What changed for the market while you were sleeping? 12 things you should know

The Nifty50 is likely to open flat on Monday tracking muted handover from Wall Street. The Nifty50 closed 41 points higher at 9,915 on Friday.

The index closed flat for the week ended July 21 and made a ‘Hanging Man’ kind of pattern on Friday which gets formed at the end of an uptrend, but it still requires confirmation.

Formation of Hanging Man does not mean that bulls have lost control but it may give early signs of a slowdown in momentum.

Traders are advised to trade cautiously as long as Nifty50 trades below 9928-9930 which is the record high for the index. A close above this level will open room for the index to climb Mount 10K.

On the way down, 9,790 appears to be critical whereas for bulls 9,930 seems to be the barrier. A move above 9,930 can push the index towards the much-awaited milestone of 10k. On the downside, 9830 is likely to act as a critical support for the market, suggest experts.

Stay tuned with Moneycontrol to find out what happens in currency and equity markets today. We have collated a list of important headlines from across news agencies:

Wall Street ends lower:

The US stock ended lower on Friday as weak earnings from industrial giant General Electric weighed, while tech shares retreated from record highs.

GE shares fell 2.9 percent to USD 25.91 and hit their lowest level since October 2015. The company reported a nearly 60 percent slump in profit and said its full year profit and cash flow will be at the low end of its forecasts, said a Reuters report.

The S&P and the Nasdaq rose for a third straight week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 31.71 points, or 0.15 percent, to 21,580.07 on Friday, the S&P 500 lost 0.91 points, or 0.04 percent, to 2,472.54 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.25 points, or 0.04 percent, to 6,387.75.

SGX Nifty

The Nifty50 futures on the Singapore Stock Exchange were trading 9.50 points higher at 9,922 indicating a flat opening for the domestic market.

US debt limit fears send October T-bills to worst week

The US Treasury bills due to be repaid in October faced their worst weekly performance since March on concerns that debt payments may be delayed if Congress fails to raise the nation’s debt limit before the government runs out of money, said a Reuters report.

The Congressional Budget Office said last month that Congress would need to raise the debt limit by early to mid-October to avoid a default, it said.

Yields on three-month Treasury bills, which are due to mature on Oct. 19, rose to 1.16 percent on Friday, near the highest levels since October 2008, and more than the 1.10 percent yields paid on six-month debt.

Dollar slide deepens

The weakening US dollar fell to its lowest in more than a year against key world currencies on Friday as investors assessed comments from the European Central Bank and obstacles to US President Donald Trump's domestic agenda, said a Reuters report.

In currencies, the dollar index fell 0.38 percent, falling to its lowest point since June 2016. The dollar index is now down 8.1 percent this year, said the report. The euro was up 0.3 percent to USD 1.1664. The Japanese yen strengthened 0.68 percent versus the greenback at 111.14 per dollar.

Oil dives about 2.5 percent

Oil prices slipped about 2.5 percent lower after a consultancy forecast a rise in OPEC production for July despite the group's pledge to curb output, reigniting concerns the global market will stay awash with crude, said a Reuters report.

Benchmark Brent crude futures settled down USD 1.24 or 2.52 percent at USD 48.06 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures settled down USD 1.15 or 2.45 percent, at USD 45.77 a barrel.

More visa woes for IT companies?

Singapore on Saturday sought to defend its visa regime, saying that one-third of its workforce is 'already foreign' and it would be 'mindless' to have open border without any policy framework to control the flow of people.

The statement of Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam assumes significance as Indian IT companies use that country as a gateway to serve clients in the region, said a PTI report. All major Indian tech companies including TCS, HCL, Infosys and Wipro have a presence in Singapore.

NSE IFSC to launch F&O contracts in Apple, Alibaba

NSE IFSC Ltd will launch single derivative contracts in 15 global stocks, including giants like Apple Inc, Facebook and Alibaba, as also trade in three additional currencies, including Swiss franc and the US dollar.

In a circular, the exchange announced introduction of these new contracts with effect from July 24.

Pfizer, Cipla, DRL, other 63 drug firms fail quality test

Pfizer, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories and Cipla are among 66 drug makers that have some of their products failing quality tests carried out by the country’s drug regulator, said an ET report.

Samples tested from these companies were found to be not of standard quality during a drug survey carried out through the National Institute of Biologicals over two years, according to a Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) notification posted on its website.

At least five samples of drugs from these companies failed the tests during the 2014-2016 survey, CDSCO said.

HDFC Bank Q1 profit seen up 21 percent YoY

Country's second largest private sector lender HDFC Bank is expected to report 21 percent growth in profit Rs 3,923.1 crore for April-June quarter against Rs 3,239 crore in same quarter last fiscal.

Net interest income during the quarter is seen rising 20 percent year-on-year to Rs 9,337 crore, according to average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18.

Indian rupee closes 0.2 percent higher at 64.32/USD

The Indian rupee on Friday appreciated 0.2 percent to close at 64.32 to the dollar, tracking gains in domestic equity markets and other Asian currencies.

Intraday, the rupee touched a high and low of 64.30 and 64.40 against the dollar, respectively. Since January 1, the rupee has appreciated 5.3 percent against the greenback, benefiting from increased inflow into Indian markets from foreign investors.

37 companies to report Q1 results today:

As much as 37 companies on BSE will report their results for the quarter ended June 30 which include names like Ambuja Cements, Delta Corp, GIC Housing Finance, HDFC Bank, Indiabulls Real Estate, Bharti Infratel, JustDial, L&T Infotech, M&M Financial Services, Info Edge Ltd, Patel Engineering, Swaraj Engines, Tata Communications, ZEE Entertainment, and ZEE Learn among others.

13 stocks under ban period on NSE

Security in ban period for the next trade date under the F&O segment includes companies in which the security has crossed 95 percent of the market-wide position limit.

Securities which are banned for trading today include names like DLF, Fortis Healthcare, GMR Infrastructure, HDIL, Indiabulls Real Estate, Infibeam, JP Associates, JSW Energy, Kaveri Seeds, Sintex Industries, OBC, TV18 Broadcast and Ujjivan.