The Nifty remained in the grip of bears throughout February 8. It closed below its crucial 5-days exponential moving average placed at 10,967 and made a bearish candle after forming a Doji candle that indicated a possible reversal in the trend.

Nifty opened at 11,023 and rose to an intraday high of 11,041, but then bears pushed the index below 11,000 to close at 10,943, down 125 points.

India VIX moved up 0.87 percent at 15.58. VIX needs to hold below 16 to extend Nifty's positive momentum with a hold above 10,985.

According to Pivot charts, the key support level is placed at 10,899, followed by 10,854.4. If the index starts moving upwards, key resistance levels to watch out are 11,014.7 and 11,085.8.

The Nifty Bank index closed at 27,294.4. The important Pivot level, which will act as crucial support for the index, is placed at 27,183.03, followed by 27,071.66. On the upside, key resistance levels are placed at 27,443.93, followed by 27,593.46.

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

S&P, Nasdaq edge higher as earnings offset trade fears

The benchmark S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq edged upward to snap a two-day losing streak on Friday as positive corporate results offset lingeringskepticism over the United States and China reaching a trade deal before the March 1 deadline. Shares of Coty Inc, Mattel Inc and Motorola Solutions Inc

jumped after the companies reported better-than-expected quarterly results.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 63.2 points, or 0.25 percent, to 25,106.33, the S&P 500 gained 1.83 points, or 0.07 percent, to 2,707.88 and the Nasdaq Composite added 9.85 points, or 0.14 percent, to 7,298.20.

Asian shares in tight range ahead of US-China trade talks

Asian shares started the week on the backfoot on Monday as worries about global growth, US politics and the ongoing Sino-US tariff war kept investors

cautious, while the safe-haven greenback held near a six-week top against major currencies.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was a tad weaker after it was toppled from a four-month top on Friday. Trading volumes are expected to be thin with Japan on public holiday, while Chinese markets reopen after a week-long break for the Lunar New Year holiday.

SGX Nifty

Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a negative opening for the broader index in India, a fall of 35 points or 0.32 percent. Nifty futures were trading around 10,911-level on the Singaporean Exchange.

Oil prices fall on rising US rig count, pressure on OPEC-led supply cuts

Crude prices fell by around 1 percent on Monday as US drilling activity picked up and as Russia’s biggest oil producer pressured President Vladimir Putin to end the supply cut deal with Middle East-dominated producer club OPEC.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $52.16 per barrel at 0103 GMT, down 56 cents, or 1 percent, from their last settlement. WTI prices were also weighed down by the closure of a 120,000 barrels per day (bpd) crude distillation unit (CDU) at Phillips 66’s Wood River, Illinois, refinery following a fire on Sunday.

International Brent crude oil futures were down 53 cents, or 0.9 percent, at $61.57 a barrel.

Rupee rises 14 paise at 71.31/USD

The rupee appreciated by 14 paise on Friday to close at 71.31 against the US dollar on persistent foreign fund inflows even as the greenback strengthened overseas amid fresh concerns over global growth. This is the fourth successive session of gain for the domestic currency, during which it has climbed 49 paise.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange, the rupee opened stronger at 71.37 a dollar. The local unit moved in a range of 71.44 to 71.03, before finally ending at 71.31, showing a gain of 14 paise.

PSB NPAs decline to Rs 8,64,433 cr in Apr-Dec FY'19: Govt

Bad loans of public sector banks declined by more than Rs 31,000 crore to Rs 8,64,433 crore in the first nine months of the current fiscal as compared to end of March 2018, the government said Friday.

Non Performing Assets (NPAs) or bad loans of the banks stood at Rs 8,95,601 crore at the end of previous fiscal, Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla said in a written reply to Lok Sabha. Bad loans fell to Rs 8,75,619 crore as on June 2018 and further to Rs 8,64,433 crore in December 2018 (as per provisional data), he said.

