Gift Nifty Points to a Positive Open for Indian Markets on Thursday

Mumbai, June 24: Gift Nifty is pointing towards a positive open for Indian equity markets on Thursday with the near-month contract trading well above 24,000 levels throughout Wednesday’s session, indicating markets will open higher when the Sensex and Nifty 50 open at 9:15 am on Thursday. Currently, near month contract FUTIDX 30-Jun-20 June 2026 is trading at 24,023.00, unchanged at 0% while July contract FUTIDX 28-Jul-20 July 2026 is trading at 24,089.00 down by 1.50 points or 0.01%, indicating overall market bias is positive as we head into Thursday.

On the intraday chart we can see how Wednesday’s session unfolded for the near month contract. It opened at 23,865.50 and traded between 23,800 and 23,875 for the first hour or so of trading, dipping as low as 23,772.50 between 9:00 and 10:00 am local time. From around 10: 00 am onwards we started to see some good buying and that has largely been the theme since. From there we saw the contract climb almost all the way to the session high of 24,109.50 in the early afternoon before easing back to trade between 24,000 and 24,050 for the rest of the day’s session. The dotted line around 23,800 basically became our floor where buyers kept dipping in to support the price as it was tested and rejected.

Seeing the July contract trading at 24,089.00 at a premium to the front month shows us institutional participants are buying into tomorrow price increases and that is a very positive sign as we head into Thursday. Both contracts trading so close together and well above 24,000 indicate fairly strongly the markets open should be in positive territory. This would mean that when markets open on Thursday we could see the Nifty 50 open around the 24,000-24,050 range which will also be pretty much where the domestic Indian market finished Wednesday’s mid session quote at 23,996.35.

The macro backdrop underpinning this positive Gift Nifty reading includes easing Iran war tensions after the US Senate voted 50-48 to halt military operations against Tehran, a 60-day sanctions waiver extended to Iran by Washington, and growing optimism around a potential US-India bilateral trade deal being signed before July 24. Brent crude prices near four-month lows at around $76.71 a barrel further support sentiment, as softer oil prices ease India’s import bill and take pressure off the current account.

That said, this projection holds only if the macro and geopolitical situation remains broadly as it stands now. Any overnight escalation in West Asia, a negative surprise from global markets, or a sharp reversal in crude oil prices before Thursday’s open could alter the outlook materially. Equally, fresh positive developments on the US-India trade deal front or further progress in Iran nuclear negotiations could push the opening even higher than current Gift Nifty levels suggest.

Source:

• nseix.com | Gift Nifty intraday data as of Wednesday session, June 24, 2026. Session ongoing at time of writing.