SGX Nifty down 22 points: Asian stocks drop, dollar gains, crude prices eased, FPI flows & more

Dalal Street is likely to tepid start to Thursday’s session amid indecisive global cues. Asian stocks opened mostly lower while US stocks settled mixed overnight. Back home, there are concerns that the RBI masy announce another rate hike in its policy review today. Here's what you should know before the Opening Bell:

Nifty outlook
Although the short-term structure of the market is strong, transitory overbought situations may cause some profit-taking at higher levels, said Shrikant Chouhan, who heads retail research at Kotak Securities.
 

“The resistance level for day traders would be 17,600-17,650. An  important support area would be 17,450-17,400. The uptrend would be at risk if the index falls below the 17,400-level," Chouhan said.

SGX Nifty signals a negative start
Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange traded 22 points, or 0.12 per cent, lower at 17,603, hinting at a negative start for the domestic market on Thursday.

Asian shares opened mostly lower
Asian stocks opened mostly lower on Friday, as investors were inclined to take money off the table after recent strong gains. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.43 per cent. Japan's Nikkei tanked 1.30 per cent; Australia's ASX 200 shed 0.26 per cent; New Zealand's DJ fell 0.17 per cent; China's Shanghai shed 0.02 per cent while Korea's Kospi plunged 0.71 per cent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng, meanwhile, added 0.06 per cent.

Oil prices under pressure
Oil prices eased in early Asian trade on Thursday after weak US job openings data signalled cooling economic conditions which may hit demand. Crude oil was under pressure, with West Texas Intermediate down 57 cents at $80.04 a barrel and Brent off 61 cents at $84.38.

Dollar edged higher
The dollar gained on Thursday, but did not stray too far from a recent two-month low, as traders weighed how pivotal US jobs data coming out during a holiday weekend will impact Federal Reserve policy. The US dollar index was up 0.1 per cent at 101.95. The Japanese yen also found some support and was last roughly 0.2 per cent higher at 131.01 per dollar. In other currency action, sterling declined 0.1 per cent to $1.2450, while the euro slipped 0.2 per cent to $1.0886.

US stocks settle mixed
The S&P 500 dipped and the Nasdaq ended sharply lower on Wednesday after a growing wave of weak economic data deepened worries that the Federal Reserve's rapid interest rate hikes might tip the US economy into a recession. The S&P 500 declined 0.25 per cent to end the session at 4,090.38 points. The Nasdaq fell 1.07 per cent to 11,996.86 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.24 per cent to 33,482.72 points.

Stocks in F&O ban
No stocks have been put under F&O ban by National Stock Exchange (NSE) for Thursday, April 6. Derivative contracts in a security are banned when it crosses 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 897 crore
Provisional data available with NSE suggests FPIs turned net buyers of domestic stocks to the tune of Rs 806.82 crore on Wednesday. However, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) turned sellers of equities to the tune of Rs 947.21 crore.

Rupee jumps 42 paise against dollar
The rupee gained 42 paise to close at 81.90 against the US dollar on Wednesday, as heavy buying in domestic equities bolstered investor sentiment. Besides, foreign capital inflows and a rising risk appetite also supported the domestic unit, forex dealers said.


Note: With inputs from PTI, Reuters and other agencies

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