D-Street braces for gap-down opening on negative GIFT Nifty cues

On Thursday, Nifty reclaimed the 24,000 mark for the first time in nearly two months, closing at 24,536, up 2.4%, supported by easing crude prices, FII buying and firm global cues. The index has gained 8.1% over six consecutive sessions. Analysts say Indian equities are expected to maintain a positive trajectory as festive season starts 2 days ahead due to a sharp correction in crude oil prices, resumption of FII buying and firm global cues.

STATE OF THE MARKETS

GIFT Nifty (Earlier SGX Nifty) signals a gap-down start

GIFT Nifty on the NSE IX traded lower by 173.5 points, or 0.71 per cent, at 24,426, signaling that Dalal Street was headed for a gap-down start on Friday.

Tech View: However, the broader momentum remains positive. Any dip towards 24,200 could act as immediate support, while 24,000 remains crucial positional support. On the upside, resistance is placed at 24,800 and 25,000. A buy-on-dips strategy remains advisable.

India VIX: India VIX, which is a measure of the fear in the markets, rose 2.6% to settle at 15.58 levels.

Asian stocks fall

Asian stocks slumped from the open after a post-election rout in chipmakers deepened on Wall Street amid growing concern that Democrats will seek tighter regulation of the artificial intelligence industry.

• S&P 500 futures rose 0.2% as of 10:06 a.m. Tokyo time
• Hang Seng futures fell 1.6%
• Nikkei 225 futures (OSE) fell 6%
• Japan’s Topix fell 5.6%
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.7%
• Euro Stoxx 50 futures fell 0.8%

US stocks end lower

Wall Street's AI rally hit a major roadblock on Thursday as fears of tighter regulation and slower data centre expansion sparked a widespread selloff in technology stocks, which resulted in a wipeout of around $3 trillion from the S&P 500 market value. The Nasdaq Composite tumbled 5.46%, marking its biggest one-day fall in 19 months and pushing the index into correction territory, Reuters reported.

Dollar steadies

The dollar held steady against major currencies on Friday, after a sharp selloff in US equities drove investors toward haven assets such as the yen and pushed Treasury yields lower ahead of a closely watched government payrolls report.

Gold gains

Gold prices ticked up in early Asian trade on Friday and were poised for a weekly gain, as investors awaited the US non-farm payrolls report later in the day for fresh clues on the Federal Reserve's interest rate path.

Read more: Ahead of Market: 10 things that will decide stock market action on Friday

Stocks in F&O ban today

Kaynes

Securities in the ban period under the F&O segment include companies in which the security has crossed 95% of the market-wide position limit.

Read more: LIC Q2 Results: Profit jumps 20% YoY to Rs 12,115 crore, NPI grows 16%

FII/DII action

Foreign portfolio investors net bought shares worth Rs 14,975 crore on Thursday. DIIs, meanwhile, were net sellers at Rs 10444 crore.

Rupee

The rupee settled 5 paise higher at 94.41 against the US dollar on Thursday, aided by lower crude oil prices and robust foreign fund inflows.

Disclosure: This article has been written by Podishetti Akash, who is not a SEBI-registered Research Analyst or an Investment Adviser. Podishetti Akash and his ‘relative(s)’ (as defined under Section 2(77) of the Companies Act, 2013) do not hold any financial interest in the companies mentioned in this article as of the date of publication. The views/recommendations mentioned in this article, wherever applicable, are those of the respective SEBI-registered Research Analyst/brokerage and have been reproduced/reported with due attribution. They should not be construed as the views or recommendations of The Economic Times Digital or the journalist. Readers are advised to consider the original research report and make their investment decisions based on their own assessment. Brokerage disclosures here