GIFT Nifty flat: Asian markets, crude oil prices, Q3 results, dollar movement & more

Domestic stock indices are likely to open on a flat note on Thursday, ahead of the RBI's monetary policy outcome due later today. The central bank is likely to maintain a status quo but commentary on rate cuts will be keenly watched. Asian stocks were mostly up in the early trade while US stocks settled higher overnight. Back home, all eyes will be on the last leg of Q3 earnings by India Inc, where LIC will announce its quarterly results today. Here's what all you know to know before the opening bell:

Nifty outlook
Nagaraj Shetti, Senior Technical Research Analyst at HDFC Securities said Nifty formed a small negative candle on the daily chart with a lower shadow. Technically, this action indicates choppy movement as the market is expecting the RBI's mid-quarter policy outcome to give some directional move.

"Nifty has been hitting the hurdle of previous crucial opening downside gap of 21,970 in the last few session, but a decisive upside breakout above this gap resistance is missing so far. The short-term trend of Nifty continues to be positive. There is a higher possibility of an upside breakout of 21,950-22,000 mark in the short term. The immediate support is at 21,750," he said.

Nifty Bank outlook
Ashwin Ramani, Derivatives & Technical Analyst at SAMCO Securities said Nifty Bank call writing was observed at the 46,000 strike. “The call writers further strengthened their position at 46,000 strike in Nifty Bank. The index is unlikely to move higher unless call writers exit from the 46,000 strike," he said.

GIFT Nifty signals a flat start
Nifty futures on the NSE International Exchange traded 4 points, or 0.02 per cent, lower at 22,051, hinting at a flattish start for the domestic market on Thursday.

Asian shares open mostly higher
Asian stocks mostly inched higher on Thursday  as the relief rally in Chinese stocks ahead of Chinese New Year continued. The MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.18 per cent. Japan's Nikkei surged 1.30 per cent; Australia's ASX 200 jumped 0.55 per cent; New Zealand's DJ tanked 0.64 cent; China's Shanghai gained 0.74 per cent; Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.14 per cent; South Korea's KOSPI advanced 0.72 per cent.

Oil edges up amid Gaza peace talks
Oil prices rose on Thursday after Israel rejected a ceasefire offer from Hamas. Signs of solid US fuel demand also bolstered the market's upward trend this week. Brent crude futures were up 22 cents, or 0.28 per cent, at $79.43 a barrel at 0132 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 19 cents, or 0.26 per cent to $74.05 a barrel.

Dollar rangebound after Fed comments
The dollar was trading in a tight range on Thursday as traders digested less dovish remarks from policymakers overnight and looked ahead to fresh economic data from the United States. The dollar index was last hovering around 103.77. The euro clung around $1.0775 per dollar, while the sterling was mostly flat at $1.2631. The offshore Chinese yuan was down 0.11 per cent to $7.2036 per dollar ahead of the data. The Japanese yen strengthened 0.07 per cent versus the greenback at 148.05.

Wall Street shares end higher
Global equities climbed to a more than two-year peak and the S&P 500 closed at a record high on Wednesday, as strong earnings offset jitters related to US regional banks and China's markets. Bonds yields rose as comments from Federal Reserve officials reaffirmed expectations that the central bank may not cut rates soon. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 175.88 points to 38,697.24, the S&P 500 gained 39.93 points to 4,994.16 and the Nasdaq Composite added 140.80 points to 15,749.80.

Q3 results today
Life Insurance Corporation of India, Power Finance Corporation, Grasim Industries, Zomato, Apollo Hospitals Enterprises, Patanjali Foods, Rail Vikas Nigam, Torrent Power, United Breweries, Page Industries, Thermax, 3M India, Biocn, Global Health, Honeywell Automation India, Escorts Kubota, Aarti Industries, SKF India and The Ramco Cements are among the companies that will announced their results for the December 2023 quarter today.

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, February 8. The new entrants - Balrampur Chini Mills, Delta Corp and Steel Authority of India (SAIL)- will join the existing retention Ashok Leyland, Hindustan Copper, National Aluminium Company (Nalco), India Cements, Indus Towers, UPL and Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL) 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 1,691 crore
Provisional data available with NSE suggest that FPIs turned net sellers of domestic stocks to the tune of Rs 1,691.02 crore on Wednesday. On the other hand, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers of Indian equities to the tune of Rs 327.73 crore.

Rupee rises 9 paise against dollar
The rupee appreciated 9 paise to close at 82.96 against the dollar on Wednesday, tracking a correction in the greenback against major currencies overseas. However, a rise in crude oil prices and muted domestic markets capped the sharp gains in the domestic unit, forex traders said.


Note: With inputs from PTI, Reuters and other agencies

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