SGX Nifty falls 26 points: Asian stocks, crude oil prices, dollar movement, Q4 earnings & more

Domestic stock indices are likely to kick off the new week on a muted note amid mixed global cues. US stocks settled lower on Friday and  Asian stocks were trading with cuts on Monday morning. Renewed concerns about the US debt ceiling and geopolitical concerns weighed on investor sentiment. Here's what you should know before the Opening Bell:

Nifty outlook
Nifty has taken support near the 23.6 per cent retracement level of 18,076, said Ashwin Ramani, Derivatives & Technical Analyst, SAMCO Securities. The Put-Call Ratio, which is a sentiment indicator, fell below 1 for the first time since April 21. If it bounces off from the 23.6 per cent retracement zones, the uptrend is more likely to resume, Ramani said.  “If Nifty breaks this level, then the price can consolidate or the recent correction can continue. In that case, the next support for Nifty is placed at 18,000 where maximum put writing is observed,” he said.

SGX Nifty signals a negative start
Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange traded 25.50 points, or 0.14 per cent, lower at 18,212.50, hinting at a negative start for the domestic market on Monday.

Asian stocks mixed in early trade
Asian stocks opened mixed on Monday as the US debt ceiling negotiations approached crunch time after stalling last week, while lingering banking fears and fresh geopolitical worries capped sentiment. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.04 per cent. Japan's Nikkei was flat; China's Shanghai Composite gained 0.10 per cent; Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.31 per cent and South Korea's Kospi rose 0.66 per cent.

Oil prices edge higher
Oil prices edged higher in Monday’s trade on a softer dollar and supply cuts from Canada and OPEC+ producers, while investors waited to see if a pledge by the Group of Seven (G7) nations to strictly enforce price caps on Russian energy would impact exports. Brent crude futures climbed 14 cents, or 0.2 per cent, to $75.72 a barrel by 0018 GMT while US West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery, the more actively traded contract, was at $71.84 a barrel, up 15 cents, or 0.2 per cent.

Dollar falls from two-week high
The Fed chief also flagged that after a year of aggressive rate increases, officials can afford to make 'careful assessments' of the impact of rate hikes on the economic outlook, a stance that was viewed as dovish by markets. That has knocked the dollar off a two-month top against a basket of major peers and was last at 103.06 on Monday, flat for the day.

Wall Street stocks settle lower
US stocks closed out the trading week on a soft note on Friday as early gains dissipated after US debt ceiling negotiations in Washington were paused, denting optimism a deal could be reached in coming days to dodge a default. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 109.28 points, or 0.33 per cent, to 33,426.63, the S&P 500 lost 6.07 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 4,191.98 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 30.94 points, or 0.24 per cent, to 12,657.90.

Q4 earnings today
Shree Cements, BPCL, PB Fintech, Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail, SJVN, Capri Global, EIH, Finolex Industries, CESC, Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company, Garware Technical Fibres, Keystone Realtors, Indiabulls Housing Finance, Gujarat Alkalies, Fusion Micro Finance, HEG, Borosil, Sansera Engineering, JTEKT India and Camlin Fine Sciences are among the companies that will announce their earnings for the March 2023 quarter.

Stocks in F&O ban
Six stocks-  L&T Finance Holdings, Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail, Delta Corp, Balrampur Chini Mills, Manappuram Finance and Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers & Chemicals (GNFC) - have been put under the ban by National Stock Exchange (NSE) for Monday, May 22. Derivative contracts in a security are banned when it crosses 95 per cent of the market-wide position limit (MWPL). No new positions can be created in the derivative contracts of said security. This prohibition is lifted when the open interest in the stock drops below 80 per cent of the MWPL across exchanges.

FPIs sell shares worth Rs 113 crore
Provisional data available with NSE suggest that FPIs turned net sellers of domestic stocks to the tune of Rs 113.46 crore on Friday. However, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) turned net buyers of Indian equities to the tune of Rs 1,071.35 crore.

Rupee falls 5 paise against dollar
The rupee fell 5 paise to close at 82.67 against the US currency on Friday, weighed down by a strong greenback overseas and surging crude prices in the international market. However, a firm trend in domestic equities also supported the rupee and restricted the fall, traders said.

Note: With inputs from PTI, Reuters and other agencies