Domestic benchmark indices are likely to open higher on Thursday but may eventually dance to the global tune. Asian stocks continued to fall further, as the US Fed minutes of recent FOMC policy review gave little cue on interest rate cuts. Back home, Q2 earnings of India Inc will guide the action at Dalal Street. Here's what all you know to know before the Opening Bell: Nifty outlook Nagaraj Shetti, Senior Technical Research Analyst, HDFC Securities said Nifty formed a long bearish candle on the daily chart, which has placed it at the edge of the immediate support of 10-day EMA. The 10-day EMA was offering support to the Nifty for the past two months. This is not a good sign, Shetti said. "The positive chart pattern like higher tops and bottoms is intact on the daily chart and present weakness could be in line with the formation of new higher bottoms of the sequence. Still, there is no confirmation of any higher bottom reversal pattern as of now," he said. "The short-term trend of Nifty continues to be negative," he said. Nifty Bank outlook Jatin Gedia, Technical Research Analyst at Sharekhan said Nifty Bank respected the 20-day moving average (47,669) for now . "On Wednesday, it dipped below the level but closed above it, indicating buying interest at the support level. We expect the Nifty Bank to consolidate and build a base for the next leg of up move. On the upside, the immediate resistance is placed at 47,900-48,000," he said. GIFT Nifty signals a positive start Nifty futures on the NSE International Exchange traded 23 points, or 0.11 per cent, higher at 21,603, hinting at a positive start for the domestic market on Thursday. Asian shares extend recent fall Asian shares continued to fall on Thursday as global selloff continued. The US Fed's minutes of meeting suggested that interest rates could stay higher for long, spooking traders across the globe. Japan's Nikkei tanked 1.07 per cent; Australia's ASX 200 shed 0.25 per cent; New Zealand's DJ dropped 0.38 per cent; China's Shanghai fell 0.35 per cent; Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.08 per cent; South Korea's KOSPI tanked 0.86 per cent. Oil prices rise on Middle East worries Oil prices rose in early trade on Thursday, extending the previous day's sharp gains on concerns about Middle Eastern supply following disruptions at a field in Libya and heightened tension around the Israel-Gaza war. Brent crude rose 33 cents, or 0.42 per cent, to $78.58 a barrel by 0101 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 40 cents, or 0.55 per cent, to $73.10. Dollar rebounds in early trade The dollar edged higher on Thursday as investors reassessed their expectations of the scale of rate cuts by the Federal Reserve this year, with an air of caution. Against a basket of currencies, the greenback rose 0.06 per cent to 102.46. The euro eased 0.02 per cent to $1.0921, while sterling edged 0.05 per cent higher to $1.2669 but remained pinned near its recent three-week low. Against the yen, the dollar stood near a two-week peak and last bought 143.09 yen. Wall Street shares settled lower US stock indices ended the second session of the year down again in extended profit-taking on Wednesday after a strong finish to 2023, with minutes from the Federal Reserve's December meeting failing to shake off the funk hanging over markets. The S&P 500 lost 38.02 points, or 0.8 per cent, to end at 4,704.81 points, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 173.73 points, or 1.18 per cent, to 14,592.21. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 284.85 points, or 0.76 per cent, to 37,430.19. Stocks in F&O ban Seven stocks have been put under the F&O segment ban by the National Stock Exchange (NSE) for Thursday, January 04. The new addition namely- National Aluminium Company (Nalco) - will join the existing holdings including Balrampur Chini Mills, Delta Corp, Indian Energy Exchange, Steel Authority of India (SAIL), Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL) and Hindustan Copper. Companies where derivative contracts cross 95 per cent of the market-wide position limit are put under ban in the F&O segment. FPIs sell shares worth Rs 666 crore Provisional data available with NSE suggest that FPIs turned net sellers of domestic stocks to the tune of 666.34 crore on Wednesday. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net sellers of Indian equities to the tune of Rs 862.98 crore. Rupee rises 2 paise against dollar The rupee stayed range-bound and settled 2 paise higher at 83.30 against the US dollar on Wednesday, amid volatility in crude oil prices and outflow of foreign funds. Forex traders said the Indian currency also remained under pressure due to a negative trend in domestic equities. Note: With inputs from PTI, Reuters and other agencie
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