Gift Nifty Signals Lower Open for Sensex, Nifty on Thursday

Mumbai, November 11: Gift Nifty futures point to a gap-down opening for the Sensex and Nifty 50 on Thursday, with the contract at a discount of about 66 points to the Nifty’s close. The benchmarks ended higher on Wednesday as buying in auto, banking and FMCG stocks and strong foreign inflows lifted sentiment after Tuesday’s holiday. Asian stocks rallied, but crude oil rebounded from a two-month low. 

The near-month Gift Nifty contract was at 25,189.00 in Wednesday’s trade, down 36.50 points, or 0.14 per cent, from its previous close of 25,225.50, after opening at 25,292.50 and swinging between 25,163.50 and 25,472.50. Against the Nifty 50’s close of 25,255.05, that is a discount of 66.05 points, or 0.26 per cent. 

Oil is higher. Brent crude is at USD 93.36 a barrel, up 2.04 per cent, and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) is at USD 87.20, up 1.30 per cent. 

Asia is firm. Taiwan jumped 3.62 per cent, South Korea’s Kospi rose 2.60 per cent and Japan’s Nikkei gained 1.31 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.98 per cent. 

Wednesday’s Close 

Indian equity benchmarks extended their November rally on Wednesday, with the Sensex closing at 81,879.40, up 772.75 points, or 0.95 per cent, and the Nifty 50 settling at 25,255.05, up 210.40 points, or 0.84 per cent. Buying in auto, banking and FMCG stocks, softer crude oil prices and strong foreign inflows lifted sentiment, while weakness in IT, pharma and realty stocks capped some gains. Market breadth was firmly positive, with 2,756 shares advancing, 1,555 declining and 162 unchanged. 

Among Nifty 50 stocks, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), InterGlobe Aviation (INDIGO), Eicher Motors (EICHERMOT), Trent (TRENT) and Tata Steel (TATASTEEL) were the biggest gainers. Tech Mahindra (TECHM), ICICI Bank (ICICIBANK), Nestle India (NESTLEIND), HCL Technologies (HCLTECH) and Titan Company (TITAN) were among the major laggards. 

The Nifty Auto and Nifty Bank indices advanced about 1 to 2 per cent, while FMCG stocks also recorded strong gains and the Nifty IT, Pharma and Realty indices fell between 0.5 and 1 per cent. The Nifty Smallcap index rose 1.6 per cent and the Nifty Midcap index gained 0.8 per cent. 

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have bought Indian shares worth USD 5.68 billion so far in November, their biggest monthly buying since September 2024, and both benchmarks are up nearly 10 per cent this month. Wall Street, however, fell on Tuesday after hotter-than-expected US inflation data lifted Treasury yields and raised expectations of a more aggressive Federal Reserve rate hike in December. 

Asian Stocks 

Asian stocks rallied on Wednesday, with Taiwan jumping 3.62 per cent to 44,257.15 and South Korea’s Kospi rising 2.60 per cent to 5,375.36. Japan’s Nikkei gained 1.31 per cent to 61,248.59, Shenzhen climbed 1.32 per cent to 11,389.74 and Shanghai added 0.46 per cent to 3,680.64. Singapore’s Straits Times rose 0.59 per cent to 5,289.66, Thailand’s SET gained 0.39 per cent to 1,502.11, Australia’s ASX 200 added 0.27 per cent to 9,153.20 and New Zealand’s NZX 50 inched up 0.09 per cent to 14,179.86. On the other side, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.98 per cent to 24,315.92 and Malaysia lost 0.55 per cent to 1,595.19. 

Oil Prices 

Oil prices rebounded on Wednesday, with Brent crude up USD 1.87, or 2.04 per cent, at USD 93.36 a barrel and WTI up USD 1.12, or 1.30 per cent, at USD 87.20. Brent had fallen to a two-month low of USD 89.16 on Tuesday as concerns over further military escalation in the US-Iran conflict eased. Murban crude was quoted at USD 92.07 on November 10, down USD 7.10, or 7.16 per cent, while the OPEC basket slipped 1.31 per cent to USD 91.99 and Mars crude fell 3.42 per cent to USD 113.36. Natural gas rose 0.64 per cent to USD 3.317 and heating oil gained 2.36 per cent to USD 4.228. Lower prices ease India’s import bill, inflation and pressure on the rupee, though Brent has recovered to around USD 93. 

Sources

•  nseix.com
• NSE data
• BSE data
• CNBC
• OilPrice.com