Indian benchmark indices may open mildly in green on the weekly F&O expiry day, hinted SGX Nifty on Thursday. Ahead of the session, Nifty futures were trading 52 pts up at 18,002 level on the Singapore Exchange. In the previous session, BSE Sensex fell down 10 points to 60,105, while NSE Nifty 50 fell 18 pts to 17,896. “Some key global events like China and UK GDP data and Michigan consumer sentiment would be keenly eyed. Tech stocks would be in focus as Infosys, HCL Tech and Cyient would be reporting their numbers, and would set the tone for other IT stocks,” said Siddhartha Khemka, Head – Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.
Key things to know before market opens
Global market watch: Asia-Pacific shares advanced gains as investors look ahead to the US consumer price index report on Thursday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was flat while Topix climbed 0.26%. South Korea’s Kospi edged up 0.21%, while the Kosdaq added 0.15%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.89% in early trading. Mainland China’s Shanghai Composite inched up 0.11% and the Shenzhen Component was up 0.31%. Overnight on Wall Street, major US stock indexes closed higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.8%, the S&P 500 gained 1.28%, and the Nasdaq Composite added 1.76%.
Key levels to watch: “Volume profile indicates that Nifty index may find support around 17,700-17,800 zone. According to the OI Data, the highest OI on the call side was observed at 18,000, followed by 18,100 strike prices. While on the put side, the highest OI was seen at 17,800 strike price. On the other hand, Bank Nifty has support at 41,900-42,000 while resistance is placed at 42,700-42,900 range. We suggest traders to keep booking profits in their trading positions as markets are trading with high volatility,” said Ameya Ranadive, Equity Research Analyst, Choice Broking.
FII and DII data: Foreign institutional investors (FII) net-sold shares worth Rs 3,208.15 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DII) net-bought shares worth Rs 2,430.62 crore on 11 January, according to the provisional data available on the NSE.
Stocks under F&O ban on NSE: The National Stock Exchange has Indiabulls Housing Finance and GNFC stocks under its F&O ban list for 12 January. According to the NSE, the stocks mentioned above are prohibited in the F&O sector because they have exceeded 95% of the market-wide position limit (MWPL). During the F&O ban period, no new positions are permitted for F&O contracts in these stocks.
Oil gains: Crue oil prices climbed 3% to a one-week high on Wednesday as hopes for an improved global economic outlook and concern over the impact of sanctions on Russian crude output outweighed a massive surprise build in US crude stocks. Brent futures rose $2.57, or 3.2% to settle at $82.67 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose $2.29, or 3.1% to settle at $77.41.
Q3 Results today: Infosys, HCL Technologies, Anand Rathi Wealth, Cyient, Den Networks, G G Engineering, GM Breweries, GTPL Hathway, and Plastiblends India will announce their quarterly earnings on 12 January.