Stock market today: Gift Nifty up 31 points; key levels for Nifty, Sensex & Nifty Bank

Indian equity benchmark indices are set to open on a positive note tracking the gains in the Asian peers. Traders will be waiting for India Inc's quarterly earnings season, which kicks-off today. Besides that, global cues including the US shutdown and India-US trade deal progress shall also be tracked by the investors.

Nifty futures on the NSE International Exchange traded 30.60 points, or 0.12 per cent, up at 25,150 hinting at a muted start for the domestic market on Thursday. Asian stock markets resumed their ascent on Thursday. Nikkei gained more than 1.35 per cent, while Hang Seng moved marginally higher.

Globally, attention will turn to the US initial jobless claims data. We expect markets to remain range-bound in the near term, tracking global cues and Q2 earnings announcements, said Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Research at Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

Technology shares boosted US stocks to a higher close on Wednesday as investors, lacking economic data during the government shutdown. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.20 points, to 46,601.78, the S&P 500 gained 39.13 points, or 0.58 per cent, to 6,753.72 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 255.02 points, or 1.12 per cent, to 23,043.38.

Yields on 10-year Treasuries were down a fraction at 4.115 per cent, having also shrugged off a middling auction of new notes on Wednesday. The dollar held steady on Thursday, on track for its best week in nearly a year, buoyed by a weak yen that has struggled on the back of a change of guard in Japan's ruling party. The dollar was little changed at 98.77.

Oil prices slipped as news of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire lessened one potential threat to supplies. Brent dropped 0.6 per cent to $65.89 a barrel, while US crude eased 0.7 per cent to $62.12 per barrel. On the other hand, Gold eased 0.2 per cent to $4,031 an ounce , but remains 3.9 per cent higher on the week so far.

On the index front, indications point toward further consolidation, albeit with a positive bias, said Ajit Mishra, SVP of Research at Religare Broking. "We continue to maintain a 'buy on dips' strategy and recommend focusing on opportunities with a favorable risk-reward setup, particularly within sectors showing consistent relative strength," he said.

Provisional data available with NSE suggest that FPIs turned net buyers of domestic stocks to the tune of Rs 81.28 crore on Wednesday. On the other hand, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) turned buyers of Indian equities to the tune of Rs 329.96 crore on a net-net basis.
 

Nifty50 & Sensex outlook
As long as the market is trading below 25,150/82,000, the weak sentiment is likely to continue on the downside, with potential slips to 25,000-24,950/81,500-81,300, said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research at Kotak Securities. Downside may also persist, which could drag the market down to 24,850/81,000. If the market moves above 25,150/82,000, it could rise to 25,250-25,300/82,300-82,500.

"We observe two back-to-back long upper shadows in the candles that indicate sell on rise opportunity. The near-term uptrend of Nifty remains intact and present consolidation/weakness could be completed near the support of 25,000-24,900 levels in the next few sessions. The crucial overhead resistance to be watched is around 25,200," said Nagaraj Shetti, Senior Technical Research Analyst at HDFC Securities.
 

Nifty Bank outlook
Nifty Bank is likely to consolidate in the range of 56,500-55,500 thus forming a base after the recent up move. On the higher side only a move above 56,500 would open further upside towards the all-time high of 57,300-57,600 in the coming week, said Bajaj Broking. "On the downside support is placed at 55,500-55,000 levels being the confluence. We believe bias remains positive and dips should be used as a buying opportunity."

The 56,200–56,300 zone will act as an immediate resistance for the Index. If the index manages to give a follow through move above the level of 56,300, the pullback can continue further till 56,700 level. While, on the downside, the zone of 55,900-55,800 will act as a crucial support for the Index, said Sudeep Shah, Head of Technical and Derivatives Research at SBI Securities.