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

Mumbai, November 2: Gift Nifty futures point to a flat opening for the Sensex and Nifty 50 on Tuesday, with the near-month contract at a discount of about 41 points to the Nifty’s close. Indian benchmarks surged on Monday, with the Sensex up 1.66 per cent and the Nifty 1.68 per cent, led by a Reliance Industries rally. 

The near-month November Gift Nifty contract was trading at 23,400.00 in late afternoon trade, down 2.50 points or 0.01 per cent from its previous close. Against the Nifty 50’s close of 23,440.80, the contract is at a discount of 40.80 points, or 0.17 per cent. The December contract was unchanged at 23,512.50, a premium of 71.70 points, or 0.31 per cent. 

The November contract opened at 23,212.50, which also proved its low of the day, and jumped in the morning to touch a high of 23,419.50. It slipped in the early afternoon before recovering to 23,400 by late afternoon. 

The flat signal suggests a pause after a strong Monday. On Tuesday, traders will track Brent crude near USD 109, progress in the Iran war talks and the US midterm elections on November 3. 

Monday’s Close 

Indian equity benchmarks surged on Monday, with the Nifty 50 reclaiming the 23,400 mark and the Sensex ending at a near two-month high. The Sensex rose 1,233.25 points, or 1.66 per cent, to 75,692.78, while the Nifty 50 advanced 387.70 points, or 1.68 per cent, to 23,440.80. Energy, PSU banks, consumer durables, infrastructure and auto stocks gained between 1 per cent and 4.6 per cent. 

Market breadth was firmly positive, with 2,668 shares advancing, 1,469 declining and 162 unchanged on the NSE. The Nifty Midcap index gained 1 per cent and the Nifty Smallcap index 0.7 per cent. Tata Steel and JSW Steel rose 5.8 per cent and 5.13 per cent, while IT, media and pharma stocks fell about 0.5 per cent each. 

Asian Stocks 

Asian stocks were mixed on Monday, with China and South Korea leading the gains. South Korea’s Kospi rose 2.24 per cent to 5,859.08, Shenzhen gained 1.63 per cent to 11,010.68, Shanghai added 1.08 per cent to 3,638.03 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng climbed 0.42 per cent to 23,393.32. Singapore’s Straits Times fell 1.36 per cent to 5,303.83, Thailand’s SET lost 0.75 per cent to 1,507.20 and Taiwan’s benchmark declined 0.65 per cent to 44,920.14. Australia’s ASX 200 slipped 0.58 per cent to 8,856.50 and Japan’s Nikkei eased 0.33 per cent to 63,081.86. 

Oil Prices 

Oil prices fell on Monday as hopes of a diplomatic breakthrough in the Iran war talks raised expectations of easing supply disruptions. Brent crude dropped USD 4.70, or 4.14 per cent, to USD 108.73 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell USD 4.35, or 4.18 per cent, to USD 99.77. On delayed data, Murban crude rose 1.85 per cent to USD 114.81. Iranian and Qatari officials held a third straight day of talks on ending the US-Israeli war on Iran, after Brent touched a six-month high of USD 118 on Friday. Cheaper oil eases pressure on India’s import bill and inflation. 

Reliance and Jio Platforms 

Reliance Industries shares jumped 11.6 per cent on Monday, their strongest single-day gain since April 2020, making the stock the biggest contributor to the Nifty’s advance. The rally followed September-quarter results, with consolidated net profit rising 40.6 per cent year on year to Rs 25,548 crore, against analysts’ estimates of Rs 21,419 crore. Oil-to-chemicals EBITDA jumped 68 per cent, while Reliance Retail’s net profit fell 24.3 per cent to Rs 2,611 crore. 

Jio Platforms, which listed on October 28, reported its first results as a listed company, with net profit up 13.7 per cent to Rs 8,387 crore and revenue from operations up 11.4 per cent to Rs 40,475 crore. EBITDA rose 16.6 per cent to Rs 21,879 crore, while average revenue per user rose to Rs 218.80 and subscribers reached 542.4 million. The shares ended nearly 27 per cent above the Rs 1,119 issue price on debut. 

Sources

•  nseix.com
• Gift Nifty
• NSE data
• PTI
• Reuters
• CNBC
• OilPrice.com