Think Nipah has spread to your city? Here's its state-wise status update

As concern over the Nipah virus outbreak increases with the infection claiming at least 16 lives in Kerala, state governments across the country are gearing up for any incidence of infection in their respective jurisdictions.

Over the past two weeks, in the wake of Nipah's spread, state governments in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Telangana, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan have issued health advisories to warn people of the dangers as well as the symptoms of the infection. In these advisories, the authorities have asked people to take necessary precautions to prevent the spread of Nipah.

Further, any cases of low-grade fever among people are advised to be reported to hospitals.

Meanwhile, the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) has written to the Queensland government in Australia, asking it to provide an antibody developed there to test if it can "neutralise" the virus in humans.

"We have asked them to give their monoclonal antibody for conducting a test in India to find out if it can neutralise the Nipah virus in humans. The antibody has only been tried in vitro (happening outside the body in artificial conditions, often in a test tube) and has been found to be effective. But it has not been tested on humans," said ICMR Director General, Dr Balram Bhargava, while clarifying that it will not lead to the creation of a vaccine.

Commodity outlook and top trading ideas by Tradebulls for today

Commodity outlook and trading ideas by Bhavik Patel - Sr. Technical Analyst (Commodities), Tradebulls:

Dollar index is witnessing much needed pullback from 95 levels. 29th May was also the 11th day up from the last main bottom. This puts the index in the window of time for a closing price reversal top. A rally of this size and duration often ends with a dramatic closing price reversal top. The reason behind rally in DXY was the political scenario in Italy where chances are high of re-election. Investors are spooked with the results and Italian Yield has jumped considerably owing to fear of sovereign default. Euro yesterday rebounded from 10 month low as report media suggested Italy’s Center and Right parties might try to iron out their differences and form government. DXY Future has also broken the trendline from 17th May so we may see the downside get extended till 93 where it has cluster of supports. USDINR Future has support at 67.48 and any breakdown below that level may propel our currency to strengthen further till 67.20. However if USDINR sustains above 67.48, then expect prices to weaken further till 68.

Gold Speculators drop bullish bets for 2nd week, down 4 out of last 5 weeks, this is positive as gold is not overcrowded with bulls. 10 Yr US Treasury Yield fell from 3.127 to 2.769 from 19th May to 29th May. This number may look small but its 11% decrease. This is the reason why gold is rising despite increase in US Dollar. Bullish sentiment currently sits at just below 30% bulls and near the same levels as July 2017 and mid-December 2017. The price action does not indicate any pessimism or fear. Gold is hovering near $1300 and has strong support at $1280 and minor resistance at $1326. In Rupee term, gold is looking strong thanks to weak INR. Any short term trend reversal in MCX may only come below 31100.

Oil slip for bond market: Foreigners dump Indian paper at record pace

Foreign investors are dumping Indian bonds at a record pace as surging oil prices threaten to worsen the nation’s finances, stoke inflation and hurt economic growth.

Overseas funds have pulled $4.5 billion from the local debt market since the start of the year, the most in any year-to-date period in data going back to 1999. Second-quarter outflow was the biggest among the major Asian nations as Brent crude rose above $80 a barrel, the highest since 2014.

Every $10 per barrel increase in oil prices will worsen India’s current-account balance by 0.4 per cent of gross domestic product and raise inflation by 30-40 basis points, according to Nomura Holdings Inc. Standard Chartered estimates inflation to climb 20-40 basis points and the fiscal deficit to widen by 0.1-0.4 percentage points of GDP. High crude prices have also roiled financial markets of other oil-importing nations in Asia, including Indonesia.

“Concerns about rising inflation and fiscal dynamics, in conjunction with lack of demand from key market participants, have contributed to the move higher in yields,” said Stuart Ritson, Singapore-based head of Asian rates and foreign exchange at Aviva Investors, which oversees about $482 billion. “More recently, this has been coupled with a less supportive macro backdrop of a rising dollar and higher oil prices.”

Top stock ideas from Anand Rathi Research for today's trade

NIFTY BUY
TARGET: 10,900
STOP LOSS 10,640
Nifty has closed well in the positive territory on the F&O expiry day which indicates that the short term trend has reversed from down to up. It has also taken off its previous swing resistance thus confirming the higher top and higher bottom formation. The momentum indicators although are in sell mode which is a negative sign for the bulls, however, the price action indicates that the probability of wave III of 5 up is quite high. The short term target comes to 10900 whereas the stop loss can be pegged at 10640 levels.

Buy GODREJ INDS
TARGET: Rs 620
STOP LOSS: Rs 570
Godrej Industries has started to form higher tops and higher bottoms with a positive buy crossover in its momentum indicators on the daily as well as the weekly charts. The wave III of wave 3 up seems to have started which means the momentum is likely to remain strong for a long time, however for the short term the target comes to 620, one can buy this with a stop loss of 570. The stock has also provided a breakout from the bullish flag pattern that was formed on the hourly charts which is a bullish reversal pattern.

BSE Midcap index set for worst monthly fall in 18 months

The adage – Sell in May and go away – has proven correct this time around for stocks in the mid-cap segment with the S&P BSE Midcap index set to post its worst monthly fall in past 18 months. The performance comes on the back of sharp decline automobiles, pharmaceutical, capital goods and financial sector stocks.

The BSE Midcap index has declined 5.7 per cent thus far in May 2018. In comparison, the S&P BSE Small-cap index has lost 5.6 per cent, while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex has slipped 0.6 per cent.

Earlier in November 2016, the midcap index had lost 7.2 per cent, while the small-cap index plunged 9.2 per cent after Narendra Modi – led government at the Centre unexpectedly pulled out high-denomination banknotes from circulation. The S&P BSE Sensex had slipped 4.6 per cent during November 2016.

“There has been a slight disappointment on the earnings front. The mutual funds, too, have been churning their holding. These two factors led to a sharp correction in the mid-cap stocks. One needs to be careful while investing in this segment. We expect price erosion in some stocks if the earnings do not catch up,” says Gaurang Shah, head investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services.