SGX Nifty up 47 points: Asian markets, dollar, crude prices, FPI flows & more

Bucking the weak trend in global markets, domestic benchmarks may open higher on Thursday. Asian stocks were trading mostly lower in early Thursday trade, tracking a weak closing for US stocks overnight. Concerns over a sharp plunge in shares of Credit Suisse sparked fresh fears over banking turmoil, with traders lapping up safer assets such as bonds, gold and safe havens such as the US dollar. Here's what you should know before the Opening Bell:

Nifty outlook
Nifty has been closing below its previous candle's low for the last five sessions, reflecting the bear dominance in the market. The index failed its bullish Harmonic pattern and closed well below its potential reversal zone, said Rohan Patil, Technical Analyst, Samco Securities.

"The index is trading below its 9- and 21 EMAs and the slope of the averages has tilted lower. The overall trend remains bearish as prices are trading in a lower low formation and a ‘sell on rally’ should be the right approach in this market. Nifty support is placed at around 16,800-16,750 levels. Resistance is seen at 17,300-17,350 levels," he said.

SGX Nifty signals a positive start
Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange quoted 47 points, or 0.28 per cent, higher at 17,021, hinting at a positive start for the domestic market on Thursday.

Asian shares fall  at open
Asian stocks tumbled on Thursday, as fears of a banking crisis was reignited by fresh troubles at Credit Suisse, leaving markets on edge, ahead of a European Central Bank meeting later in the day. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.76 per cent. Japan's Nikkei plunged 1.25 per cent; Australia's ASX 200 tanked 1.48 per cent; New Zealand's DJ shed 0.33 per cent; China's Shanghai Composite declined 0.38 per cent; Hong Kong's Hang Seng tumbled 1.82 per cent, and Korea’s Kospi retreated 0.18 per cent.

Oil prices recover from 1-year low
Oil prices rose in early Asian trade on Thursday, clawing back some ground from more than one-year lows hit in the previous session as markets calmed somewhat after Credit Suisse was thrown a financial lifeline by Swiss regulators. Brent crude futures rose 85 cents, or 1.2 per cent, to $74.54 per barrel by 0107 GMT. West Texas Intermediate crude futures (WTI) rose 74 cents, or 1.1 per cent, to $68.35 a barrel.

Dollar gains on safe-haven appeal

Safe-haven currencies like the US dollar and the yen were in bid on Thursday on renewed fears of a global banking crisis, after contagion from the implosion of US-based Silicon Valley Bank had spread across the Atlantic to Swiss bank Credit Suisse. The US dollar index was 0.07 per cent lower at 104.58, while the yen jumped 0.5 per cent in early Asia trade and last stood at 132.73 per dollar. The euro was nursing deep losses in early Asia trade, last rising 0.04 per cent to $1.0582, whereas the Sterling gained 0.18 per cent to $1.20775.

US stocks end lower
US stocks pared losses late on Wednesday, key indices still settled lower, as problems at Credit Suisse revived fears of a banking crisis, eclipsing bets on a smaller US rate hike this month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 280.83 points, or 0.87 per cent, to 31,874.57; the S&P500 index lost 27.36 points, or 0.70 per cent, to 3,891.93. The Nasdaq Composite added 5.90 points, or 0.05 per cent, to 11,434.05.

Stocks in F&O ban
Two stocks namely Indiabulls Housing Finance and Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers & Chemicals (GNFC) have been retained under F&O ban by National Stock Exchange (NSE) for Thursday, March 16. 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 1,271 crore
Provisional data available with NSE suggests FPIs turned net sellers of domestic stocks to the tune of Rs 1,271.25 crore on Wednesday. Similarly, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) turned buyers of equities to the tune of Rs 1,823.94 crore.

Rupee falls  14 paise against dolla
The rupee declined by 28 paise to 82.65 against the US dollar on Wednesday amid a strong greenback against major currencies overseas and unabated foreign fund outflows. Traders said negative sentiment in the domestic equity market also hit the domestic currency.

Note: With inputs from PTI, Reuters and other agencies

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