GIFT Nifty down 15 points: Asian markets, crude oil prices, Q3 results, dollar movement, & more

Domestic stock indices are likely to open lower on Friday after falling sharply lower in the previous session. Most Asian stocks were shut today on account of Lunar New Year holidays, while US stocks eked out some gains overnight. The IPO of Entero Healthcare Solutions will open for bidding while three ongoing IPOs will conclude today. Here's what all you know to know before the opening bell:

Nifty outlook
Nifty formed bearish candlestick patterns namely the ‘Double Top’ and the ‘Bearish Belt Hold’ at the daily timeframe, indicating a potential downtrend, said VLA Ambala, co-founder of Stock Market Today.

"A crucial trading level for the current session is anticipated between 21,550 and 21,420 range, while 21,800 and 21,920 are identified as major resistance points. While caution is advised for trading in this current situation, picking quality stocks is recommended," she said.

Nifty Bank outlook
RBI’s concern regarding extra liquidity elicited a sharp downmove in Nifty Bank, said Sheersham Gupta, Director and Senior Technical Analyst at Rupeezy. "With the 45,000 level emerging as a critical support for Nifty Bank -- coinciding with its 200-day moving average, a dip below this mark will land the index in the bearish territory," he said.

GIFT Nifty signals a negative start
Nifty futures on the NSE International Exchange traded 15 points, or 0.07 per cent, lower at 21,769.50, hinting at a negative start for the domestic market on Friday.

Asian shares open mixed
Asian stocks were trading mixed on Friday amid a light conomic calendar. The MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.47 per cent. Japan's Nikkei gained 0.33 per cent; Hong Kong's Hang Seng plunged 1.32 per cent.

Oil prices headed for weekly gains
Oil prices rose in early trade on Friday, on track for weekly gains, with tensions persisting in the Middle East after Israel rejected a ceasefire offer from Hamas. Brent futures climbed 8 cents, or 0.1 per cent, to $81.71 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 17 cents, or 0.2 per cent, to $76.39 a barrel.

Dollar buoyant as traders adjust rate bets
The yen wallowed near a 10-week low on Friday, while the dollar ground towards a fourth weekly advance as traders dialled back bets on how quickly the Bank of Japan will raise interest rates and how soon the Federal Reserve will cut them. The yen was little changed at 149.315 per dollar in early Asian trading. The dollar index was steady at 104.15. The euro was little changed at $1.0774 and sterling was flat at $1.2619.

Wall Street shares settle higher
The benchmark S&P 500 index managed to eke out a small gain on Thursday after briefly hitting the 5,000-point milestone, as investors reacted to earnings reports, a roughly in-line jobs report and remarks from policymakers on interest rate cuts. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 48.97 points, or 0.13 per cent, to 38,726.33, the S&P 500 gained 2.85 points, or 0.06 per cent, to 4,997.91 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 37.07 points, or 0.24 per cent, to 15,793.72.

Entero Healthcare Solutions IPO opens today
The initial public offering (IPO) of Entero Healthcare Solutions opens for bidding on Friday, February 9, 2023. The healthcare products distributor is offering its shares in the range of Rs 1,195-1,258 apiece to raise a total of Rs 1,600 crore. Investors can bid for a minimum of 11 equity shares and its multiples thereafter. Bidding for the issue shall close on Tuesday, February 13.

Q3 results today
Indian Railway Finance Corporation, Tata Power Company, Hero MotoCorp, Zydus Lifesciences, Alkem Laboratories, MRF, SJVN, PI Industries, The New India Assurance Company, Housing and Urban Development Corporation, Bandhan Bank, Godrej Industries, Emami, Pfizer, Cello World, Inox Wind, Finolex Cables, IFCI, Honasa Consumer and Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation sare among the companies that will announced their results for the December 2023 quarter today.

Stocks in F&O ban
As many as a dozen stocks have been put under the F&O segment ban by the National Stock Exchange (NSE) for Friday, February 9. The new entrants - Aurobindo Pharma, Biocon and Punjab National Bank (PNB)- will join the existing retentions Ashok Leyland, Hindustan Copper, National Aluminium Company (Nalco), India Cements, Balrampur Chini Mills, Delta Corp and Steel Authority of India (SAIL), Indus Towers and UPL in the list. 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 4,934 crore
Provisional data available with NSE suggest that FPIs turned net sellers of domestic stocks to the tune of Rs 4,933.78 crore on Thursday. On the other hand, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) turned net buyers of Indian equities to the tune of Rs 5,512.32 crore.

Rupee settles flat against dollar
The rupee settled on a flat note at 82.96 against the US dollar on Thursday, after the Reserve Bank decided to keep the key policy rate unchanged for the sixth time in a row to maintain a tight vigil on inflation. Forex traders said a negative trend in domestic equities weighed on investor sentiments.

Note: With inputs from PTI, Reuters and other agencies

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