Market Brief: What you must know as trading begins on D-Street

Good Morning dear Business Today readers!

Markets across globe heaved a sigh of relief thanks to bounce back in oil prices and decline in dollar. Tracking overnight gains on Wall Street and positive cues from Asian markets, domestic markets extended Thursday's gains to trade higher.

Below is the wrap-up of all that you must know this morning:

1) Bank of England cut growth forecasts

In its latest inflation report, Bank of England has cut its forecast for growth this year to 2.2 per cent. In November it had predicted growth of 2.5 per cent. The development has exacerbated the fears of global slowdown and also indicated that BoJ will not raise interest rates, which are at 0.5 per cent since 2009, any time soon. It follows the dovish stance suggested by US Federal Reserve's William Dudley who on Wednesday said "financial conditions are tighter than they were in December" and "needed to be considered in March rate review."

2) Asian markets rise on Wall Street gains

The US markets extended gains for the second straight day thanks to jump in materials shares. The Dow Jones rose 80 points while the broader S&P500 added 0.15 per cent. Tracking this, Asian markets also edged up on Friday.  

3) Dollar decline continues

The dollar remained firmly on the back foot after being hit this week by lackluster economic data and dovish comments from some Fed officials that curtailed expectations of a near-term US interest rate hike. The dollar stood little changed at 116.84 yen after sinking 1 per cent overnight. The greenback, which soared to close to 122 yen recently, was heading for a 3.5 per cent loss on the week. It was poised to hand back all the gains made on the Bank of Japan's surprise decision last Friday to adopt negative interest rates.

4) Surges and slumps in crude oil

Crude oil futures edged up in lacklustre trading on Friday as Asian liquidity faded ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday across large parts of the region. International benchmark Brent crude futures were trading at $34.67 per barrel, up 21 cents from their last settlement. US crude futures were up 17 cents at $31.89 a barrel.

5) Gold gains

Gold, trading near its highest since October on Friday, is on track to score its strongest weekly gain in a month as the US dollar is pressured by growing doubts that the Federal Reserve can stick to its interest rate hike campaign.

6) Nasscom predicts IT services growth slowing

IT services exports are likely to grow at a slower pace next fiscal year than in the recent past as global clients rein in technology spending, Nasscom said on Thursday. The industry is looking at 12.3 per cent growth in the 2015-16 fiscal, ending on March 31. Last year, the IT services and software industry body had forecast a growth of 12-14 per cent in exports. The cutback on routine IT services is likely to push firms including Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys to sharpen their focus on high-margin digital services, analytics and artificial intelligence to cushion the impact on earnings.

7) Tata Steel slips in red

Tata Steel on Thursday reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 2,127.23 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2015 hit by subdued demand in India as well as higher regulatory costs and a strong British pound. Mumbai-based firm had a net profit of Rs 157.11 crore in the year-ago period.