GIFT Nifty up 18 points: Asian markets, crude oil prices, dollar movement, Q1 results & more

Domestic equity indices are likely to open with mild gains on Friday amid muted global cues. Asian stocks were mostly down in the early trading hours, tracking a mixed closing for the US stocks overnight. Traders will be looking forward to earnings from Reliance Industries and UltraTech Cement later in the day. Utkarsh Small Finance Bank will make its Dalal Street debut today. Here's what you should know before the Opening Bell:

Nifty outlook
On the daily charts, Nifty has resumed its upmove after a brief consolidation. On the upside, Nifty may target the level of 20,200 from a short-term perspective. The daily and hourly momentum indicators are having a positive crossover and are in sync with the price action, said Jatin Gedia – Technical Research Analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.

"Both price and momentum indicators are suggesting a continuation of the current up move," he said.

GIFT Nifty signals a positive start
Nifty futures on the Nifty International Exchange traded 18 points, or 0.09 per cent, higher at 19,876.50, hinting at a positive start for the domestic market on Friday.

Asian indices open mostly lower
Asian shares were open mostly lower on Friday ahead of key macroeconomic data. The MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.69 per cent. Japan's Nikkei shed 0.41 per cent; Australia's ASX 200 fell 0.41 per cent; New Zealand's DJ tanked 0.71 per cent; China's Shanghai declined 0.19 per cent up; Hong Kong's Hang Seng eased 0.15 per cent and South Korea's Kospi plunged 0.61 per cent.

Oil prices hold steady
Brent oil prices were little changed on Friday and were set to close flat for the week after three straight weeks of gains, as markets weigh lower US crude inventories and tapering interest rate hikes against weak Chinese economic data that could cap demand. Brent futures rose 3 cents to $79.67 a barrel by 0016 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude climbed 9 cents to $75.74 a barrel. Prices closed marginally higher on Thursday.

Dollar index a tab above 100 level
The dollar was steady on Friday as data pointed to US labour market resilience that could lead the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates higher for longer, while the yen strengthened after Japan's core consumer inflation re-accelerated in June. Against a basket of currencies, the dollar rose 0.03 per cent at 100.78. The Japanese yen strengthened 0.08 per cent to 139.97 per dollar, while the euro rose 0.04 per cent to $1.1132. The Australian dollar fell 0.28% to $0.676, while the kiwi fell 0.34 per cent to $0.621.

US stocks settle mixed
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell on Thursday, weighed down by drops in Tesla and Netflix following their quarterly results, but the Dow advanced for a ninth straight day thanks to gains in Johnson & Johnson following a strong annual forecast. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 163.97 points, or 0.47 per cent, to 35,225.18, the S&P 500 lost 30.85 points, or 0.68 per cent, to 4,534.87 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 294.71 points, or 2.05 per cent, to 14,063.31.

Utkarsh Small Finance Bank to list today
Shares of Utkarsh Small Finance Bank (SFB) will make its debut at Dalal Street on Friday, July 23. The Varanasi-based private lender raised Rs 500 crore through its initial public offering between July 12-14 as its sold shares in the range of Rs 23-25 apiece with a lot size of 600 equity shares.

Q1 results today
Reliance Industries, UltraTech Cement, JSW Steel, HDFC Life Insurance Company, Hindustan Zinc, DLF, Vedanta, One97 Communications, Ashok Leyland, CreditAccess Grameen, Atul, Tejas Networks, Ramakrishna Forgings, Glenmark Life, CMS Info Systems, Cyient DLM and Dodla Dairy are among the companies that will announce their earnings for the June 2023 quarter during the day.

Stocks in F&O ban
Seven stocks - Balrampur Chini Mills, Punjab National Bank, L&T Finance Holdings, Delta Corp, Manappuram Finance, Indiabulls Housing Finance and RBL Bank- have been put under the F&O segment ban by the National Stock Exchange (NSE) for Friday, July 22. Derivative contracts in a security are banned when they cross 95 per cent of the market-wide position limit (MWPL). No new positions can be created in the derivative contracts of said security. This prohibition is lifted when the open interest in the stock drops below 80 per cent of the MWPL across exchanges.

FPIs buy shares worth Rs 3,371 crore
Provisional data available with NSE suggest that FPIs turned net buyers of domestic stocks to the tune of Rs 3,370.90 crore on Thursday. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net sellers of Indian equities to the tune of Rs 193.02 crore.

Rupee rises 15 paise against dollar
The rupee gained 15 paise to close at 81.93 against the US dollar on Thursday, as domestic equity benchmarks scaling all-time high levels and weakness in the American currency overseas boosted investor sentiments. Besides, steady foreign fund inflows into domestic capital markets also supported the local unit, forex traders said.

Note: With inputs from PTI, Reuters and other agencies

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