What Dalal Street is discussing this morning

Good Morning dear Business Today readers!

Expect domestic market to have a positive start on Thursday as minutes from the US Federal Reserve's March policy meet indicated second rate hike may not be on cards at least till June. Reacting to the hawkish tone of Fed policymakers, Wall Street logged a 100-point rally overnight and Asian markets are also shining bright.

Read on to catch up with what market-men will discuss this morning:    

1. Second Fed rate hike up in the air: The minutes from the Fed's last policy meeting in March showed caution over higher US interest rates. Policymakers though expect to raise rates twice in 2016 but the timing of the hikes still appears up in the air. According to the minutes, they are concerned that the central bank had limited firepower to respond to global shocksbecause interest rates are already so close to zero. This should sooth domestic market as foreign investors will continue to have arbitrage advantage in the Indian shores.
2. Oil boils again: Oil spiked above $40 per barrel this morning after a 5-per cent jump in the previous session thanks to fall in US inventory draw. Yes, surprisingly, US crude inventories fell 4.9 million barrels in the week to April 1, compared with analysts' expectations for an increase of 3.2 million barrels, according to data from the Energy Information Administration on Wednesday.
3. Asian markets on a firm start: Asian markets edged higher taking cues from Wall Street and jump in oil prices. Japan's Nikkei added 0.72 per cent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng o.26 per cent, while China's Shanghai Composite bucked the trend to slip 0.29 per cent.
4. POTUS wins against Pfizer's tax evading deal: Watch out for Pfizer shares listed in the domestic market as US drugmaker Pfizer and Ireland-based Allergan called off their $160 billion merger on Wednesday, a major win for President Barack Obama, who has been pushing to curb deals in which companies move overseas to cut taxes.
5. Now, domestic oil firms can have their own import policy: The Union Cabinet approved a new regime for state refiners allowing them to evolve their own import policies. The move will benefit state-owned oil firms like Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Hindustan Petroleum Corp, Bharat Petroleum Corp, and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals and will bring them on a par with private firms such as Reliance Industries and Essar Oil.

A day after posting its biggest drop in nearly two months, market benchmark Sensex on Wednesday inched up by 17 points to 24,900.63 on value-buying in beaten-down stocks amid mixed global cues. Broader CNX Nifty index also managed to hold above its key 7,600-mark. Broader sentiment in the market though remained cautious as companies gear up to report their fourth quarter (Q4) earnings.