to 3 million jobs losses.

In response, NASSCOM said in a statement, “With the evolution of technology and increasing automation, the nature of traditional IT jobs and roles will evolve overall leading to creation of newer jobs. The Industry continues to be a net hirer of skilled talent, adding 138,000 people in FY2021.”

India's economy likely contracted 12% in Q1: UBS

Lockdowns imposed by the states in April and May to contain the second wave of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic has likely led to the economy contracting 12 percent in the June quarter as against 23.9 percent contraction in the same quarter in 2020, says a UBS report.

The economy had its worst contraction on record in FY21 at 7.3 percent as the 2.5 months of unplanned lockdown announced by the centre with just a four-hour notice had crippled the economy in the first quarter with a massive 23.9 percent contraction, which improved to -17.5 percent in the second quarter.

Quoting in-house data from UBS-India activity indicator, Tanvee Gupta Jain, the economist at the Swiss brokerage, says the indicator suggests that economic activity has contracted an average of 12 percent in the June 2021 quarter as against 23.9 percent in June 2020 quarter.

Oil falls from multi-year highs on firmer dollar, rise in UK COVID-19 cases

Crude oil prices fell nearly 2 percent from their highest level in years on June 17 as the dollar strengthened after the US Federal Reserve signaled it might raise interest rates as soon as 2023.

Oil demand worries resurfaced after new coronavirus cases jumped in Britain, while supply concerns over the return of Iranian barrels also weighed on the market.

Brent futures fell $1.31, or 1.8%, to settle at $73.08 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell $1.11, or 1.5%, to settle at $71.04.

SGX Nifty

Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a positive opening for the index in India with a 74 points gain. The Nifty futures were trading at 15,767 on the Singaporean Exchange around 07:30 hours IST.

Asian Markets

Asian markets were mixed in Friday morning trade following an overnight drop for the Dow Jones Industrial Average on Wall Street. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 gained 0.14% while the Topix index slipped 0.55%. South Korea’s Kospi traded fractionally higher. The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia advanced 0.17%.

US Markets

U.S. technology shares jumped on Thursday on optimism around a speedy economic recovery, although the Federal Reserve’s unexpectedly hawkish message on monetary policy kept the S&P 500 subdued.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 192.50 points, or 0.57%, at 33,841.17 and the S&P 500 was up 2.35 points, or 0.06%, at 4,226.05. The Nasdaq Composite was up 152.87 points, or 1.09%, at 14,192.55.