SGX Nifty down 28 points: Asian stocks, crude prices, dollar movement, Q4 earnings & more

Domestic equity markets are likely to open lower on Wednesday amid the negative global cues. US stock settled with big cuts in the overnight trade, while Asian stock followed the suit and tumbled in the early trade. Lingering concerns over the US debt ceiling are weighing on the market sentiments. Back home, Q4 earnings will also add to the sentiments of traders at Dalal Street. Here's what you should know before the opening bell:

Nifty outlook
"During the day, the Nifty index exhibited a predominantly sideways movement, hovering around the 18400 level. Despite the lack of significant fluctuations, market sentiment remained optimistic as the Nifty managed to sustain its position above the support level of 18300, said Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities.

"However, a notable resistance was observed at 18,500. If the Nifty manages to break through this resistance decisively, it could potentially trigger a rally towards the 18,800 level," he said.

SGX Nifty signals a negative start
Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange traded 82.5 points, or 0.45 per cent, lower at 18,376.50, hinting at a negative start for the domestic market on Wednesday.

Asian stocks open mixed
Asian stocks opened mostly lower on Wednesday as another day without agreement in Washington over the U.S. debt ceiling looks certain to sour global investor sentiment. An expected interest rate hike in New Zealand will be the main regional focus for Asian and Pacific markets. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up down 0.81 per cent. Japan's Nikkei tanked 1.12 per cent; Australia's ASX 200 dropped 0.41 per cent; New Zealand's DJ added 0.12 per cent; China's Shanghai plunged 0.94 per cent; Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.12 per cent and South Korea's Kospi shed 0.14 per cent.


Oil prices edged higher
Oil prices gained on Wednesday after US oil and fuel supplies tightened and as a warning from the Saudi energy minister to speculators raised the prospect of further OPEC+ output cuts. Brent crude futures rose 86 cents, or 1.1 per cent, to $77.70 a barrel by 0007 GMT, while the US West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) gained 88 cents, or 1.2 per cent, to $73.79 a barrel.

Dollar hovers near 2-month high
The US dollar held near a two-month high on Wednesday on safe-harbour demand as negotiations over raising the US debt ceiling dragged on with no imminent resolution in sight. The dollar index was fetching 103.51 in early Asian hours. The yen was flat at 138.58 per dollar, having touched a six-month low of 138.91 overnight, while sterling was last trading at $1.2424, up 0.11 per cent on the day. The kiwi was 0.03% higher at $0.6249, while the Australian dollar was steady at $0.6610.

Wall Street ended sharply lower
Wall Street stocks finished sharply lower on Tuesday and short-term Treasury yields shot up as investor jitters grew over a lack of progress in US debt limit talks. Representatives of US President Joe Biden and congressional Republicans ended another round of debt ceiling talks on Tuesday, as the deadline drew closer to raise the government's $31.4 trillion borrowing limit or risk default. The S&P 500 benchmark index declined 1.12 per cent to end at 4,145.58 points. The Nasdaq Composite fell 1.26 per cent to 12,560.25 points, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 0.69 per cent to 33,055.51 points.

Q4 earnings today
Life Insurance Corporation of India, Adani Green Energy, Hindalco Industries, Cummins India, FSN E-Commerce Ventures, Oil India, Phoenix Mills, ZF Commercial Vehicles Control Systems, Digital Fibre Infrastructure Trust, Bayer Cropscience, Trident, Hitachi Energy India, JB Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals, National Aluminium Company are among the companies that will announce their earnings for the March 2023 quarter.

Stocks in F&O ban
Two stocks-  Indiabulls Housing Finance and Delta Corp- have been put under the ban by National Stock Exchange (NSE) for Wednesday, May 24. 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 183 cr
Provisional data available with NSE suggest that FPIs turned net buyers of domestic stocks to the tune of Rs 182.51 crore on Tuesday. However, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) turned net buyers of Indian equities to the tune of Rs 397.29 crore.

Rupee settles almost flat against US dollar
he rupee traded in a narrow range and settled for the day 1 paisa down at 82.85 against the US dollar on Tuesday, amid a muted trend in domestic equities. Forex traders said the strength of the American currency capped sharp gains for the local unit. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 82.82 against the US currency and witnessed a high of 82.76 and a low of 82.85 during intra-day trade.

Note: With inputs from PTI, Reuters and other agencies

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