Domestic equity indices are set to open with mild gains on Friday amid mixed cues from global markets. US stocks settled lower overnight. Asian peers were mostly up in early trade. Oil prices rose on hopes the US Fed will soon end rate hike cycle. Back home, traders will be keenly awaiting Q3 earnings for Reliance Industries and dozens of other companies. Here’s what you should know before the opening bell:
Nifty has given a bullish breakout recently from a base triangle pattern formation. On Thursday, it witnessed a brief consolidation, which has resulted in an Inside Bar pattern on the daily chart, said Gaurav Ratnaparkhi, Head of Technical Research at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.
“The overall structure shows that this is only a pause and is expected to be followed by the next leg on the upside. From a short-term perspective, any dip towards 18,050-18,000 can be taken as a fresh buying opportunity. Over the next few sessions, Nifty is expected to surpass the key hurdle zone of 18,260-18,300 and head towards 18,500,” he said.
Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange quoted 22 points, or 0.12 per cent, up at 18,135.50, hinting at a positive start for the domestic market on Friday.
Asian shares were trading mostly higher on Friday even as Wall Street stocks declined overnight. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.33 per cent. Japan’s Nikkei shed 0.06 per cent; Australia’s ASX 200 added 0.11 per cent; New Zealand’s DJ was up 0.99 per cent; Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 0.54 per cent; Seoul’s Kospi shed 0.25 per cent; and China’s Shanghai gained 0.54 per cent.
Oil prices rose on Friday on optimism that the US Federal Reserve will end its tightening cycle, buoying the economy and boosting fuel demand. Brent futures for March delivery gained 48 cents, or 0.6 per cent, to $86.64 a barrel by 0113 GMT, while US crude advanced 54 cents to $80.87 per barrel, a 0.7 per cent gain.
US stock indices closed lower on Thursday after data pointing to a tight labour market. Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 252.4 points, or 0.76 per cent, to 33,044.56; the S&P500 lost 30.01 points, or 0.76 per cent, to 3,898.85 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 104.74 points, or 0.96 per cent, to 10,852.27.
Reliance Industries, JSW Steel, HDFC Life Insurance, LTIMindtree, Union Bank of India, JSW Energy, Bandhan Bank, Petronet LNG, Coforge, Atul, DCM Shriram, RBL Bank, Aether Industries, Indian Energy Exchange, Tanla Platforms, Saregama India and Marksans Pharma are among the companies that will announce their results for the December 2022 quarter.
Delta Corp, L&T Finance Holdings, Manappuram Finance and GNFC- continue to remain under F&O ban for Friday, January 20 by the National Stock Exchange (NSE). 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.
After a day’s buying, provisional data available with NSE suggests FPIs turned net sellers of domestic stocks to the tune of Rs 399.98 crore on Thursday. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were buyers of equities to the tune of Rs 128.96 crore.
The rupee settled 7 paise lower at 81.37 against the US dollar on Thursday, weighed down by a muted trend in domestic equities. However, fresh foreign capital inflows restricted the rupee’s loss, forex traders said.
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