GIFT Nifty up 61 points: Asian markets, crude oil prices, dollar movement, & more

Domestic stock indices are likely to open higher on Thursday ahead of the expiry of the December series futures and options contracts. Global cues were positive, as Asian stocks advanced in early trade, tracking an overnight rise in US stocks. Dollar was wobbling near five-month low and oil prices inched up amid geopolitical tensions. Back home, Azad Engineering IPO will make its market debut today. Here's what you should know before the Opening Bell:

Nifty outlook
Nifty managed to make a new record high of 21,675.55, before closing Wednesday’s trade a tad above 21,600 level. "It formed a strong bullish candle on the chart with good volume, indicating a strong bullish momentum in the index. Overall, Nifty is maintaining a strong bullish trend with support levels at 21,500 and 21,400. Positional traders are advised to hold Nifty with a stop loss at 21,350," said Mandar Bhojane, Equity Research Analyst at Choice Broking.

Nifty Bank outlook
The Nifty Bank recently experienced a breakout from consolidation on the daily chart. It has consistently been maintaining a position above a critical moving average, said Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities. "Additionally, the RSI reflects a bullish crossover on the daily chart. The index could potentially target levels of 48,500-48,800 on the upside. A support is placed at 48,000," he said.

GIFT Nifty signals a positive start
Nifty futures on the NSE International Exchange traded 61 points, or 0.28 per cent, higher at 21,962, hinting at a positive start for the domestic market on Thursday.

Asian stocks rally at open
Asian shares hit a five-month high on Thursday, as market wagers on ever-more aggressive rate cuts extended a huge rally in US stocks and bonds. The MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.78 per cent. Japan's Nikkei dropped 0.66 per cent; Australia's ASX 200 gained 0.48 per cent; New Zealand's DJ rose 0.33 per cent; China's Shanghai advanced 0.59 per cent; Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 1.14 per cent; South Korea's surged 0.85 per cent.

Oil prices rise amid Middle-East fears
Oil prices rose in early Asian trade on Thursday as persistent fears over escalating tensions in the Middle East outweighed easing concerns about transport disruptions as some global shipping firms said they were returning to the Red Sea route. Brent crude futures climbed 20 cents, or 0.3 per cent, to $79.85 a barrel by 0133 GMT. US WTI crude futures were up 24 cents, or 0.3 per cent, at $74.35 a barrel.

Dollar wobbles near 5-month low
The dollar nursed steep losses on Thursday and was headed for a yearly decline after two years of strong gains as expectations of interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve next year grip markets. The dollar index fell to a fresh five month low of 100.81. The euro was up 0.09 per cent at $1.1113, while the Sterling was last at $1.2813. Meanwhile, the Japanese yen strengthened 0.23 per cent to 141.50 per dollar

Wall Street stocks eke out modest gains
US stocks closed slightly higher in languid trading on Wednesday, with little market-moving news to fuel conviction as the S&P 500 hovered just below bull market confirmation. The three major US stock indexes oscillated between modest gains and losses throughout the session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 111.19 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 37,656.52, the S&P 500 gained 6.83 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 4,781.58 and the Nasdaq Composite added 24.60 points, or 0.16 per cent, to 15,099.18.

Azad Engineering shares listing today
Shares of Azad Engineering will make its debut on Dalal Street today. The issue was sold at Rs 524 apiece. The company raised a total of Rs 740 crore, which included a fresh share sale of Rs 240 crore. Ahead of its listing, Azad Engineering was commanding a grey market premium of 200-201 apiece.

Stocks in F&O ban
Only two stocks -  National Aluminium Company (Nalco) and RBL Bank- have been put under the F&O segment ban by the National Stock Exchange (NSE) for Thursday, December 28. Companies where derivative contracts cross 95 per cent of the market-wide position limit are put under ban in the F&O segment.

FPIs buy shares worth Rs 2,926 crore
Provisional data available with NSE suggest that FPIs were net buyers of domestic stocks to the tune of 2,926.05 crore on Wednesday. On the other hand, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) turned net sellers of Indian equities to the tune of Rs 192.01 crore.

Rupee falls 15 paise against dollar
The rupee declined 15 paise to settle at 83.34 against the US dollar on Wednesday due to sustained outflow of foreign funds and increased demand for American currency from importers and banks. According to forex traders, a robust buying trend in the domestic equity market failed to boost sentiment as investors remained concerned over volatile crude oil prices, fearing disruption in global trade through the Red Sea route.

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Note: With inputs from PTI, Reuters and other agencies