SGX Nifty up 9 points: Asian markets mixed, dollar firm, crude oil prices flat & more

“Nifty’s Bollinger Bands on the hourly chart are contracting and the hourly momentum indicator has given a negative crossover, both of which indicate that a consolidation is likely, before a trending move. From a short-term perspective, the range of consolidation is likely to be 17,400-17,925," he said.SGX Nifty signals a flat start Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange quoted 8.50 points, or 0.05 per cent, higher at 17,700.50, hinting at a flat start for the domestic market on Thursday.Asian shares gain in early trade Asian shares traded mostly positive in Thursday’s session. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.03 per cent. Japan's Nikkei added 0.61 per cent; Australia's ASX 200 rose 0.14 per cent; New Zealand's DJ gained 0.54 per cent; China's Shanghai rose 0.03 per cent; Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 0.13 per cent and Korea’s Kospi shed 0.19 per cent.Brent oil at $82.71 a barrel level Oil prices were near flat on Thursday, as a larger-than-expected draw in US crude stocks contended with worries that more aggressive US interest rate rises would strain economic growth and therefore dent oil consumption. Brent crude futures had edged higher by 5 cents to $82.71 per barrel by 0103 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained 5 cents to $76.71 a barrel.Dollar nears three-month high The dollar was perched near a three-month high on Thursday as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's message that interest rates would have to go higher and possibly faster to tame inflation dominated sentiment and kept the US currency in bid. The US dollar index slipped 0.02 per cent to 105.61. The euro and sterling similarly edged away from their multi-month lows, rising 0.02 per cent to $1.0546 and 0.09 per cent to $1.1854, respectively. The Japanese yen last stood at 136.86.US stock indices settle mixed The S&P 500 ended an indecisive session with a nominal increase and Treasury yields edged up on Wednesday as a spate of economic data appeared to support Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's reassertion, in his second day of congressional testimony, that the central bank would continue to ratchet up policy rates until inflation subsides. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 58.06 points, or 0.18 per cent, to 32,798.4, the S&P 500 gained 5.64 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 3,992.01 and the Nasdaq Composite added 45.67 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 11,576.00.Stocks in F&O ban Balrampur Chini Mill has been put under F&O ban by National Stock Exchange (NSE) for Thursday, March 9. Derivative contracts in a security are banned when it crosses 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 buy shares worth Rs 3,672 crore Provisional data available with NSE suggests FPIs turned net buyers of domestic stocks to the tune of Rs 3,671.56 crore on Friday. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) turned sellers of equities to the tune of Rs 937.80 crore.Rupee falls 3 paise against dollar The rupee depreciated 3 paise to close at 81.95 against the US currency on Wednesday as a strong dollar in the overseas market weighed on investor sentiments. Forex traders said the Dollar index gained strength after US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell reignited worries of a 50-bps rate hike in the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting to be held on March 21-22, 2023. Note: With inputs from PTI, Reuters and other agencies