Gift Nifty Points to Flat Opening for Indian Markets on Monday

Mumbai, Sept 18: Indian markets are set to open little changed on Monday, with Gift Nifty holding near the flat line after a choppy Friday session, even as broader Asian markets closed the week on a strong footing and crude oil extended its slide. 

Gift Nifty was trading at 23,362 in early trade, up just 1 point, or nearly flat on the day, pointing to a muted opening for Indian equities on Monday after the contract swung sharply through Friday’s session before settling back near its reference level. 

The near-month contract, expiring September 29, swung between an intraday low of 23,287 and a high of 23,396 through the session, opening at 23,333, dipping toward the lower end of that range through the late morning before staging a sharp rally past 14:00 to reclaim the 23,350 mark. Traders said the round-trip move suggests positioning remains unsettled heading into Monday, with global cues around crude prices and primary-market liquidity likely to determine whether Dalal Street opens flat or finds direction once trade begins at 9.15 am. 

Oil Prices 

Crude oil extended its decline on Friday, adding to Thursday’s sharp pullback. Brent crude fell 1.84 per cent to $102.89 a barrel, while WTI crude dropped 1.10 per cent to $100.79. Murban crude, the key Gulf benchmark, slid 2.06 per cent to $118.89, and the Opec Basket tumbled 3.90 per cent to $119.20, one of the steeper single-day declines this month. Natural gas eased 1.69 per cent to $2.852 and gasoline slipped 1.78 per cent to $3.445, extending the broad-based retreat in energy markets that has continued to ease pressure on a net oil-importing economy like India. 

IPO Rush 

Continued liquidity absorption by the primary market weighed on Friday’s cash session even as the broader market rallied, with the NSE’s own initial public offering drawing heavy demand through the week. The Rs 22,561.57 crore issue, priced in a band of Rs 1,700 to Rs 1,785 a share, remains open for subscription through Monday, September 21, the same day Dalal Street opens for the new week, and dealers said funds locked up in the subscription process have continued to draw liquidity away from secondary-market trade, a pattern that has recurred through the week as investor cash gets parked ahead of allotment. Financial and IT stocks are likely to stay in focus once the issue closes and allotment-linked flows return to the cash market. 

The setup follows Friday’s mixed close in the cash market, when the Nifty gained 76 points, or 0.33 per cent, to end at 23,346, even as the Sensex slipped 20 points, or 0.03 per cent, to 74,295 after paring almost all of a 245-point intraday advance. The broader market significantly outperformed the headline indices, with the smallcap index jumping 1.7 per cent and the midcap index rising 1.2 per cent, while market breadth stayed firmly positive at 2,531 advances against 1,452 declines on the NSE. The India VIX tumbled 7.2 per cent, signalling a sharp easing in volatility into the weekend. Asian markets closed Friday broadly higher, led by South Korea’s Kospi, up 2.66 per cent, and Taiwan’s benchmark, up 1.93 per cent, a positive cue Dalal Street will look to carry into Monday’s session even as Gift Nifty itself points to a largely flat start. 

Source

•  nseix.com