SGX Nifty down 22 points: Asian stocks fall, dollar eased, crude prices steady, Q4 earnings & more

Domestic stock indices are likely to open lower on Thursday, tracking muted global cues. Asian markets were trading in the red, tracking a negative closing for US stocks overnight trade. US inflation eased more than expectations in March, yet there were concerns over Fed rate hikes. . Back home, Infosys will announce its quarterly numbers today. Here's what you should know before the Opening Bell:

Nifty outlook
Nifty continued to trade higher post the formation of bullish Golden Crossover of 9- and 21-EMAs on the daily chart. The index formed higher-high formation on the 120 minutes chart, which indicates the bulls were having an upper band, said Rohan Patil, Technical Analyst at Samco Securities.

"The overall trend remains in a bullish mode and any dip will be an opportunity to enter fresh long. The support for the Nifty is placed at 17,600–17,650 levels and resistance at 17,900-17,950 levels. In case the Nifty breach is below the 17,600 level, 17,400 will be the next support level," he said.

SGX Nifty signals a negative start
Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange traded 22 points, or 0.12 per cent, lower at 17,857.50, hinting at a negative start for the domestic market on Thursday.

Asian shares fall at early trade
Asian equities opened lower on Thursday. The US inflation data came in cooler-than expectations but the US FOMC minutes revealed that Fed members were concerned about the liquidity crisis amid the banking fallout. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.55 per cent. Japan's Nikkei shed 0.06 per cent; China's Shanghai Composite declined 0.06 per cent; Hong Kong's Hang Seng tanked 1.67 per cent while South Korea's Kospi eased 0.03 per cent.

Oil prices edge lower
Oil prices eased in Thursday’s trade after rising for two sessions, as traders remained cautious due to lingering concerns over a US recession and weaker oil demand. Brent crude fell 19 cents, or 0.2 per cent, at $87.14 a barrel by 0116 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate slid 16 cents, or 0.2 per cent, to $83.10.

Dollar falls after inflation date
The dollar was on the back foot on Thursday after cooler-than-anticipated US inflation data lifted risk sentiment and stoked expectations that the Federal Reserve will be done with its monetary tightening after hiking one last time next month. The dollar index eased 0.03 per cent to 101.44, hovering around a one week low of 101.4.  The euro was up 0.05 per cent to $1.0994. The Japanese yen weakened 0.04 per cent to 133.20 per dollar.

Wall Street stocks settle lower
US stocks ended lower on Wednesday after minutes from the Federal Reserve's March policy meeting revealed concern among several FOMC members regarding the regional bank liquidity crisis. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 38.29 points, or 0.11 per cent, to 33,646.5; the S&P 500 lost 16.99 points, or 0.41 per cent, at 4,091.95; and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 102.54 points, or 0.85 per cent, to 11,929.34.

Q4 earnings today
Infosys, Avantel, Roselabs Finance and Amalgamated Electricity Company are among companies that will announce their earnings for the March 2023 quarter today.

Stocks in F&O ban
Two stocks- Delta Corp and Balrampur Chini Mills- have been put under F&O ban by National Stock Exchange (NSE) for Thursday, April 13. 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 1,908 crore
Provisional data available with NSE suggests FPIs turned net buyers of domestic stocks to the tune of Rs 1,907.95 crore on Wednesday. However, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) turned net sellers of equities to the tune of Rs 225.22 crore.

Rupee rises against dollar
The rupee consolidated in a narrow range and settled for the day 1 paise higher at 82.11 against the US dollar on Wednesday, as participants remained on the sidelines ahead of the release of the retail inflation data. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 82.08 against the US currency and touched a high of 82.01 during intra-day.


Note: With inputs from PTI, Reuters and other agencies

Also read: Infosys to share Q4 results, dividend today; Britannia, Edelweiss Financial stocks to go ex-dividend

Also read: Infosys Q4 results at 3.45 pm today: Press conference, earnings call timing, analyst preview & dividend history