FPIs turn net buyers in Feb; invest Rs 5,300 cr

Foreign investors have infused close to Rs 5,300 crore in the Indian equity markets in the last six trading sessions, mainly on expectations of higher economic growth. This comes following a pullout of Rs 5,264 crore by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) in January. Prior to that, they had put in Rs 5,884 crore in the stock markets during November-December 2018.

According to data available with depositories, FPIs put in a net amount of Rs 5,273 crore in equities during February 1-8. However, they pulled out a net sum of Rs 2,795 crore from the debt market during the period under review.

India exports to China touches $12.7 bn in Apr-Dec: Commerce Min

India's exports to China has reached $12.7 billion during April-December 2018 on account of growth in shipments of marine products, chemicals, plastics, petroleum products, grapes and rice, the commerce ministry said Friday. It said that the ministry has identified and shared with Indian exporters and other stakeholders, specific items where the US would lose competitiveness in China and where India had an export potential and encouraged the exporters to seize this opportunity.

Several B2B meetings with Chinese buyers were facilitated through the Indian embassy in Beijing, it said in a statement. "India's exports to China have grown after several years. India is poised to achieve its highest ever exports to China this fiscal. Between April-December 2018, exports were $12.7 billion which is closer to last year's exports of $13.33 billion," it added.

SEBI issues eligibility criteria for physical settlement of stock derivatives

SEBI on February 8 issued a new circular related to physical settlement of stock derivatives. According to the circular, in addition to the existing schedule of stock derivatives, the derivatives on stock meeting the eligibility criteria specified by the regulator will also be physically settled from the new expiry cycle.

Also, if the maximum daily volatility of the stock exceeds 10 percent either in equity or equity derivatives segment in the past one month, the stocks shall be physically settled.

Forex reserves up $2.06 bn to $400.24 billion

The country's foreign exchange reserves increased by $2.063 billion to $400.24 billion in the week to February 1, on account of rise in foreign currency assets, according to RBI data.

In the previous week, the reserves had increased by $1.497 billion to $398.178 billion. In the reporting week, foreign currency assets, a major component of the overall reserves, rose by $1.280 billion to $373.430 billion.

Investors' wealth plunges Rs 1.67 lakh crore as stocks tumble

Investors' wealth Friday eroded by Rs 1.67 lakh crore following a sharp sell-off in the broader market where the BSE index plummeted nearly 425 points. The 30-share Sensex cracked 424.61 points, or 1.15 per cent, to close at 36,546.48.

Following the weak sentiment, the market capitalisation of BSE- listed companies dropped Rs 1,67,594.92 crore to Rs 1,41,07,190.48 crore. "Market slid as renewed worries over global trade and profit booking in the domestic market after the solid performance in the last one week due to interim budget and RBI policy," Vinod Nair, head of research, Geojit Financial Services Ltd said.

Equity-based mutual funds see net inflow of Rs 6,158 cr in Jan 2019

Equity funds and equity-linked saving schemes (ELSS) saw a combined net inflow of Rs 6,158 crore for January 2019, according to data compiled by the

Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI).

This was a 6.7 percent drop from the combined net inflows seen in December 2018, which stood at Rs 6,606 crore. Net inflows in equity schemes was around Rs 4,914 crore, while ELSS funds' inflow was Rs 1,244 crore in January.

312 companies to report Q3 numbers today

As many as 312 companies on the BSE will declare their results for the quarter ended December on Monday which include names like Andhra Bank, Astral Poly, CARE Ratings, Corporation Bank, Eicher Motors, India Cements, JBM Auto, KNR Construction, Max India, Motherson Sumi, PI Industries, Repro India and SpiceJet among others.

6 stocks under ban period on NSE

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

For February 11, stocks such as Adani Enterprises, DHFL, IDBI, Jet Airways, Reliance Capital, Reliance Infra, and Reliance Power are present in this list.

With inputs from Reuters & other agencies