Oil prices dip but stay near eight-week highs on U.S. stock declines

 Oil prices edged lower on Friday but were still near eight-week highs, buoyed by a decline in U.S. inventories and OPEC's ongoing efforts to curb production. Brent crude futures were down 8 cents, or 0.2 percent, at $51.41 per barrel at 0651 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 10 cents, or 0.2 percent, at $48.94 per barrel. Both benchmarks rose to their highest levels since May 31 in the previous session, buoyed by a rally in U.S. gasoline futures after earlier support from OPEC's latest efforts to cut exports and a sharp fall in U.S. crude inventories. "Crude oil prices rose further as the focus remained on fundamentals. This week's better-than-expected inventory drawdown in the United States continued to support prices," ANZ bank said in a note. Commodity Trading Tips

U.S. crude stocks fell sharply by 7.2 million barrels in the week to July 21 due to strong refining activity and an increase in exports, according to data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA). "Following seasonal norms we expect further declines in crude inventories over August and September," BMI Research said. Brimming U.S. crude supplies have been a challenge to production cuts to prop up prices led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. U.S. crude oil production has been on the rise since mid-2016, but it dropped to 9.41 barrels per day (bpd) in the week to July 21, from 9.43 million bpd the week before. The decline was mainly due to a fall in Alaskan output, ANZ bank said. Astrology and Numerology Trading Tips

Asian shares pull back after U.S. techs knocked off highs

 Asian stock markets sagged on Friday after U.S. tech shares retreated from recent rallies, though optimism about U.S. corporate earnings and the global economy underpinned overall sentiment. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.8 percent but was still on track for a 0.4 percent weekly gain, with Samsung Electric, Asia's largest company by market capitalisation, dropping 3.5 percent. Japan's Nikkei shed 0.4 percent. On Wall Street, the Dow industrials set a record closing high, helped by a 7.7 percent jump in Verizon, following the top U.S. wireless carrier's quarterly earnings. But investors were spooked by a sudden drop in technology and transportation shares. The S&P 500 technology sector fell 2.0 percent at one point before ending the day down 0.8 percent. After the bell, Amazon.com shares - up nearly 40 percent this year - fell 3.0 percent after the online retailer reported a slump in profits. U.S. stock futures also dipped 0.3 percent in Asia. "U.S. hi-tech shares have seen a spectacular rally in the past month.  Financial Astrology Tips

Equity fund managers shuffle top picks in first half of 2017

India's equity fund managers have actively shuffled their portfolios in the first half of 2017, amid a gush of robust inflows from domestic investors. With benchmark indices seeing a steep climb, investment managers have strived to generate market-beating performance. Reliance Industries and Axis Bank, among the 10 most-owned stocks by equity fund managers at the end of 2016, have dropped off the list, replaced by Kotak Mahindra Bank and HDFC. While the rest of the top 10 stocks has remained the same, the pecking order has undergone a change. Nifty Trading Tips

At the start of the year, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Infosys, State Bank of India (SBI) and Larsen & Toubro (L&T) were the top five holdings, respectively, of equity MFs. At the end of June, Infosys was relegated to fifth slot, while SBI and L&T moved up one notch each. Among the top 10, Maruti Suzuki and ITC also traded places, with the FMCG giant going one up over the carmaker. According to equity heads in the sector, it has been a stock-pickers’ market to generate benchmark-beating returns. But, they admit since these stocks make up the core of the equity asset management, too much juggling is always avoided unless there is a very strong investment call on some other stock. Meanwhile, three sector giants — Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Bharti Airtel and Power Grid Corporation of India were ousted from the top 20 most-owned stocks in June. In their place, fund managers brought in Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Federal Bank and Tata Steel. Future & Option Trading Tips

MARKETS LIVE: Nifty pares some losses, nears 10,000-mark; DRL top loser

The benchmark Nifty50 opened the August series below its crucial 10,000-mark after Dr Reddy's extended fall for the second straight day post weaker quarterly earnings. Negative cues from Asian markets after US tech shares pulled Wall Street slightly lower also contributed to the losses. Focus now shifts to Reserve Bank of India’s two-day monetary policy meeting, which is set to begin next week on Tuesday, while the outcome is expected on Wednesday. Commodity Trading Tips

Metal index hits 34-month high; Hindalco, Vedanta at 52-week high

Shares of metal companies were in focus with most of the frontline stocks trading higher by up to 5% after a strong rally in global commodity prices, mainly in metals. The S&P BSE Metal index (up 1.71%), and Nifty Metal index (up 1.65) were the top sectoral gainers on BSE and NSE, rising nearly 2%. On comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex and Nifty 50 index, up 0.3% at 10:52 am. Hindalco Industries, Jindal Steel & Power, JSW Steel and Vedanta from the metal index were up in the range of 1% to 5%, trading at 52-week highs. LMEX, a gauge of six metals traded on the London Metal Exchange (LME), hit an over two-year high on Tuesday, July 25, 2017. LMEX gained 3.5% in past three trading sessions from 2,848 on July 20, to 2,948 yesterday, its highest level since May 2015 on LME. Copper prices hit their highest in more than two years, boosted by signs of demand from China and a weak dollar. Copper on the LME ended up 3.3% at $6,225/tonne, having earlier touched $6,234.50/tonne, its highest since May 2015, Reuters report suggest. Nifty Trading Tips

US Fed expected to hold interest rates; may focus on lowering bond holdings

The United States (US) Federal Reserve is expected to hold interest rates unchanged on Wednesday and possibly hint that it will start winding down its massive holdings of bonds as soon as September in what would be a vote of confidence in the US economy. The US central bank will issue its latest rates decision following the end of a two-day policy meeting at 2 pm EDT (18:00 GMT). Economists expect the Fed's benchmark lending rate to remain in a target range of 1.00 per cent to 1.25 per cent. That would mark another pause in the monetary tightening campaign that the Fed began in December 2015. The central bank has raised rates twice this year, including at its last policy meeting in June. Wall Street analysts see little chance the Fed will announce the start of the wind down of its $4.5 trillion balance sheet. However, the Fed's policy statement may provide more visibility on when that might occur. Commodity Trading Tips

Citibank economists said in a note to clients that the Fed's rate-setting committee was more likely to say that the trimming would start soon. "(That would) signal that the committee plans to announce balance sheet reduction in September," they said in the note. Reducing the balance sheet will unwind one of the Fed's most controversial tools used to fight the 2007-2009 financial crisis and its aftermath. After pushing rates nearly to zero in a bid to boost investment and hiring, the Fed pumped over $3 trillion into the economy through purchases of US Treasury securities and government-backed mortgage debt to further reduce rates. That program drew criticism from Republican lawmakers in Congress. Astrology and Numerology Trading Tips

Markets on a roll! 120 stocks on Nifty500 hit one-year high so far in July

Markets have been on a roll since the beginning of this calendar year. In July itself, the Nifty50 index has rallied nearly 4% and crossed the 10,000 mark for the first time ever in intra-day deals on Tuesday. The rally in July has seen 120 stocks in the Nifty500 index hit their respective fresh 52-week high, ACE Equity data show. Of these, 37 have touched their 52-week highs this week itself. At 10:00 am, the Nifty was ruling at 9,986, up 21 points, while the Sensex was up 67 points to quote 32,295.  In the previous session, the Nifty touched its lifetime high of 10,011, but settled below that mark, while the Sensex hit its fresh high of Bharti AIrtel, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, Britannia Industries, L&T Finance, Hindalco, Indiabulls Real Estate and Unitech were among 22 stocks hitting their one-year high on Tuesday. Here is the complete list.  Financial Astrology Tips