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U.S. job openings held steady at higher levels in February, while the number of people quitting their jobs rose marginally. Job openings, a measure of labor demand, edged up 8,000 to 8.756 million on the last day of February, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said in its monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS report, on Tuesday. Data for January was revised lower to show 8.748 million unfilled positions instead of the previously reported 8.863 million. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 8.740 million job openings in January. Job openings peaked at a record 12.0 million in March 2022. Hiring increased 120,000 to 5.818 million. The number of workers resigning from their jobs, likely for greener pastures, increased 38,000 to 3.484 million in February. Federal Reserve officials last month left the U.S. central bank's policy rate unchanged in the current 5.25%-5.50% range, having raised it by 525 basis points since March 2022. Policymakers anticipate three rate cuts this year. Financial markets expect the first rate reduction in June. The Labor Department is expected to report on Friday that nonfarm payrolls increased by 200,000 jobs in March. The economy added 275,000 jobs in February. The unemployment rate is forecast unchanged at 3.9%.

Nifty on Tuesday ended 9 points lower to form back-to-back Doji patterns on the daily chart, typically indicating a pause before the next move. The short-term trend of the Nifty remains positive. Though Nifty is placed at the crucial overhead resistance around 22,500 levels, there is no confirmation of any reversal pattern unfolding at the highs. A decisive move above the hurdle of 22,500-22,600 levels could open more upside in the near term. Immediate support is at 22,350 levels, said Nagaraj Shetti of HDFC Securities.Analysis of the Open Interest (OI) data highlights the highest OI on the call side at the 22,700 strike price, followed by the 22,800 strike price. On the put side, the highest OI was observed at the 22,300 strike price.What should traders do? Here’s what analysts said:Rupak De, LKP SecuritiesThe sentiment remains positive, with the Nifty closing above the important moving average. The momentum also remains positive, as indicated by the RSI in a bullish crossover. Over the short term, the trend is positive, with a potential to reach 22,650-22,700. Support is positioned at 22,350-22,300 on the lower end.Jatin Gedia, SharekhanOn the daily charts, we can observe that Nifty is in the process of cooling off after the sharp run-up in the previous couple of trading sessions. The zone of 22,400 – 22,350 is the crucial support zone and dips towards these zones should be used as a buying opportunity. The hourly momentum indicator has a negative crossover, which is a ‘sell’ signal and also suggests that there could be some more consolidation before the uptrend resumes. Overall, this dip should be used as a buying opportunity.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

India has asked global and domestic trade houses to avoid buying new-season wheat from local farmers to help the government-backed Food Corporation of India (FCI) procure large quantities to shore up its depleting reserves, sources said. India, the world's biggest wheat consumer and grower after China, banned exports in 2022 and is keen to bolster stocks and tame prices that surged after dry weather hurt output in 2022 and 2023. Rising wheat prices forced the government to sell record quantities to boost local supplies, leading to a drawdown in reserves essential for the world's biggest food welfare programme, which entitles nearly 800 million to free grain. The government has asked private traders to stay away from wholesale markets where farmers usually sell their produce to FCI or private traders, said traders and government sources, who declined to be named as they were not authorised to talk to the media. The government informally asked private traders to avoid buying wheat at least in April, the sources said, its first such guidance since 2007. Wheat procurement starts tapering off after mid-May. "We are not going to buy in April. We will wait until May. Except for processors and small traders, everyone is likely to follow the government's lead," said a Mumbai-based trader with a global trade house. Traders active in India's grain markets include Cargill Inc, Hindustan Unilever Ltd, ITC Ltd, Louis Dreyfus Company and Olam Group. The government has asked the top wheat-growing states to ensure that private traders do not get in the way of FCI's plans to buy at least 30 million metric tons this year, the sources said. In 2023, FCI bought 26.2 million metric tons of wheat from local farmers, below its target of 34.15 million metric tons. Because of last year's lower purchases, wheat inventories in government warehouses fell to 9.7 million metric tons at the start of March, the lowest since 2017. Lower wheat inventories tend to stoke open market prices. Despite falling inventories, New Delhi has resisted calls for wheat imports as overseas purchases tend to anger farmers who form an influential voting bloc. Millions of Indians will vote in the parliamentary election, which will be held from April 19. India's lower wheat stocks could force New Delhi to import 2 million metric tons of the grain this year, according to a United States Department of Agriculture report last week. FCI is focused on Uttar Pradesh, a top producing state which has historically contributed less than 2% to FCI's wheat procurement, with the state government asking railways not to provide freight cars to big traders in April, the sources said. Uttar Pradesh has asked local authorities to ensure that big traders do not get to buy large quantities of wheat, according to a government letter addressed to district officials and seen by Reuters. FCI recently started buying new wheat from farmers at a state-set 2,275 rupees ($27.29) per 100 kg against open market rates of around 2,500 rupees. ($1 = 83.35 rupees)