1. Wall Street: US stock index futures were modestly lower in overnight trading on Tuesday after the Dow closed at a record high. While Dow closed at a record high, S&P fell 0.06 percent and Nasdaq Composite dipped 0.34 percent.
2. Asian stocks: Stocks in APAC were lower in Wednesday morning trade following an overnight dip in S&P 500 stateside as investors grew concerned over rising bond yields. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 slipped 0.76 percent in early trade while the Topix index shed 0.17 percent. South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.94 percent. Shares in Australia were lower as the S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.44 percent. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.41 percent lower. The trading in mainland China remained closed as the nation celebrates Lunar New Year.
3. Dalal Street: Indian indices ended flat but in the red on Tuesday as losses in banking and IT stocks overpowered gains in the metal and pharma space. The Sensex ended 50 points lower at 52,104 while the Nifty fell 1 point to settle at 15,313. However, in intra-day deals, the benchmarks hit record high levels for the third straight session. The Sensex breached 52,500 level for the first time ever, touching its all-time high of 52,516, up as much as 362 points. Meanwhile, the Nifty surged 114 points to hit its fresh high of 15,431.
4. Oil: Oil prices settled near 13-month highs on Tuesday, supported by a deep freeze in the US South that shut wells and oil refineries in Texas. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures settled up 1 percent to $60.05, after touching their highest since early January 2020. Brent settled up 5 cents, or 0.1 percent, to $63.35 a barrel, near the 13-month peak reached the previous session.
5. Rupee: The Indian rupee settled just 1 paisa lower at 72.69 against the US dollar on Tuesday as importers' greenback purchases offset the impact of a weak dollar overseas. At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened at 72.64 against the American currency and witnessed an intra-day high of 72.63 and a low of 72.85. It finally ended at 72.69, registering a fall of just 1 paisa over its previous close. The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.29 percent to 90.21.
6. Gold: Gold prices in the national capital declined marginally by Rs 9 to Rs 46,900 per 10 gram on Tuesday, according to HDFC Securities. In the previous trade, the precious metal had closed at Rs 46,909 per 10 gram. Silver gained Rs 95 to Rs 69,530 per kg, from Rs 69,435 per kg in the previous trade.
7. Bitcoin: Widely-known cryptocurrency Bitcoin has scaled a record high of $50,000 on Tuesday. The rally is fuelled by the signs that the virtual currency is gaining acceptance among the investors. So far this year, bitcoin has gone up nearly 72 percent.
8. Copper: Copper prices continue to trudge higher. The metal moved 1.2 percent upwards to 383.40 and continues to maintain the trajectory of a double bottom formation.
9. RBI: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday came out with the draft guidelines for allowing derivatives trading in the credit default swaps (CDS) in over-the-counter (OTC) markets and on recognized stock exchanges in the country.
10. NBFCs: Stressed assets of non-banking financial services companies (NBFCs) are expected to reach Rs 1.5-1.8 lakh crore, or 6.0-7.5 percent of the asset under management (AUM) by the end of the financial year 2021, according to credit rating agency Crisil.