Gift Nifty Points to Higher Open for Sensex, Nifty on Monday

Mumbai, October 30: Gift Nifty futures point to a higher opening for the Sensex and Nifty 50 on Monday, with the near-month contract at a premium of about 57 points. The Indian indices extended gains for a second straight session on Friday, with the Sensex up 0.42 per cent and the Nifty 0.51 per cent, as buying in IT and pharma stocks offset weakness in the broader market. 

The near-month November Gift Nifty contract was trading at 23,110.00 in late afternoon trade, up 24.00 points or 0.10 per cent from its previous close. Against the Nifty 50’s close of 23,053.10, the contract is at a premium of 56.90 points, or 0.25 per cent. The December contract was unchanged at 23,219.50, a premium of 166.40 points, or 0.72 per cent. 

The November contract opened at 23,017.50 and fell to a low of 22,940 in morning trade. It began to recover from late morning, touched a high of 23,164.50 during the session and was holding near 23,110 by late afternoon. 

The firmer tone follows two straight sessions of gains, though the rally has been narrow, with the Nifty Midcap and Smallcap indices falling 0.8 per cent and 1.8 per cent on Friday. On Monday, traders will track oil prices, any response from Tehran to Vice President JD Vance’s letter and the US midterm elections on November 3, with Brent crude above USD 117 a key risk to sentiment. 

Friday’s Close 

Indian equity benchmarks extended their gains for a second consecutive session on Friday, with the Nifty 50 reclaiming the 23,000 mark as buying in IT and pharma stocks offset weakness in the broader market. The Sensex advanced 308.49 points, or 0.42 per cent, to 74,459.53, while the Nifty 50 gained 116.35 points, or 0.51 per cent, to 23,053.10. The benchmarks recovered from a muted start, helped by a rally in IT stocks and post-results gains in heavyweights such as Trent and InterGlobe Aviation. 

The recovery was concentrated in frontline stocks. The Nifty IT index climbed 2.3 per cent and the Nifty Pharma index gained 1.8 per cent, with IT showing resilience despite a global tech sell-off driven by concerns over the scale of artificial intelligence investments and their returns. The Nifty Midcap index declined 0.8 per cent and the Nifty Smallcap index fell 1.8 per cent, while market breadth was distinctly negative, with 1,311 shares advancing, 2,862 declining and 170 unchanged. 

Asian Stocks 

Asian stocks were mostly lower on Friday, dragged by a Wall Street tech sell-off sparked by disappointing quarterly earnings from Alphabet, Amazon and Intel. South Korea’s Kospi fell 3.48 per cent to 5,730.74, Shenzhen slid 2.73 per cent to 10,833.78, Taiwan’s benchmark lost 2.49 per cent to 45,211.83 and Japan’s Nikkei dropped 2.12 per cent to 63,290.11. Thailand’s SET declined 1.68 per cent to 1,518.59, Shanghai fell 1.44 per cent to 3,599.02 and Singapore’s Straits Times eased 0.36 per cent to 5,376.74. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng bucked the trend with a 1.46 per cent gain to 23,294.42, while Australia’s ASX 200 rose 0.18 per cent to 8,908.10, New Zealand’s NZX 50 gained 0.63 per cent to 13,797.00 and Malaysia added 0.28 per cent to 1,615.60. 

Oil Prices 

Oil prices rose on Friday as the Strait of Hormuz standoff kept supply worries alive. Brent crude gained USD 2.87, or 2.50 per cent, to USD 117.75 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose USD 2.22, or 2.18 per cent, to USD 104.22. Murban crude eased USD 0.45, or 0.39 per cent, to USD 114.76, and the Opec basket was unchanged at USD 112.85. Iran has said it will reopen the strait only if its seven conditions are met, including the lifting of the US blockade on its ports and of sanctions on its oil exports, while the Wall Street Journal reported that Admiral Brad Cooper briefed President Donald Trump on military options in Iran on Thursday. India imports most of its crude, so costlier oil widens the import bill, weighs on the rupee and feeds inflation. 

Sources

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