GIFT Nifty up 84 points: Asian markets, crude oil prices, dollar movement, & more

Domestic stock indices are likely to open with healthy gains on Friday morning, amid the optimism in global equity markets around the US Federal Reserve rate cuts. The US dollar remained on the backfoot while crude oil prices headed higher. Back home, heavy FPIs flows are a big booster for local equities; IPO market  may keep buzzing. Here's what you should know before the Opening Bell:

Nifty outlook
Rupak De of  LKP Securities said Nifty has broken out of its consolidation range, driven by an increase in long positions. "The sentiment remains robust as the index maintains a position comfortably above crucial moving averages. Support is situated at 21,000, where Put writers have significant positions. Looking ahead, there's a potential for the index to advance towards 21,400 and beyond on the higher side," he said.

Nifty Bank outlook
Sheersham Gupta, Director and Senior Technical Analyst at Rupeezy said that the Fed’s commentary has set a positive tone for the Nifty's pursuit of Nifty Bank's trajectory toward the 50,000 level. "Analysing technical indicators and open interest data, Nifty and Bank Nifty are exhibiting a strong bullish trend. Bank Nifty options show notable put writing at the 47,700 and 47,500 levels," he said.

GIFT Nifty signals a positive start
Nifty futures on the NSE International Exchange traded 84 points, or 0.40 per cent, higher at 21,423, hinting at a positive start for the domestic market on Friday.

Asian stocks rally in early trade
Asian markets were on the tone to end the week on the front foot as another steep slide in the dollar and US bond yields extends the Fed-fueled buying frenzy, although some investors may be tempted to take some chips off the table ahead of the weekend. The MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 1.35 per cent. Japan's Nikkei gained 1.15 per cent; Australia's ASX 200 surged 1.06 per cent; New Zealand's DJ dropped 0.80 per cent; China's Shanghai rose 0.50 per cent; Hong Kong's Hang Seng zoomed 3.61 per cent; South Korea's rallied 0.87 per cent.

Oil prices headed for weekly gains
Oil prices rose in early Asian trade on Friday, on track to notch their first weekly rise in two months after benefiting from a bullish forecast from the International Energy Agency (IEA) on oil demand for next year and a weaker dollar. Brent futures rose 9 cents to $76.70 a barrel at 0006 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude climbed 10 cents to $71.68.

Dollar weakens on dovish Fed
The dollar languished near four-month lows on Friday, weighed by growing prospects of US interest rate cuts next year, while the euro and pound found support as the central banks there reiterated the need for rates to stay higher for longer. The dollar index at 102.05. The euro was at $1.0983, while Sterling was last at $1.2752, down 0.11 per cent on the day. The Japanese yen weakened 0.20 per cent to 142.16 per dollar in Asian hours.

Wall Street stocks extend gains
US stocks ended firmer on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average notching its second straight record high close, lifted by optimism that borrowing rates will decrease next year following a dovish pivot by the Federal Reserve. The S&P 500 climbed 0.26 per cent to end at 4,719.55 points. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.19 per cent at 14,761.56 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.43 per cent to 37,248.35 points.

Stocks in F&O ban list
Eight stocks have been put under the F&O segment ban by the National Stock Exchange (NSE) for Friday, December 15. The new addition namely-  Manappuram Finance and Steel Authority of India (SAIL) - will join the existing retentions including Hindustan Copper, Balrampur Chini Mills, Indiabulls Housing Finance, India Cements, Zee Entertainment Enterprises and Delta Corp. Companies where derivative contracts cross 95 per cent of the market-wide position limit are put under ban in the F&O segment.

FPIs buy shares worth Rs 3,570 crore
Provisional data available with NSE suggest that FPIs were net buyers of domestic stocks to the tune of 3,570.07 crore on Thursday. On the other hand, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) turned net sellers of Indian equities to the tune of Rs 553.17 crore.

Rupee recovers 10 paise against dollar
The rupee recovered from all-time lows to close at 83.30 against the US dollar on Thursday, gaining 10 paise as the greenback weakened in the overseas markets following signals that rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve were over. A stellar rally in domestic equities fuelled by foreign fund inflows also boosted the rupee sentiment.


Note: With inputs from PTI, Reuters and other agencies

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