Gift Nifty Signals Flat Open for Sensex, Nifty on Friday

Mumbai, October 22:Gift Nifty futures point to a flat to marginally higher opening for the Sensex and Nifty 50 on Friday, with the contract trading about 23 points above the Nifty’s Thursday close. The indices ended a third straight session lower.

The near-month October 27 Gift Nifty contract was trading at 22,711.00, down 37 points or 0.16 per cent from its previous close of 22,748.00. Against the Nifty 50’s Thursday close of 22,687.65, the contract is at a premium of 23.35 points, or 0.10 per cent.

The contract opened at 22,735.00 and climbed to a high of 22,807.00 late in the morning. It had touched a low of 22,533.50 earlier and was quoted near 22,710 in the afternoon.

Asian stocks closed deeply in the red on Thursday, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng down 3.03 per cent and South Korea’s Kospi down 3.52 per cent. Brent crude climbed 2.60 per cent to USD 111.65 per barrel.

Oil Prices

Oil prices climbed on Thursday, with Brent crude gaining USD 2.83, or 2.60 per cent, to USD 111.65 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rising USD 2.13, or 2.19 per cent, to USD 99.28. Gasoline and heating oil gained 1.98 per cent and 2.46 per cent, while natural gas slipped 0.90 per cent. Costlier crude raises the risk of imported inflation for India, which depends heavily on oil imports.

Asian Stocks

Asian markets ended sharply lower on Thursday, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng falling 3.03 per cent, or 717.19 points, to 22,934.68 and South Korea’s Kospi sliding 3.52 per cent to 5,533.77. Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 2.65 per cent, or 1,713.40 points, to 62,907.84, and Taiwan’s benchmark fell 1.81 per cent to 46,041.43. Chinese markets weakened as well, with the Shanghai Composite down 1.48 per cent at 3,658.03 and the Shenzhen index down 2.97 per cent at 11,357.32, while Australia’s ASX 200 eased 0.43 per cent to 8,793.20. Malaysia, up 0.37 per cent, and Thailand’s SET index, up 0.42 per cent, were the only markets in the green among those tracked.

Iran War

The US State Department ordered non-emergency government employees and their family members in Saudi Arabia to leave, and plans to withdraw family members from several other missions in the region, US officials told Reuters. The order followed attacks by Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen on Saudi Arabia, including one at a civilian airport in Dammam that killed at least one person and injured eight, and a drone strike on an oil field that killed two. Washington had sent some diplomats back to the region in recent months, after many were pulled out when Tehran struck US facilities following the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran in late February.

Separately, Axios reported that dozens of Israeli fighter jets flew as far as the Iranian border on Monday, more than 800 miles from Israel and a week before the Israeli elections. Israel described the sortie as a training exercise meant to project power and deter Iran, but it could have led to a miscalculation that reignites the war.

Thursday’s Close

Indian equity indices ended lower for a third consecutive session on Thursday, with the Nifty closing below 22,700. The Sensex fell 460.30 points, or 0.62 per cent, to 73,249.39, and the Nifty 50 lost 123.70 points, or 0.54 per cent, to 22,687.65, after trading between 22,554.85 and 22,785.00. About 1,323 shares advanced against 2,670 that declined, with 155 unchanged.

Most sectoral indices ended lower. Nifty Media fell 2.35 per cent, Nifty FMCG dropped 1.41 per cent, Nifty IT and Nifty Energy lost 1.05 per cent each, Nifty Consumer Durables declined 0.96 per cent, Nifty Oil & Gas slid 0.86 per cent and Nifty Auto fell 0.73 per cent. Nifty Pharma, Nifty PSU Bank, Nifty Healthcare and Nifty Cement edged up between 0.04 and 0.12 per cent. The Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 fell 0.87 per cent and 1.14 per cent, while India VIX rose 0.90 per cent to 15.82.

Sources:

• Gift Nifty and NSE data
• Reuters
• Axios
• CNBC
• OilPrice.com