Indian benchmark indices are likely to open in green on Friday, hinted SGX Nifty. On the Singapore Exchange, Nifty futures traded 84 pts or 0.47% higher at 18,038 level. In the previous session, BSE Sensex tanked 774 pts or 1.2% to 60,205, while the NSE Nifty 50 plunged 226 pts or 1.2% to 17,891. “Indications from the banking pack, which holds considerable weight in the Nifty index, are pointing towards more pain ahead. We reiterate our view to prefer hedged positions and suggest adding a few shorts too,” said Ajit Mishra, VP – Technical Research, Religare Broking. Nifty ended the January month futures and options (F&O) expiry with a sharp decline of more than 1%. Nifty futures rollover stood at 79.23%.
Key things to know before share market opens
Global market watch: Stocks in the Asia-Pacific traded higher on Friday as Wall Street’s major indexes gained after the US economy grew more than expected. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.11% in its first hour of trade and the Topix gained 0.18%. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 traded 0.23% higher. South Korea’s Kospi was flat while the Kosdaq rose 0.18%. Overnight in the US, stocks rose as traders saw the latest batch of corporate earnings, with a Tesla-led tech rally. The Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.76%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.61%, while the S&P 500 gained 1.10%.
Nifty technical view: “A long negative candle was formed on the daily chart, which indicates a downside breakout of the sideways range movement in the market. The short-term trend of Nifty has turned negative. Having placed at the important support, minor pullback rally is expected in the short term. But, the overall chart pattern indicates the higher possibility of decisive downside breakout at 17750 levels in the near term. Such anticipated market action is likely to bring steep weakness for the market ahead,” said Nagaraj Shetti, Technical Research Analyst, HDFC Securities.
Key levels to watch: “Volume profile indicates Nifty may find support around 17600-17700 zone. Coming to the OI Data, on the call side, the highest OI observed at 18000 followed by 18100 strike prices while on the put side, the highest OI was at 17800 strike price. On the other hand, Bank Nifty has support at 41000-41200 while resistance is placed at 42000-42200 range. As markets continue to trade in a wide range with high volatility, we advise traders to keep booking profits on their trading positions, “said Om Mehra, Equity Research Analyst, Choice Broking.
FII and DII data: Foreign institutional investors (FII) net sold shares worth Rs 2,393.94 crore, whereas domestic institutional investors (DII) net bought equities worth Rs 1,378.49 crore on 25 January , according to the provisional data available on the NSE.
Q3 Results today: Bajaj Finance, Vedanta, Aarti Drugs, Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC, CMS Info Systems, Glenmark Life Sciences, Godfrey Phillips India, Sterlite Technologies, Zenotech Laboratories, and AIA Engineering will report their quarterly earnings on 27 January.
Oil prices rise: Oil prices edged marginally higher on Friday, extending for a second session on strong US economic data and strengthening hope that the reopening of the Chinese economy would boost demand. Brent futures gained 30 cents, or 0.3%, to $87.66 a barrel by 0113 GMT, while U.S. crude rose 21 cents to $81.22 per barrel, a 0.3% gain. Both benchmarks had gained more than 1% on Thursday. Brent was on track to post its second weekly rise if gains held.
UN cuts India’s 2023 growth forecast: The United Nations (UN) has cut its GDP growth forecast for India for calendar year 2023 to 5.8%, citing the effect of tighter monetary policy and weak global demand. “Growth in India is expected to remain strong at 5.8%, albeit slightly lower than the estimated 6.4% in 2022, as higher interest rates and a global slowdown weigh on investment and exports,” the UN’s World Economic Situation and Prospects 2023 report, published on 25 January, said.