GIFT Nifty down 50 points; here's the trading setup for today's session

Equity markets continued their upward trajectory as Nifty made new highs for the second consecutive day and gradually inching upwards to 24,000 mark.

"Overall optimism surrounding the Union Budget, increasing FII inflows, and robust domestic economic data contributed towards the positive movement in the market. We expect the ongoing uptrend to continue further," said Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Retail Research, Motilal Oswal.

Here's breaking down the pre-market actions:

STATE OF THE MARKETS
GIFT Nifty (Earlier SGX Nifty) signals a negative start
GIFT Nifty on the NSE IX traded lower by 58.5 points, or 0.25 per cent, at 23,803, signaling that Dalal Street was headed for negative start on Thursday.

• Tech View: The present upside momentum could find resistance at the highs of around 24000-24100 levels (1.786% Fibonacci extension of crucial bottom/top/bottom of 2020-2022) and one may expect next round of consolidation or minor weakness to emerge from the highs. Immediate support is at 23650 levels, said Nagaraj Shetti of HDFC Securities.
• India VIX: India VIX, which is a measure of the fear in the markets, fell 1.87% to settle at 14.04 levels.

US stocks gain
Major US stock indexes closed with modest gains on Wednesday after a choppy trading session, with investors holding their cards close to the vest ahead of a presidential debate and an inflation report closely watched by Federal Reserve policy makers.

• Dow up 0.04%,
• S&P gains 0.16%,
• Nasdaq rises 0.49%

Asian shares down
Shares in Asia opened lower after US tech companies fell in late trading while the yen rebounded after a Wednesday plunge that triggered fresh speculation officials may step in to support the currency.

• S&P 500 futures fell 0.4% as of 8:37 a.m. Tokyo time
• Hang Seng futures fell 0.6%
• S&P/ASX 200 futures fell 1.1%

Oil slides
Oil prices slid in early Asian trade on Thursday as a surprise build in U.S. stockpiles fuelled fears about slow demand from the top oil consumer, though worries a potential expansion of the Gaza war may disrupt Middle East supplies capped declines.

Yen slips
The yen languished near a 38-year low on Thursday and struggled on the weaker side of 160 per dollar, keeping markets on alert for any signs of intervention from Japanese authorities to prop up the currency.


Stocks in F&O ban today

1) SAIL

2) PNB

3) GNFC

4) Indus Tower

5) India Cements

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

FII/DII action
Foreign portfolio investors turned net sellers at Rs 3,535 crore on Wednesday. DIIs, meanwhile, bought shares worth Rs 5,103 crore.

Rupee
The rupee gained 4 paise against the US dollar on Tuesday, tracking a firm trend in domestic equities amid stable global crude oil prices.

FII data
The net long of FIIs increased from Rs 1.4 lakh crore on Tuesday to Rs 2.02 lakh crore on Wednesday.