SGX Nifty jumps 100 points: Asian markets, dollar movement, crude oil prices, FPI flows & more

Domestic stock indices are likely to open higher on Friday amid positive global trends. Asian stocks rose in the early trade, tracking a strong closing for US stocks overnight. Crude oil prices were little changed while the US dollar edged lower. Here's what you should know before the opening bell:

Nifty outlook

Nifty formed a ‘Long-Legged Doji’ on the daily chart, which suggests a halt in the ongoing selloff. The levels of 16,900-16,850 are expected to act as sacrosanct support in the near term, said Osho Krishan, Senior Analyst - Technical & Derivative Research. Angel One.  “On the higher end, 17,200-17,250 is likely to act as an immediate hurdle,” he said.

SGX Nifty signals a positive start
Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange quoted 100 points, or 0.59 per cent, higher at 17,123.50, hinting at a positive start for the domestic market on Friday.

Asian shares rise at open

Asian stocks opened higher on Friday, as the confidence in the financial system improved across the globe. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 1.13 per cent. Japan's Nikkei jumped 0.78 per cent; Australia's ASX 200 added 0.28 per cent; New Zealand's DJ rose 0.06 per cent; China's Shanghai gained 0.94 per cent; Hong Kong's Hang Seng surged 1.23 per cent and Korea’s Kospi advanced 0.66 per cent.

Oil prices little changed
Oil prices were little changed on Friday after a meeting between Saudi Arabia and Russia calmed markets, but crude benchmarks were still headed for a second weekly fall after a banking crisis sparked a sell-off in global financial markets this week. Brent crude futures edged up 2 cents to $74.72 a barrel by 0133 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $68.33 a barrel, down 2 cents.

Dollar slips over relief rally
The dollar slipped on Friday as risk sentiment improved after authorities and banks moved to ease stress on the financial system in major markets, taking heat off other major currencies that tumbled earlier in the week in the wake of bank turmoil. The US dollar index slipped 0.12 per cent to 104.27. The euro was last 0.14 per cent higher at $1.0625.

Wall Street ended with big gains

A strong rebound in financial stocks helped Wall Street indices settle positive on Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 371.98 points, or 1.17 per cent, to 32,246.55, the S&P 500 gained 68.35 points, or 1.76 per cent, to 3,960.28 and the Nasdaq Composite added 283.23 points, or 2.48 per cent, to 11,717.28.

Stocks in F&O ban
Two stocks- Indiabulls Housing Finance and Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers & Chemicals (GNFC)- have been retained under F&O ban by National Stock Exchange (NSE) for Friday, March 17. 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 sell shares worth Rs 282 crore

Provisional data available with NSE suggests FPIs turned net sellers of domestic stocks to the tune of Rs 282.06 crore on Thursday. However, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) turned buyers of equities to the tune of Rs 2,051.45 crore.

Rupee drops 11 paise against dollar
The rupee fell for the fourth day in a row on Thursday and depreciated by 11 paise to 82.76 against the US dollar amid mixed global equity market cues and foreign fund outflows. Traders said positive sentiments in the domestic equity market and a weak dollar, however, resisted the decline in the Indian currency.

Note: With inputs from PTI, Reuters and other agencies

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