GIFT Nifty down 2 points: Asian markets, crude oil prices, dollar movement, Q1 results & more

Domestic stock indices are likely to open flat on Thursday despite strong global cues. Asian stocks rallied in early trade while US stocks settled with strong gains overnight. There is optimism globally that the Fed rate hike cycle is nearing its end. Back home, investors will react to Q1 earnings of TCS and HCL Tech. Wipro will announce its earnings today. Here's what you should know before the Opening Bell:Nifty outlook Nifty is facing resistance at 19,500-19,550 levels. The hourly momentum indicator has triggered a negative crossover and is whipsawing due to sideways consolidation in Nifty. Until the index get a decisive close beyond the extremes of the range, one can expect the consolidation to continue, said Jatin Gedia, Technical Research Analyst, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas. "The strategy to trade such a consolidation would be to take a contrarian view around the extremes of the range. In this case, we are approaching the lower boundary 19,300 and, hence, we should look out for a sign of strength around the support and go long," he added.GIFT Nifty signals a positive start Nifty futures on the Nifty International Exchange traded 1.5 points, or 0.01 per cent, lower at 19,563.50, hinting at a flattish start for the domestic market on Thursday.Asian stocks open with big gains Asian shares were in better spirits on Friday going into the latest South Korean interest rate decision and Chinese trade data on Thursday, thanks to the dollar's slump and global market rally on Wednesday sparked by another steep decline in US inflation. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 1.63 per cent. Japan's Nikkei rallied 1.28 per cent; Australia's ASX 200 surged 1.37 per cent; New Zealand's DJ gained 0.95 per cent; China's Shanghai rose 0.68 per cent; Hong Kong's Hang Seng soared 2.23 per cent and South Korea's Kospi advanced 0.93 per cent.Oil prices rise in early trade Oil prices rose in early Asian trade on Thursday after US inflation and economic data sparked hopes the Federal Reserve may have fewer interest rate hikes in store for the world's biggest economy. Brent crude futures rose 6 cents to $80.17 per barrel and US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 4 cents, or $75.79.Dollar takes a beating A bruised dollar was nudged lower still in Asia on Thursday, as traders took surprisingly slow US inflation as a signal US interest rate rises will be all but finished by month's end. The dollar had its worst session in five months overnight. The dollar index fell marginally to 100.47, its lowest since April 2022. The euro hit a fresh 15-month high of $1.1141 in early Asia trade and the yen, up 0.3 per cent at 138.16 per dollar, was its strongest since mid-May. Sterling sat at $1.2994, just below its overnight high of $1.3001.Wall Street stocks settle with gains US stocks ended solidly higher on Wednesday, led by a gain of more than 1% in the Nasdaq after a report showed inflation subsided further with consumer prices registering their smallest annual increase in more than two years. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 86.01 points, or 0.25 per cent, to 34,347.43, the S&P 500 gained 32.9 points, or 0.74 per cent, to 4,472.16 and the Nasdaq Composite added 158.26 points, or 1.15 per cent, to 13,918.96.Q1 results today Wipro, Federal Bank, Angel One, Sterling and Wilson Renewable Energy, Tata Metaliks, Bhansali Engineering Polymers, Avantel, Aditya Birla Money and Unitech are among the companies that will announce their earnings for the June 2023 quarter during the day.Stocks in F&O ban Six stocks - Hindustan Copper, Manappuram Finance, Indiabulls Housing Finance, Punjab National Bank, Zee Entertainment and India Cements - have been put under the F&O segment ban by the National Stock Exchange (NSE) for Thursday, July 13. Derivative contracts in a security are banned when they cross 95 per cent of the market-wide position limit (MWPL). No new positions can be created in the derivative contracts of said security. This prohibition is lifted when the open interest in the stock drops below 80 per cent of the MWPL across exchanges.FPIs sell shares worth Rs 1,242 crore Provisional data available with NSE suggest that FPIs turned net sellers of domestic stocks to the tune of Rs 1,242.44 crore on Wednesday. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers of Indian equities to the tune of Rs 436.71 crore.Rupee rises 23 paise against dollar Rising for the third straight session, the rupee gained 23 paise to 82.18 against the US dollar on Wednesday, as weakness in the American currency overseas boosted investor sentiment. However, a surge in crude oil prices capped the gains in the local unit, forex traders said. Note: With inputs from PTI, Reuters and other agencies