Morning buzz: Sebi to bring in 1-hour trade settlements by March, oil prices move above $90, and more

Ms. Madhabi Puri Buch, chairperson of SEBI. Image: Indranil Aditya/NurPhoto via Getty Images
 

Sebi to bring in 1-hour trade settlements by March

Sebi plans to introduce a 1-hour settlement cycle by March and instant squaring off by October 2024, according to SBI chief Madhabi Puri Buch. Pilot testing for this would start in December. For this, Sebi will also boost the systems that deal with the broker and clearing corporation. It also plans to deploy artificial intelligence to curb mis-selling of products.  
(Economic Times, BusinesssLine, Financial Express)

Oil prices move above 3$90 on Russia, Saudi Arabia supply cuts

Oil moved past $90 a barrel as Russia and Saudi Arabia announced an extension of supply cuts for another three months till December. Saudi Arabia plans to review this decision every month while Russia has said it would cut exports voluntarily by 500,000 barrels per day. For prompt delivery the premium rose to $4, pointing to tight supply for prompt delivery.
(Business Standard)

Small cap stocks in overbought zone

A widely tracked technical indicator is prompting small cap stocks being in an overbought zone. The Relative Strength Indicator (RSI) crossed 86 for the first time in a decade. The Nifty Smallcap 100 touched an all-time high of 12,701 on Tuesday, and the Nifty Midcap 100 Index breached 40,000. The only two prior precedents when the small cap index RSI breached 86 were in May June 2014 and in November-December 2007.
(Economic Times)

August services activity cools

India’s services activity eased to 60.1 in August from 62.3, even as the country posted an increase in new export orders. This is the 25th consecutive month for which activity recorded an expansion. A number higher than 50 denotes expansion. Financial, professional and real estate services grew at 12.2 percent in Q1.
(Economic Times, Financial Express)