SGX Nifty down 75 points: Here's what changed for market while you were sleeping

Following a sharp fall in US stocks overnight, amid worries about the economic impact of protest in China, domestic benchmark indices are likely to open in the red on Tuesday although losses are likely to be capped amid softer crude oil prices. Asian equities too fluctuated in the morning session as they weighed the comments from US Fed officials.

Meanwhile, options data suggests that Nifty50 is likely to add more gains into the kitty, as the 19,000 call option holds the highest open interest.

Here's breaking down the pre-market actions:

STATE OF THE MARKETS

SGX Nifty signals a negative start
Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange traded 75 points or 0.44 points lower at 7.15 am, signalling a negative start for Dalal Street.

• Tech View: Nifty 50 has formed a long bullish candlestick pattern on the daily charts. The index can test 18700-18900 levels so long as it holds above the support zone of 18350-18400 levels.

• India VIX: The volatility index ended 1.7% higher at 13.5650 points on Monday.

Asian stocks trade mixed
Stocks painted a mixed picture in Asia as a heavy police presence deterred Covid protests in China and traders weighed comments from Federal Reserve officials stressing the need for more interest rate hikes. Equities rose in Hong Kong and mainland China, fell in Japan and fluctuated in Australia.

• Japan’s Topix fell 0.4%
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was little changed
• The Hang Seng Index rose 1.7%
• The Shanghai Composite rose 0.9%

US stocks end sharply lower
US stocks ended sharply lower on Monday after protests in major Chinese cities against strict COVID-19 policies sparked concerns about economic growth, while Apple Inc slid on worries about a hit to iPhone production.

• S&P 500 declined 1.54%
• Nasdaq Composite Index lost 1.58%
• Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.45%

Dollar rebounds on Fed expectations
The dollar clawed back earlier losses on Monday as a hawkish Federal Reserve official laid out the case for further rate hikes, while the Australian dollar sank on concerns about unrest over COVID-19 restrictions in China. The greenback was last down 0.23% to 138.82 Japanese yen. The euro dipped 0.62% to $1.0403.

Oil prices slide further
Oil prices dropped in early trade, weighed down by concerns about slowing fuel demand in top crude importer China amid strict COVID-19 curbs.

Brent crude futures fell 45 cents, or 0.5%, to trade at $82.74 a barrel at 0113 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures dropped 51 cents, or 0.7%, to $76.73 a barrel. Brent settled down 0.5% the previous day, having slumped more than 3% to $80.61 earlier in the session to its lowest since Jan. 4. WTI settled up 1.3% on Monday, after earlier touching its lowest since December 2021.

FII/DII action
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) on Monday net bought shares worth Rs 936 crore, provisional data showed. DIIs also purchased shares to the tune of Rs 88 crore.

Stocks in F&O ban today
Bharat Heavy Electricals, Delta Corp, and Indiabulls Housing Finance. 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.

Rupee
A fall in the dollar index helped the Indian unit erase the intraday losses and end marginally higher against the greenback on Monday. The rupee settled at 81.67 a dollar, against 81.68 on Friday.

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