Gift Nifty Points to Strong Open for Sensex, Nifty on Wednesday

Mumbai, October 13: Indian equity markets are set for a strong open on Wednesday, with Gift Nifty futures pointing to a start above Tuesday’s close. The signal follows a sharp recovery in the Sensex and Nifty 50, led by a rally in information technology stocks after HCL Technologies’ better-than-expected September-quarter earnings. Crude oil, inflation worries, Russian diesel supply and the Iran conflict remain the key triggers for the opening session. 

Gift Nifty Levels 

Gift Nifty futures for the near-month October 27 contract were trading at 22,850.50, up 429.00 points or 1.91 per cent, in late afternoon trade on Tuesday. That is 128.55 points above the Nifty 50’s closing level of 22,721.95, which points to a firm gap-up opening on Wednesday. The contract opened at 22,402.50, dipped to a low of 22,359.00 and surged to a high of 22,873.50, a rise of 514.50 points from the low, with a late-afternoon climb lifting it to the day’s peak. The December 29 contract was quoted at 22,608.00, down 199.00 points or 0.87 per cent. 

Asian Stocks 

Asian markets ended mixed on Tuesday, with heavy selling in North Asia’s technology-heavy markets after a sell-off in chip and artificial intelligence-linked stocks. South Korea’s Kospi plunged 5.46 per cent, or 348.89 points, to 6,035.35, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.82 per cent to 67,777.52 and Taiwan’s index lost 1.95 per cent to 48,341.31. China’s Shenzhen Component slipped 0.25 per cent to 12,353.70, the SGX-CNBC China Growth index shed 0.50 per cent to 1,438.09 and New Zealand’s NZX 50 fell 0.56 per cent to 13,749.60. On the positive side, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 0.30 per cent to 24,345.22, Malaysia gained 0.33 per cent, Singapore’s Straits Times rose 0.28 per cent to 5,430.50, Shanghai added 0.10 per cent to 3,800.86 and Australia’s ASX 200 was little changed at 8,783.90. 

Russian Diesel 

Russia will be able to return diesel exports to levels above those US President Donald Trump has outlined under a deal with Moscow, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Monday. Novak said exports could reach 3.0 million to 3.5 million metric tons a month by the end of the year, returning to pre-crisis levels. Russian shipments have collapsed due to Ukrainian attacks on refineries and self-imposed export curbs, and exports to Central Asia last month totalled 427,000 metric tons, according to industry sources. Trump announced the deal on Friday and his administration temporarily lifted US sanctions on Russian fuel, but it has drawn criticism from Ukraine and some US lawmakers, even as soaring diesel prices weigh on US truckers and farmers ahead of the November 3 midterm elections. Russia has frequently attacked Ukrainian energy infrastructure since it launched a full-scale invasion in 2022. 

Trump on Iran 

Trump said late on Monday that he does not believe China and Russia are helping Iran, adding that Moscow and Beijing have “too much to lose” if they enabled Tehran. He wrote on Truth Social that if they were, it was at a very low level, and that the US would know about it very fast. The comments came after critics and opponents said the two countries were backing Iran, while China has condemned US attacks on Iran as a violation of Iranian sovereignty. 

Tuesday’s Close 

The Sensex and Nifty 50 staged a sharp recovery on Tuesday, with the Sensex jumping 1,109.10 points, or 1.54 per cent, to close at 73,033.78 and the Nifty 50 advancing 358.60 points, or 1.60 per cent, to settle at 22,721.95. The Nifty IT index surged 5.2 per cent after HCL Technologies’ September-quarter net profit rose 21.2 per cent year-on-year, beating expectations, though the company kept a cautious outlook for annual revenue growth. HCL Technologies (HCLTECH), Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Tech Mahindra (TECHM) and Infosys (INFY) featured among the biggest Nifty 50 gainers, alongside Shriram Finance (SHRIRAMFIN). Market breadth was positive, with 2,303 stocks advancing, 1,711 declining and 162 unchanged, while all sectoral indices except energy and pharma ended higher, with Metal, PSU Bank, Auto, Consumer Durables and Realty each gaining around 1 per cent. 

Sources

• Gift Nifty
• NSE data
• BSE
• Reuters
• CNBC
• OilPrice.com