Gift Nifty Signals Positive Open for Sensex, Nifty on Tuesday as Oil Cools

Mumbai, November 3: Gift Nifty points to a gap-up open for Indian markets on Tuesday, with the contract trading about 94 points above the Nifty’s Monday close. Oil has cooled to around USD 105 and global cues are mixed. There is no drastic development in the Iran war, though the US has asked diplomats in Saudi Arabia to leave. 

The Gift Nifty November 23 contract was trading at 23,534.50, up 294.50 points or 1.27 per cent from its previous close of 23,240.00, as of 7:23 am IST on Tuesday. Against the Nifty 50’s Monday close of 23,440.80, the contract is at a premium of 93.70 points, or 0.40 per cent. That points to a gap-up start for the benchmarks. 

Brent crude is trading around USD 105, well below the six-month high of USD 118 it touched on Friday. 

Asian stocks are mixed on Tuesday morning, with the Hang Seng up 0.60 per cent and the Kospi down 2.78 per cent. Wall Street ended mixed on Monday, with the Dow up 0.41 per cent and the Nasdaq down 1.07 per cent. 

The Sensex and the Nifty 50 rallied more than 1.6 per cent on Monday, led by Reliance Industries, which jumped 11.6 per cent. 

Investors will track crude, FII flows, corporate earnings and Middle East developments. 

Oil Prices 

Oil prices have cooled, with Brent crude at USD 104.98 a barrel, up USD 0.21 or 0.20 per cent, and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) at USD 96.77, up USD 0.31 or 0.32 per cent. Brent is well below the six-month high of USD 118 it touched on Friday and around USD 110 on Monday, as Iranian and Qatari officials held a third consecutive day of talks aimed at ending the US-Israeli war on Iran. Cooler crude eases pressure on India’s import bill, inflation and external balances. 

Asian Stocks 

Asian stocks were mixed on Tuesday morning, led lower by South Korea’s Kospi, which fell 2.78 per cent to 5,695.99, and Taiwan’s benchmark, which lost 1.15 per cent to 44,403.80. Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.33 per cent to 63,081.86. In China, the Shanghai Composite lost 0.56 per cent to 3,617.57, while the Shenzhen index gained 0.49 per cent to 11,064.39. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.60 per cent to 23,533.36, and Australia’s ASX 200 edged up 0.02 per cent to 8,858.00. 

US Markets 

Wall Street ended mixed on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.41 per cent at 51,983.98, while the S&P 500 fell 0.51 per cent to 7,541.40 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.07 per cent to 25,164.36. The Nasdaq 100 declined 1.39 per cent to 27,989.82 and the Russell 2000 lost 0.21 per cent to 2,805.88, but the NYSE Composite gained 0.33 per cent to 24,372.07. The VIX volatility index jumped 8.91 per cent to 21.15. 

Iran War 

The US State Department had ordered some diplomats and family members to depart from its missions in Saudi Arabia and planned to withdraw family members from several other US missions in the region, US officials told Reuters. Spokesperson Tommy Pigott said the order covered non-emergency US government employees and their family members in Saudi Arabia only, citing Houthi attacks on civilian targets. It came as an attack on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam killed one person and injured eight others, and two people were killed after Saudi air defences intercepted a drone aimed at Aramco’s Shaybah oilfield. The US embassy in Riyadh has issued a security alert about possible further Houthi attacks, as the escalation in Yemen opens another front in the regional conflict triggered by the US-Israeli war on Iran. 

Monday’s Close 

Indian equity benchmarks kicked off Diwali week with a strong rally on Monday, as strong quarterly earnings from Reliance Industries, easing crude prices and hopes of progress in diplomatic efforts to end the Iran war lifted sentiment. The Sensex surged 1,233.25 points, or 1.66 per cent, to close at 75,692.78, while the Nifty 50 advanced 387.70 points, or 1.68 per cent, to settle at 23,440.80. Reliance jumped 11.6 per cent, its strongest single-day gain since April 2020, after beating profit estimates. Market breadth was positive, with 2,668 shares advancing, 1,469 declining and 162 unchanged on the NSE, while IT, media and pharma stocks bucked the trend. 

Sources

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