Mumbai, November 6:Gift Nifty futures point to a gap-down opening for the Sensex and Nifty 50 on Monday, with the contract at a discount of about 82 points to the Nifty’s close. The signal follows a seventh straight gain on Friday and a steep fall in Asian stocks. Exchanges hold a special Muhurat trading session on Sunday for Diwali, and regular trading resumes on Monday.

The near-month Gift Nifty contract was at 24,948.00 in Friday’s trade, down 44 points, or 0.18 per cent, from its previous close of 24,992.00. Against the Nifty 50’s close of 25,030.35, that is a discount of 82.35 points, or 0.33 per cent.

Oil is steady. Brent crude is at USD 98.11 a barrel, down 0.18 per cent, about 17 per cent below the six-month high of USD 118, after trading near USD 100 earlier on Friday.

Asia is weak. Japan’s Nikkei fell 5.96 per cent, South Korea’s Kospi 6.02 per cent and Taiwan 4.51 per cent on Friday.

Friday’s Close

Indian equity benchmarks ended higher on Friday. Tracking weak global cues, they opened lower and the Nifty slipped to an intraday low of 24,388.05, but buying gathered pace through the session and the Nifty crossed the 24,900 mark for the first time since February 27, 2026. At close, the Sensex was up 1,718.01 points, or 2.17 per cent, at 81,028.02, and the Nifty 50 was up 493.75 points, or 2.01 per cent, at 25,030.35, against Thursday’s 79,310.01 and 24,536.60. For the week, the Sensex gained 8.82 per cent and the Nifty 8.58 per cent. Falling crude oil prices, sustained foreign fund inflows, encouraging corporate earnings and a stronger rupee supported sentiment. The buying lifted investors’ wealth by nearly Rs 1.5 lakh crore, with the total market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies rising to Rs 503.10 lakh crore from Rs 501.61 lakh crore in the previous session.

Asian Stocks

Asian stocks fell sharply on Friday, led by steep losses in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. Japan’s Nikkei dropped 5.96 per cent to 57,434.77, South Korea’s Kospi lost 6.02 per cent to 5,059.69 and Taiwan fell 4.51 per cent to 39,701.64. Shenzhen slid 2.57 per cent to 11,175.78, Singapore’s Straits Times fell 2.21 per cent to 5,179.17, Thailand’s SET lost 2.16 per cent to 1,465.70 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 1.27 per cent to 24,481.86. Malaysia fell 1.18 per cent to 1,616.58, Shanghai shed 1.10 per cent to 3,649.18, New Zealand’s NZX 50 lost 0.66 per cent to 13,998.50 and Australia’s ASX 200 eased 0.49 per cent to 9,020.80. The SGX-CNBC China Growth index fell 2.32 per cent to 1,374.12.

Oil Prices

Oil prices were little changed, with Brent crude down USD 0.18, or 0.18 per cent, at USD 98.11 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) up USD 0.08, or 0.09 per cent, at USD 90.60. Murban crude was quoted at USD 99.17, up USD 3.28, or 3.42 per cent, on Friday’s data, while the OPEC basket stood at USD 90.82, down 6.25 per cent a day earlier. Natural gas rose 1.76 per cent to USD 2.999 and heating oil gained 0.31 per cent to USD 4.365, while gasoline slipped 0.18 per cent to USD 2.758. WTI Midland rose 0.34 per cent to USD 91.50, while Mars crude slipped 3.93 per cent to USD 123.54. Lower prices help India, a major crude importer, by easing the import bill, inflation and pressure on the rupee.

Market Holidays

The NSE and BSE will hold a special Muhurat trading session on Sunday, November 8, for Diwali Laxmi Pujan, and normal trading resumes on Monday. Both exchanges will stay closed on Tuesday, November 10, for Diwali-Balipratipada.

Sources:

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