SGX Nifty jumps 99 points; Asian markets mirror Wall Street gains; oil prices up for 4th day; dollar index falls

A rally in US stocks overnight may lift domestic stocks on Thursday morning, even as volatility is expected to be high for the whole session. Asian markets were trading higher and the dollar index edged lower in the early trade, but a jump in oil prices for the fourth straight day was a worrying sign. Here's what you should know before the Opening Bell: 

Nifty outlook

Nifty had a gap-up opening on Wednesday, but it stumbled near the hourly upper Bollinger Band.  It breached certain short-term supports on the way down and ended marginally below the level of 18,200. India VIX shot up and can lead to increased volatility in the short term. The resistance has shifted lower to 18,450-18,500. On the downside, the index can test 18,000, which is a crucial support, said Gaurav Ratnaparkhi, Head of Technical Research at Sharekhan.

SGX Nifty signals a firm start 

Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange quoted 98.50 points, or 0.54 per cent, higher at 18,348.50, hinting at a firm start for the domestic market on Thursday. 

Asian markets mirror Wall Street gains

Asian stocks climbed into the black on Thursday after an upbeat reading on US consumers cheered Wall Street investors, Reuters reported. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan firmed 1.1 per cent, while Chinese blue chips rose 0.75 per cent. Japan's Nikkei edged up 0.2 per cent after the country's government revised up its growth forecast for the next fiscal year on hopes for higher business expenditure and substantial wage hikes.

Oil prices up for 4th day

Oil prices rose for a fourth straight day on Thursday with US crude, heating oil and jet fuel stocks seen tight just as a chilly blast hits the United States and travel is set to soar for the holiday season, Reuters reported. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures climbed 35 cents, or 0.5 per cent, to $78.64 a barrel, while Brent crude futures gained 27 cents, or 0.3 per cent, to $82.47, extending gains of around 2.7 per cent in the previous session.

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Dollar edges lower

Against a basket of currencies, the US dollar index fell 0.13 per cent to 104.10 level. The Japanese yen was about 0.3 per cent higher at 132.05 per dollar, after surging to a four-month high of 130.58 on Tuesday. Sterling rose 0.14 per cent against the dollar to $1.2102, after having slid 0.85 per cent overnight. The euro edged 0.1 per cent higher to $1.0617, while the Aussie dollar rose 0.22 per cent to $0.67225.

US stocks settle higher

Wall Street's three main stock indices closed higher on Wednesday for their biggest daily gains so far in December with help from upbeat Nike and FedEx quarterly earnings, as well as improving consumer confidence and easing inflation expectations from investors. Dow Jones Industrial Average index rose 526.74 points, or 1.6 per cent, to 33,376.48; S&P500 index gained 56.82 points, or 1.49 per cent, to 3,878.44 and Nasdaq Composite index added 162.26 points, or 1.54 per cent, to 10,709.37.

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Stocks in F&O ban

Shares of GNFC, IRCTC, and Indiabulls Housing are banned in the F&O segment today. 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.
 
DIIs buy shares worth Rs 1,757 crore

Provisional data available with NSE suggests FPIs were net sellers of domestic stocks to the tune of Rs 1,119.11 crore on Wednesday. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were buyers of equities to the tune of Rs 1,757.37 crore.

Rupee drops 14 paise against dollar

The rupee declined 14 paise to settle at 82.84 against the dollar on Wednesday as a massive sell-off in domestic equities and risk aversion in global markets dented investor sentiment. However, a weak greenback against major rivals overseas and fresh foreign fund inflows supported the domestic unit and capped the losses, forex traders said.

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