The GIFT Nifty was flat during Wednesday’s early trading session, down by 0.5 points at 19,474, indicating a tepid opening for domestic indices NSE Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex. On Tuesday, the equity benchmarks were closed on account of Independence Day. Prior to that, on Monday, Nifty 50 and Sensex closed flat. Nifty 50 gained 0.03% to close at 19,434.55, while Sensex settled at 65,401.92, clocking a gain of 0.12%.
“Following weak performances in Asian markets, the domestic indices commenced the day with a negative bias, prompted by discouraging domestic industrial data along with concerns over demand from China. However, the indices managed to recover from their initial losses, ending the day on a relatively neutral note. India’s wholesale inflation persisted in negative territory, albeit moderating to -1.36%, as the decline in fuel prices was counterbalanced by higher food costs. India’s CPI inflation, due to be released today, is anticipated to exceed the RBI’s tolerance level of 6% due to mounting pressure from elevated food prices,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
Key things to know before share market opens on 16 August, 2023
Wall Street
Wall Street’s main stock indexes closed sharply lower on Tuesday after stronger-than-expected retail sales data stoked worries interest rates could stay higher for longer, while U.S. big banks dropped on a report that Fitch could downgrade some lenders, according to Reuters. S&P 500 gave up 1.14%, the Nasdaq Composite crashed 1.16%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.02%.
Asian Markets
Shares in the Asia-Pacific region were trading in the red on Wednesday. China’s Shanghai Composite and Shenzhen Component were 0.36% and 0.37% lower respectively. Japan’s Nikkei 225 traded with deep losses of 1.18%. South Korea’s Kospi declined 1.441% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.21%. The Taiwan Weighted index recorded a loss of 0.83%.
Crude Oil
Oil prices held steady in early trading on Wednesday after a 1% drop in the previous session, as markets weighed weak economic data from China, the world’s biggest oil importer, against tightening U.S. crude supplies.
FII/DII Data
Foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth net Rs 2,324.23 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DII) added shares worth net Rs 1,460.90 crore on 14 August, according to the provisional data available on the NSE.
F&O Ban
The National Stock Exchange has India Cements, GNFC, Chambal Fertilisers, Delta Corp, Granules India, ZEEL, Indiabulls Housing Finance, Manappuram Finance, and Balrampur Chini Mills securities on its F&O ban list for 16 August. According to the NSE, stocks are prohibited in the F&O sector when 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 that stock.
Bank Nifty Outlook
“Bank Nifty has formed a doji pattern on the daily charts. This pattern after a sharp fall indicates that Bank Nifty can consolidate from a short-term perspective. After falling for three consecutive weeks, it has reached the 20-week moving average (43,880) which can restrict a sharp decline from hereon. However, the overall trend is still negative, and we expect levels of 43,500 from a short-term perspective,” said Jatin Gedia – Technical Research Analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.
Technical View
“Negative chart patterns like lower tops and bottoms are intact on the daily chart. Monday’s low of 19,257 could now be considered as a new lower bottom of the sequence. Hence any attempt of upside bounce from here could find strong resistance at 19,600 levels (down sloping trend line). Immediate support is placed at 19,250,” said Nagaraj Shetti, Technical Research Analyst, HDFC Securities.