Gift Nifty Points to Flat Open for Sensex, Nifty on Friday

Mumbai, October 15: Indian equity markets are set for a flat to marginally weak open on Friday, with Gift Nifty futures pointing to a start slightly below  Thursday’s close. The signal follows a strong rally in which the Sensex jumped 2.11 per cent and the Nifty 50 gained 1.66 per cent, led by private bank, information technology and auto stocks. Sharp losses across Asian markets, with the Kospi down 7.57 per cent and the Nikkei 225 down 4.90 per cent, and Brent crude holding above USD 100 per barrel remain the key cues for the opening session.

Gift Nifty Levels

Gift Nifty futures for the near-month October 27 contract were trading at 22,988.00, up 440.00 points or 1.95 per cent, in late afternoon trade on Thursday. That is 9.35 points below the Nifty 50’s closing level of 22,997.35, which points to a flat to marginally lower opening on Friday. The contract opened at 22,525.00, which was also its low for the day, and climbed to a high of 23,087.50, a gain of 562.50 points. It eased about 99.50 points from that peak in the afternoon. The November 23 contract was quoted at 23,114.00, up 400.50 points or 1.76 per cent.

Asian Stocks

Asian markets ended sharply lower on Thursday, with South Korea’s Kospi plunging 7.57 per cent, or 454.59 points, to 5,554.22 and Japan’s Nikkei 225 tumbling 4.90 per cent, or 3,318.34 points, to 64,425.95. Taiwan’s index fell 3.41 per cent to 46,969.87, while in China the Shenzhen Component shed 2.43 per cent to 11,816.79, the SGX-CNBC China Growth index lost 2.40 per cent to 1,392.76 and the Shanghai Composite declined 1.59 per cent to 3,707.48. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 1.03 per cent to 24,062.72, Singapore’s Straits Times eased 0.37 per cent to 5,403.50, Malaysia fell 0.25 per cent to 1,623.70, Thailand’s SET lost 0.18 per cent to 1,573.01 and Australia’s ASX 200 dipped 0.09 per cent to 8,719.70. Barring India’s Nifty 50, New Zealand’s NZX 50 was the only gainer in the table, adding 0.53 per cent to 13,832.80.

Oil Prices

Brent crude fell 2.32 per cent, or USD 2.46, to USD 103.60 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate lost 0.60 per cent, or USD 0.57, to USD 94.52 per barrel, according to OilPrice.com data on a 10-minute delay. The gap between the two benchmarks stood at USD 9.08 per barrel. Brent has slipped back towards the USD 104 mark, but it remains above USD 100, a level that keeps the pressure on inflation, the import bill and the rupee for India.

Thursday’s Close

The Sensex and Nifty 50 ended sharply higher on Thursday, rebounding from Wednesday’s losses. The Sensex jumped 1,533.72 points, or 2.11 per cent, to close at 74,315.61 against the previous close of 72,781.89, ending just 14.68 points short of the day’s high of 74,330.29 after a low of 72,896.38. The Nifty 50 rose 374.65 points, or 1.66 per cent, to settle at 22,997.35, only 2.65 points short of the 23,000 mark, after trading between 22,637.40 and 23,056.40.

Most sectoral indices ended in the green, led by the Nifty Private Bank index, which gained 1.89 per cent to 27,679.30, followed by the Nifty IT index, up 1.82 per cent at 30,719.80, and the Nifty Auto and Nifty Financial Services indices, which rose 1.67 per cent each to 25,576.40 and 25,364.20. The Nifty Oil and Gas index added 1.41 per cent to 10,604.60, while the Nifty Bank index advanced 0.89 per cent to 55,810.50 and the Nifty Realty index gained 0.72 per cent to 828.70. On the losing side, the Nifty PSU Bank index fell 1.55 per cent to 8,041.20, the Nifty Media index lost 1.47 per cent to 1,617.20 and the Nifty FMCG index declined 1.06 per cent to 44,791.65. Broader markets lagged the headline indices, with the Nifty Smallcap 100 down 1.31 per cent and the Nifty Midcap 100 down 0.36 per cent, while the India VIX fell 4.58 per cent to 13.96.

Tech Mahindra (TECHM) led the gainers at 3:30 pm, rising 4.75 per cent to Rs 1,650.00, followed by ICICI Bank (ICICIBANK) with a 3.80 per cent gain and Reliance Industries (RELIANCE), which advanced 3.44 per cent. Nestle India (NESTLEIND) was the top loser, falling 7.76 per cent to Rs 1,275.80 on the day it reported its September-quarter results, while Adani Enterprises (ADANIENT), Trent (TRENT) and Shriram Finance (SHRIRAMFIN) also ended lower.

Sources:

• NSEIX.com
• Gift Nifty, and NSE data
• BSE, CNBC.com
• OilPrice.com