GIFT Nifty down 73 points: Asian markets, crude oil prices, dollar movement, & more

Domestic benchmark indices are set for another gap down opening on Thursday amid the dull global cues. Asian stocks opened with a fall, while US stocks tumbled sharply in the overnight trade. Global concerns are likely to weigh on the local equities. Back home, the expiry of weekly F&O contracts will be another factor for the Indian shares. IPO of Innova Captab will open for bidding, while Inox India will make its debut. Here's what you should know before the opening bell:

Nifty outlook
Subash Gangadharan, Senior Technical and Derivative Analyst at HDFC Securities said, "We can observe that the Nifty has broken its previous support of 21,337 and there has also been a negative moving average crossover as the 20 period MA has moved below the 50 period MA into the 15 min charts. Momentum readings like the 14-day RSI too have declined sharply."

This is a negative signal for the near term and it also implies that the Nifty has now entered into a short-term downtrend. Further downsides are likely once the immediate support of 210,87 is broken. We believe that the Nifty could play down towards the next major support at 21,026-20,769 in the coming sessions. Any pullback rallies could find resistance at 21,325, he added.

Nifty Bank outlook
Kunal Shah, Senior Technical & Derivative analyst at LKP Securities said that the Nifty bank index experienced intense selling pressure, resulting in the formation of a bearish engulfing candle on the daily chart.

"The immediate resistance for the index is situated at the 47,600-47,700 zone, and a breakthrough above this level could pave the way for further upside, targeting 48,000. However, the overall sentiment remains bearish, suggesting a cautious approach with a preference for selling on any upward movements," he said.

GIFT Nifty signals a negative start
Nifty futures on the NSE International Exchange traded 73 points, or 0.34 per cent, lower at 21,144, hinting at a negative start for the domestic market on Thursday.

Asian stocks fall at open
Asian shares dropped on Thursday after Wall Street snapped a long winning streak, while Treasury yields were near five-month lows on hopes Britain's notably soft inflation reading would be echoed in looming US price data. The MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.46 per cent. Japan's Nikkei tanked 1.43 per cent; Australia's ASX 200 dropped 0.43 per cent; New Zealand's DJ gained 0.24 per cent; China's Shanghai shed 0.14 per cent; Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 0.48 per cent; South Korea's tumbled 0.56 per cent.

Oil prices fall on demand concerns
Oil prices fell on Thursday, as concerns over low demand following a surprise US crude inventory build outweighed jitters over global trade disruptions and geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.Brent crude futures fell 65 cents, or 0.8 per cent, to $79.05 a barrel by 0120 GMT while US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $73.67 a barrel, down 55 cents, or 0.7 per cent.

Dollar steadies as stocks slip
The dollar found a footing on Thursday as a sudden end to a strong rally for U.S. stocks had investors looking for safety and as an unexpected fall in British inflation hit the pound. The dollar index, down 1 per cent for the year so far, was steady at 102.37 in early Asia trade on Thursday. The sterling dropped 0.7 per cent to $1.2638. The euro was stable at $1.0943. The yen found support at 143.5 per dollar.

Wall Street settles with big cuts
US stocks closed lower on Wednesday after an abrupt mid-afternoon nosedive ended Wall Street's impressive rally, which had been driven by falling interest rates and the Federal Reserve's dovish turn. All three major US stock indexes veered lower late in the session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 475.92 points, or 1.27 per cent, to 37,082, the S&P 500 lost 70.02 points, or 1.47 per cent, to 4,698.35 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 225.28 points, or 1.5 per cent, to 14,777.94.

Inox India listing today
Shares of Inox India (InoxCVA) will make its debut on Dalal Street today, that is, Thursday, December 21, 2023. The issue was sold at Rs 660 apiece. The company raised a total of Rs 1,459.32 crore which was entirely an offer-for-sale (OFS) 2,21,10,955 equity shares. The company is commanding a premium of Rs 440 per share in the grey market.

Innova Captab IPO opens today
The Rs 570 crore-initial public offering (IPO) of Innova Captab will open for bidding on Thursday, December 21, 2023. The pharmaceutical player is offering its shares in the range of Rs 426-448 per share with a lot size of 33 shares and its multiples thereafter. The bidding for the issue shall conclude on Tuesday, December 26.

Stocks in F&O ban
As many as ten stocks have been put under the F&O segment ban by the National Stock Exchange (NSE) for Thursday, December 21. New entrants- Ashok Leyland and India Cements- have joined the rententions like Balrampur Chini Mills, Steel Authority of India (SAIL), Delta Corp, Indus Towers, Manappuram Finance, National Aluminium Company (Nalco), Piramal Enterprises and RBL Bank. 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 1,322 crore
Provisional data available with NSE suggest that FPIs were net sellers of domestic stocks to the tune of 1,322.08 crore on Wednesday. On the other hand, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) turned net buyers of Indian equities to the tune of Rs 4,754.34 crore.

Rupee settles flat against US dollar
The rupee ended flat at 83.18 against the US dollar on Wednesday amid massive selling in equity markets as concerns over oil supplies through the Red Sea route dented investor sentiment. Forex traders said though the US dollar index below 102 level provided support, the Indian currency was weighed down by foreign fund outflows amid volatile crude oil prices.

Note: With inputs from PTI, Reuters and other agencies

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