D-St set for a cautious opening as GIFT Nifty signals muted start

Indian benchmark indices opened on a positive note but traded within a narrow range throughout the session. Market participants remained cautious amid the weekly Sensex expiry, resulting in elevated intraday volatility. Analysts expect the index to hold above the same and witness a pullback towards 24,250-24,350 levels, being the upper band of the recent consolidation range.

STATE OF THE MARKETS
GIFT Nifty (Earlier SGX Nifty) signals a muted start
GIFT Nifty on the NSE IX traded lower by 13 points, or 0.05 per cent, at 24,082, signaling that Dalal Street was headed for a muted start on Friday.

• Tech View: Option chain data also indicates the highest put writing at the 24,000 strike, reinforcing it as a key support level. Considering the current technical setup, a buy-on-dips near support and sell-on-rise near resistance strategy remains appropriate.
• India VIX: India VIX, which is a measure of the fear in the markets, fell 3% to settle at 12.88 levels.

Nasdaq ends lower
Chip stocks pulled the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 lower on Thursday as they continued to lead broader market moves despite generally upbeat U.S. economic data and a strong start to second-quarter earnings season.

Asian shares slip
Asian stocks edged lower after a selloff in chipmakers dragged down Wall Street as investors questioned whether massive artificial-intelligence investments can justify lofty valuations. Oil climbed.

• S&P 500 futures fell 0.3% as of 9:07 a.m. Tokyo time
• Hang Seng futures fell 0.3%
• Japan’s Topix fell 1.3%
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.3%
• Euro Stoxx 50 futures were unchanged

Oil rises
Oil prices inched higher on Friday after the U.S. and Iran stepped up attacks across the Gulf, with their broken truce limiting oil flows out of the Strait of Hormuz and with Tehran asking the Houthi movement to stand ready to shut the Red Sea export route.

Dollar steady
The dollar held steady on Friday but was poised for a weekly decline as a softer-than-expected U.S. inflation report this week led traders to cut bets on imminent rate hikes from the Federal Reserve, although escalating attacks in the Middle East soured sentiment.

Gold rebounds
Gold rebounded on Friday but was set for its biggest weekly loss in six, as renewed U.S.-Iran clashes lifted oil prices, stoked inflation concerns and strengthened expectations that interest rates could stay higher for longer.


Stocks in F&O ban today

1) Kaynes

Securities in the ban period under the F&O segment include companies in which the security has crossed 95% of the market-wide position limit.
2,986 crore.

Rupee
The rupee depreciated for the fourth straight day, shedding 8 paise to settle at 96.33 against the US dollar amid volatility in global crude oil prices and a stronger greenback as the West Asia crisis intensified.

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