GIFT Nifty flat: Asian markets, crude oil prices, dollar movement & more

Domestic benchmark indices are likely to open on a flat on Friday amid a lack of  directional cues. Asian stocks dropped in the early trade while US stocks settled mixed overnight. Dollar eased while crude prices fell sharply amid concerns over the global economic growth . Here's what you should know before the Opening Bell:

Nifty outlook
Jatin Gedia of  Sharekhan said that one can observe that Nifty’s narrow range of the last few trading sessions has been decisively broken on the upside. The index is stretching higher towards 19,800-19,850 where resistance in the form of the daily upper Bollinger band and the previous swing high are placed at.

"The daily and hourly momentum indicators have a positive crossover, which is a buy signal and, hence, intraday dips should be bought into. In terms of levels, 19,580-19,550 is the crucial support zone while 19,800-19,850 is the immediate hurdle zone from a short-term perspective," he said.

Nifty Bank outlook
VLA Ambala, Co-founder at Stock Market Today said Nifty Bank experienced a robust selling pressure as it has formed a large bearish candle on the daily time frame. In the scenario of a flat or slightly gap opening, the banking index is predicted to see resistance at 44,320 and 44,450 levels. Supports are seen at 44,050, 43,980 and 43,800 levels.

"Previous day's intraday low around 44,080 are crucial levels. If sustained below, selling may continue up to another 150 to 300 points. Hence 'bulls' will try to protect at the first selling attempt. The price's closing position relative to this range could signal the onset of a significant range movement," she said.

GIFT Nifty signals a flat start
Nifty futures on the NSE International Exchange traded one point, or 0.01 per cent, higher at 19,791, hinting at a flattish start for the domestic market on Friday.

Asian stocks fall at open
Asian shares took a breather on Friday as a batch of softer US economic data took some of the steam out of Wall Street, but also boosted bonds in a big way while slugging oil prices in a boon for the inflation outlook. The MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.63 per cent. Japan's Nikkei declined 0.02 per cent; China's Shanghai fell 0.37 per cent; Hong Kong's Hang Seng crashed 1.82 per cent; South Korea's Kospi tumbled 0.74 per cent.

Oil prices slump to 4-month low
Oil prices dropped around 5 per cent on Thursday to their lowest in four months, as investors stayed worried about global oil demand following weak data from the US and Asia. Brent futures settled down $3.76, or 4.6 per cent, to $77.42 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) shed $3.76, or 4.9 per cent, to $72.90. Both Brent and WTI earlier traded at their lowest since July 7, at $76.60 and $72.16, respectively.

Dollar heads for weekly decline
The yen was on track for its best week against the dollar in four months on Friday on the prospect of a narrowing US-Japan rate differential, with bets that the Federal Reserve is done raising rates leaving the greenback headed for a weekly loss. The dollar index was on track to lose 1.3 per cent on a weekly basis, while the Japanese yen last stood at 150.72 per dollar. The euro steadied at $1.0851, while sterling last bought $1.2412.

Wall Street stocks settled mixed
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq managed to eke out tiny gains on Thursday while the Dow Industrial Average ended slightly lower with pressure from tech and retail bellwethers Cisco and Walmart after disappointing forecasts. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 45.74 points, or 0.13 per cent, to 34,945.47, the S&P 500 gained 5.36 points, or 0.12 per cent, to 4,508.24 and the Nasdaq Composite added 9.84 points, or 0.07 per cent, to 14,113.67.

Stocks in F&O ban
Eight stocks have been put under the F&O segment ban by the National Stock Exchange (NSE) for Friday, November 17. The new addition namely- Chambal Fertilisers and Chemicals, India Cements and Manappuram Finance- will join the existing retentions including Delta Corp, Hindustan Copper, MCX india, Steel Authority of India (SAIL) and Zee Entertainment India. Companies where derivative contracts cross 95 per cent of the market-wide position limit are put under ban in the F&O segment.

FPIs buy shares worth Rs 957 crore
Provisional data available with NSE suggest that FPIs were net buyers of domestic stocks to the tune of 957.25 crore on Thursday. On the other hand, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) turned net buyers of Indian equities to the tune of Rs 705.65 crore.

Rupee falls 14 paise against dollar
The rupee declined by 14 paise to settle at 83.23 against the US dollar on Thursday as a firm greenback in the overseas markets weighed on investor sentiments. However, a firm trend in domestic equities and losses in crude oil prices helped the rupee to restrict the fall, forex dealers said.

Note: With inputs from PTI, Reuters and other agencies

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