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

Mumbai, November 4: Gift Nifty futures point to a flat opening for the Sensex and Nifty 50 on Thursday, with the near-month contract at a discount of about 2 points to the Nifty’s close. Indian benchmarks ended higher for a fifth straight session on Wednesday, with the Sensex up 0.50 per cent and the Nifty 0.63 per cent, led by media, metal, realty and FMCG stocks. 

The near-month November Gift Nifty contract was at 23,958.50, up 219 points or 0.92 per cent, against the Nifty 50’s close of 23,960.60. That is a discount of 2.10 points, or 0.01 per cent. The December contract was at 24,055.00, up 134 points or 0.56 per cent, a premium of 94.40 points, or 0.39 per cent over the Nifty close. 

The November contract opened at 23,740.50 and fell to a low of 23,673 in early trade. It then jumped above 23,900 as Indian markets began trading and touched a high of 23,980.50. The rally left the contract about 0.9 per cent above its previous close of 23,739.50. 

The flat signal suggests a pause after a five-session run. On Thursday, traders will track Brent crude near USD 103, foreign fund flows and the September-quarter earnings season. 

Wednesday’s Close 

Indian equity benchmarks ended higher for a fifth consecutive session on Wednesday, with the Nifty 50 closing above the 23,950 mark. The Sensex rose 383.55 points, or 0.50 per cent, to 77,301.40, while the Nifty 50 gained 149.75 points, or 0.63 per cent, to 23,960.60. Since Friday’s close, the Sensex has added 2,841.87 points, or 3.82 per cent, and the Nifty 907.50 points, or 3.94 per cent. 

The broader markets outperformed, with the Nifty Midcap index up 1.3 per cent and the Nifty Smallcap index up 2 per cent. Nifty Media was the top sector, up 5 per cent, followed by Nifty Metal and Nifty Realty, each up 2 per cent, while consumer durables, oil and gas, energy and FMCG indices gained 1 per cent each. Nifty IT was the only major sector to close lower, down 1.5 per cent. Bharat Electronics, Adani Enterprises and Titan were among the top Nifty gainers. 

Democrats won control of both the US Senate and House in the midterm elections, according to US network projections, raising the possibility of policy differences with President Donald Trump. US stock futures recovered from overnight losses after the results, while Indian IT stocks fell on weakness in global technology shares. Crude prices, FII flows, global developments and Q2 earnings remain the key market drivers. 

Asian Stocks 

Asian stocks were mixed on Wednesday, with China leading the gains. Shenzhen jumped 4.22 per cent to 11,335.69 and Shanghai rose 2.16 per cent to 3,686.17, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 1.67 per cent to 23,919.50 and South Korea’s Kospi added 0.62 per cent to 5,683.80. Japan’s Nikkei fell 1.42 per cent to 62,188.63, Taiwan lost 0.83 per cent to 42,948.91, Australia’s ASX 200 slipped 0.59 per cent to 8,834.50 and Malaysia lost 0.33 per cent to 1,616.56. Thailand’s SET gained 0.74 per cent to 1,502.09, the SGX-CNBC China Growth index added 2.37 per cent and Singapore’s Straits Times was flat. 

Oil Prices 

Oil prices eased on Wednesday, with Brent crude hovering near USD 103 a barrel after a senior Iranian official said on Tuesday that Iran and the US were still far from a deal to end the war. Brent fell USD 0.88, or 0.85 per cent, to USD 102.72, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) dropped USD 0.20, or 0.21 per cent, to USD 95.89. WTI Midland slipped 0.61 per cent to USD 95.96, and natural gas rose 0.90 per cent to USD 2.921. The Opec basket was at USD 103.53 on a two-day delay, and Murban crude at USD 102.16 on Tuesday’s data. Brent is about 13 per cent below Friday’s six-month high of USD 118. 

Sources

•  nseix.com
• Gift Nifty
• NSE data
• BSE data
• CNN
• CBS News
• CNBC
• OilPrice.com