Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a cautious opening for the index in India. At the time of writing this copy, the Nifty futures were trading at 17,359 on the Singaporean Exchange against September 9 close of 17,369.
Indian markets could open mildly lower in line with negative Asian markets today and negative US markets on Friday, said Deepak Jasani, Head-Retail, HDFC Securities.
"Nifty is expected to open slightly negative at 17360, down by 10 points since the last trading session. It has strong support in the 17300 and 17250 range. It may face resistance in the 17425 and 17450 range. Trend in Nifty remains bullish and buy on dips with strict stop-loss can be a good strategy for traders," said Gaurav Udani, CEO & Founder, ThincRedBlu Securities.
Wall Street ended sharply lower on Friday as investors weighed signs of higher inflation, while Apple Inc tumbled following an unfavorable court ruling related to its app store.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.78% to close at 34,607.72 points, while the S&P 500 lost 0.77% to 4,458.58. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.87% to 15,115.49.
Asian shares cautious
Asian shares made a guarded start on Monday to a week packed with important U.S. and Chinese economic data and the launch of Apple’s latest iPhones, while the Nikkei was tantalisingly near heights last visited in 1990.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.1%, after bouncing on Friday. Japanese shares have been on a tear as hopes for fresh stimulus from a new Prime Minister saw the Nikkei surge 4.3% last week.
The Topix has already scaled that peak, while the Nikkei turned hesitant early on Monday.
Oil prices up
Oil prices climbed on Monday to a one-week high in second straight session of gains as concerns over US supplies following damage from Hurricane Ida supported the market, along with expectations for higher demand.
Brent crude rose 48 cents, or 0.7% to $73.40 a barrel, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude also added 49 cents, or 0.7%, to $70.21 a barrel. Both markets were at their highest since Sept. 3 earlier in the session.
As the low base effect slowly wears off, industrial production in India expanded by 11.5 percent year-on-year (YoY) in July, down from 13.6 percent in June.
Industrial output shows growth
Measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), data which was released by the Centre on September 10, industrial output has maintained significant growth from March, 2021, aided by a continuing low base effect. Case in point, industrial production rose by 28.6 percent in May and a massive 134 percent rise in April.
Experts said the indices for the current months in 2021 are not strictly comparable with the same months from 2020, when the nationwide lockdown was in full force and a majority of factories were not operating.
The outlook for increased manufacturing activities in the second quarter of this fiscal has been significantly improved, though the cost of doing business and production is rising, according to a survey by industry chamber FICCI.
As per FICCI's latest quarterly survey (Q2) on manufacturing, industry respondents have attributed the hike in production costs primarily to high fixed costs, higher overhead costs for ensuring safety protocols, and a drastic reduction in volumes due to lockdown.
FPIs pump in more money in Indian markets in September
Continuing the buying in Indian markets, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) pumped in a net sum of Rs 7,605 crore in September so far. According to data from depositories, overseas investors invested Rs 4,385 crore into equities and Rs 3,220 crore in the debt segment during September 1-9. During this period, the total net investment stood at Rs 7,605 crore.
Gold prices subdued
Gold prices were subdued on Monday as the dollar held firm, while cautious investors awaited readings on U.S. consumer prices due this week that could be crucial to Federal Reserve’s decision on when to exit its super-supportive policy. Spot gold was flat at $1,787.40 per ounce after having recorded a weekly decline of 2.1%.
Three stocks under F&O ban
Three stocks – Indiabulls Housing Finance, IRCTC and NALCO – are under the F&O ban today.
