GIFT Nifty down 55 points: Asian markets, crude oil prices, dollar movement, Q2 earnings & more

Domestic benchmark indices may open lower on Thursday amid weakness across Asia. Regional shares were down in the early trade, tracking an overnight fall in US stocks. At home, the session could see heightened volatility on account of the expiry of October futures and options contract. IRM Energy will make its market debut today. Here's what you should know before the Opening Bell:

Nifty outlook
Nifty continued uts corrective phase and breached key supports earlier this week. The follow up selling in the broader market hints at a continuation of the corrective phase, said Ruchit Jain of 5paisa.

"The RSI reading is in sell mode on the daily chart but approaching the oversold zone on the hourly chart. Thus, a pullback move cannot be ruled out from support level, which are placed at 19,960 and 19,870, respectively. On the higher side, 19,290-19,350 levels will be seen as a resistance zone," he said.

Nifty Bank outlook
Kunal Shah of LKP Securities said that the Bank Nifty has breached the support level of 43,000. "The overall market sentiment remains bearish, and a 'sell on rise' strategy is advisable. The immediate resistance is seen at 43,500, and further selling pressure could potentially drive the index down towards 42,000," he said.

GIFT Nifty signals a negative start
Nifty futures on the NSE International Exchange traded 54.50 points, or 0.29 per cent, lower at 19,025, hinting at a negative start for the domestic market on Thursday.

Asia shares crash at open
Asian stocks fell on Thursday morning as the sentiment got hurt by a renewed spike in longer-dated US Treasury bond yields. The MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 1.23 per cent. Japan's Nikkei plunged 2.08 per cent; Australia's ASX 200 tanked 1.02 per cent; New Zealand's DJ tumbled 1.17 per cent; China's Shanghai shed 0.33 per cent; Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 0.58 per cent; South Korea's Kospi plummeted 2.24 per cent.

Oil steady amid Middle East tensions
Oil prices were little changed on Thursday as the market weighed mixed drivers, eyeing tensions in the Middle East while digesting a rise in Us crude stockpiles. Brent crude futures dipped 3 cents to $90.10 a barrel at 0100 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures eased 3 cents at $85.36 a barrel.

Dollar appreciates, yen weakens
The dollar was firm on Thursday, hovering near a one-week high as Treasury yields rose and investor appetite for riskier currencies dimmed, while the yen breached 150 per dollar to keep traders jittery about the prospect of intervention. The dollar index was at 106.58, just shy of the one-week high. The Japanese yen touched a fresh one-year low of 150.32 per dollar. The euro was little changed at $1.0562, while the sterling was last at $1.2097, down 0.09 per cent on the day.

Wall Street stocks settle lower
US stocks tumbled in a broad sell-off on Wednesday as Alphabet shares slid after the Google parent posted disappointing earnings and as US Treasury yields rose, reviving fears that interest rates could stay higher for longer. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 105.45 points, or 0.32 per cent, to 33,035.93, the S&P 500 lost 60.91 points, or 1.43 per cent, to 4,186.77 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 318.65 points, or 2.43 per cent, to 12,821.22.

IRM Energy shares to make market debut
Shares of IRM Energy, a city gas distribution player, will be listed at the bourses today as the company raised a total of Rs 545.40 via IPO route. The Cadila Pharmaceuticals-backed company sold its shares in the range of Rs 480-505 with a lot size of 29 equity shares between October 18-20. The issue was overall subscribed 27.05 times.

Q2 results today
Asian Paints, Punjab National Bank, Shriram Finance, Canara Bank, Colgate-Palmolive (India), Vodafone India, Indian Bank, ACC, Coromandel International, Dixon Technologies, Apar Industries, Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra), NLC India, Westlife Foodworld, Affle (India), Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC are among the companies which announced their earnings for the quarter ended on September 2023.

Stocks in F&O ban list
Two stocks - Delta Corp and RBL Bank- have been put under the F&O segment ban by the National Stock Exchange (NSE) for Thursday, October 26. 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 4,237 crore
Provisional data available with NSE suggest that FPIs were net sellers of domestic stocks to the tune of Rs 4,236.60 crore on Wednesday. On the other hand, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) turned net buyers of Indian equities to the tune of Rs 3,569.36 crore.

Rupee falls 1 paisa against dollar
The rupee paired all its early gains to settle 1 paisa lower at 83.17 against the US dollar on Wednesday, tracking negative cues from domestic equity markets and a strong greenback overseas amid geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. Softening crude oil prices and some buying by foreign equity investors, however, supported the Indian currency, forex dealers said.

Note: With inputs from PTI, Reuters and other agencies

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