Stock market today: Gift Nifty up 22 pts; levels to watch for Nifty, Sensex & Nifty Bank

Indian benchmark indices are likely to open with mild gains on Thursday, tracking the positive global cues. Traders will be eyeing truce between the US and India on the trade deal. Besides that traders will be looking at rate cut cues as softer-than-expected US inflation data boosted hopes for Federal Reserve interest rate cuts.

Nifty futures on the NSE International Exchange traded 22.20 points, or 0.09 per cent, up at 25,094.50, hinting at a positive start for the domestic market on Thursday. Asian stocks were trading mostly higher on Thursday. Japan gained nearly a per cent, hitting new record highs. KOSPI was up 0.25 per cent, while Hang Seng was down 0.9 per cent.

"Fed rate cuts in the upcoming policy meeting to counter slowing job growth pushed equities higher. We expect the Indian market to continue its gradual up-move, supported by positive global cues, GST-led consumption boost and robust domestic macros," said Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Research at Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

In the US stocks, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq notched record-high closes on Wednesday, but Dow Jones ended lower. The S&P 500 climbed 0.30 per cent to end the session at 6,532.04 points. The Nasdaq gained 0.03 per cent to 21,886.06 points for its third consecutive record-high close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.48 per cent to 45,490.92 points.

In commodity markets, oil prices held gains, having settled up over 1 per cent as weak demand in the United States and broad oversupply risks countered concern over attacks in the Middle East and Russia's war in Ukraine. US crude was flat at $63.65 a barrel, while Brent was little changed at $67.49. Spot gold prices gained 0.1 per cent to $3,644 an ounce.

The dollar index was last flat at 97.81 , a touch above a seven-week trough of 97.25. In the bond market, 10-year Treasury yields edged up 2 basis points to 4.0531 per cent, having fallen 4 bps overnight as a solid 10-year note auction alleviated some concern about investor appetite for long-term US debt.

Markets are gradually inching higher amid favorable cues. However, sustained participation from the two key sectors—IT and banking, said Ajit Mishra, SVP of Research at Religare Broking. "We maintain a positive bias and suggest using intermediate dips or consolidation phases to accumulate fundamentally strong counters across the board," he said.

Provisional data available with NSE suggest that FPIs turned net sellers of domestic stocks to the tune of Rs 115.69 crore on Wednesday. On the other hand, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) turned buyers of Indian equities to the tune of Rs 5,004.29 crore on a net-net basis.
 

Nifty & Sensex outlook

Nifty formed a small-bodied Doji candle with minor upper and lower shadows. The 24,900–24,850 zone will act as immediate support. A decisive move below 24,850 can lead to sellers coming back in the Index and a potential decline towards 24,700. A sustained move above the 25,050 levels can take the Index towards its previous swing high of 25,154 levels, said Sudeep Shah, Head of Technical Research and Derivatives at SBI Securities.

The 50-day SMA- 24,920/81,200 and the 24,800/81,000 level will act as key support zones for traders. As long as the market trades above these levels, the bullish sentiment is likely to continue, said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research at Kotak Securities.

"It could move up to 25,100–25,200/81,700-82,000. On the flip side, if the market falls below 24,800/81,000, traders may consider exiting their long positions."
 

Nifty Bank outlook

Bank Nifty, backed by strong price action, will likely dictate the next directional move. Key supports are placed at 54,350 and 54,000, while resistance is seen in the 54,840–55,184 zone, said Amruta Shinde, Technical & Derivative Analyst at Choice Broking. "A convincing breakout above this resistance could set the stage for a rally toward the psychological 56,000 mark," he said.

A breakout from the recent consolidation zone further reinforces the continuation of the uptrend, with immediate support placed at Monday’s low of 54,300. On the upside, it carries the potential to move towards 55,350, based on the measured move of the consolidation range, said Bajaj Broking. Momentum indicators also complement this view, thereby strengthening the overall bullish outlook, it said.