SGX Nifty up 78 points: Asian stocks rally, dollar falls, US stocks surge, Q4 earnings & more

Domestic stock indices are likely to open higher on Friday, thanks to strong gains in global markets. US stocks settled sharply higher overnight in a technology stocks-led rally. Asian markets were also trading higher ahead of a Bank of Japan's meeting. Back home, quarterly results will guide the direction of market. Here's what you should know before the Opening Bell:

Nifty outlook
Nifty closed Thursday’s session above its previous swing high of 17,863, which confirms that it has started the next leg of up move. On the way up, Nifty is likely to target 18,100 in the short term, said Jatin Gedia of Sharekhan. "On the daily charts, the momentum indicator has triggered a fresh positive crossover, which is likely to provide speed to the current upmove. Thus, both price and momentum indicators are now in sync and suggest that the current rally is likely to continue," he said.

SGX Nifty signals a positive start
Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange traded 78 points, or 0.43 per cent, higher at 18,070.50, hinting at a positive start for the domestic market on Friday.

Asian shares mostly higher
Asian Stocks were trading higher after strong gains on Wall Street overnight, ahead of Bank of Japan's monetary policy review under its new governor. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.76 per cent. Japan's Nikkei jumped 0.67 per cent; China's Shanghai Composite index rose 0.71 per cent; Hong Kong's Hang Seng surged 1.13 per cent and Korea's Kospi advanced 0.68 per cent.

Oil prices rebounded
Oil prices rose on Thursday, paring earlier losses that were fuelled by US recession fear and increased Russian oil exports dulling the impact of OPEC production cuts. Brent crude was trading at $78.04 a barrel, up 35 cents, or 0.45 per cent, at 0039 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $74.51 a barrel, adding 21 cents, or 0.28 per cent.

Dollar stares at monthly loss
The US dollar was on track for a second straight monthly loss on Friday on mounting expectations the Federal Reserve could soon end its aggressive rate-hike cycle, while the yen steadied near a one-week high ahead of a pivotal central bank decision. The US dollar index last stood at 101.45 and was headed for a monthly loss of more than 1 per cent, the euro held near a recent one-year high and last bought $1.1033. The Japanese yen was roughly 0.1 per cent higher at 133.84 per US dollar. Sterling slipped 0.06 per cent to $1.2492.

Wall Street stocks rally

US stocks closed sharply higher on Thursday and Treasury yields resumed their climb as strong earnings helped investors look past signs of economic weakness. All three major US stock indexes surged in a broad rally, with megacap tech and tech-related companies boosting the Nasdaq to its biggest one-day percentage gain since mid-March. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 524.59 points, or 1.58 per cent, to 33,826.46 the S&P 500 gained 79.4 points, or 1.96 per cent, to 4,135.39 and the Nasdaq Composite added 287.89 points, or 2.43 per cent, to 12,142.24.

Also read: Wipro, Raymond, HUL, Bajaj Finser, other stocks to watch on April 28, 2023

Also read: Stocks to buy: Tata Motors, Cyient, Tata Consumer, Prestige Estates

Q4 earnings today
Ultratech Cement, SBI Cards and Payment Services, Star Health Allied Insurance Company, Supreme Industries, Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services, Vedant Fashions, L&T Finance Holdings, Atul, IndiaMart Intermesh, Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals, Ramakrishna Forgings, CSB Bank, Himadri Speciality Chemicals and Orient Cement are among the companies that will announce their earnings for the March 2023 quarter.

Stocks in F&O ban
Since new series, May, kicks off from Friday, April 28. Thus, no stocks have been put under the ban by the National Stock Exchange (NSE). 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 1,653 crore
Provisional data available with NSE suggest that FPIs turned net buyers of domestic stocks to the tune of Rs 1,652.95 crore on Thursday. However, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) turned net sellers of Indian equities to the tune of Rs 97.07 crore.

Rupee rises 21 paise against dollar
The rupee pared all its initial gains to settle lower by 5 paise at 81.79 against the US currency on Thursday amid a strengthening greenback overseas and foreign capital outflows. However, the strong sentiment in the domestic equities market restricted the rupee's fall, forex traders said.

Note: With inputs from PTI, Reuters and other agencies

Also read: Bajaj Finserv, UltraTech Cement, HUL: How to trade these largecap stocks amid Q4 results?

Also read: HCL Tech shares to turn ex-dividend; UltraTech Cement, SBI Card Q4 results today