SGX Nifty indicates flat start for Sensex, Nifty; 5 things to know before market opens on Thursday

Investors will keep a close eye on corporate results, crude oil price, and the rupee’s trajectory against US dollar, along with Covid and vaccine-related newsflow

Nifty futures slipped in red after trading in the positive territory in the early trade on Thursday, and were trading flat to negative at 15,040.80 on Singaporean Exchange. Investors will keep a close eye on corporate results, crude oil price, and the rupee’s trajectory against US dollar, along with Covid and vaccine-related newsflow. Weekly options expiry is also likely to cause volatility today. Going ahead, the market is likely to continue its positive trend as fresh daily covid cases decline and investors are upbeat on reopening of economic activity soon. However, record death numbers are alarming and would be tracked closely, said Siddhartha Khemka, Head – Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

Global watch: Asian stock markets were trading mixed in Thursday’s session, with Japan’s Nikkei trading flat while Topix index edged marginally higher. South Korea’s Kospi declined half a per cent. While Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose over half a per cent. In overnight trade on Wall Street, US stock indices ended lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.48 per cent, the S&P 500 0.29 per cent, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.03 per cent.

Q4 results: BSE-listed companies such as Zee Entertainment Enterprises, HPCL, Brookfield India Real Estate Trust REIT, Torrent Power, JK Lakshmi Cement, KNR Constructions, Relaxo Footwears, Response Informatics, Sterling Webnet, The Investment Trust Of India, Disa India, Electrosteel Castings, Ultramarine & Pigments, Usha Martin, and Virat Industries, among others will announce quarterly earnings on May 20.

Technical view: The profit booking has emerged in the market from the highs as anticipated and one may expect further weakness for the next 1-2 sessions to form a new higher bottom. At the lower side, 14900 is expected to act as a crucial lower support and the market is expected to bounce back from the lows, said Nagaraj Shetti, Technical Research Analyst, HDFC Securities.

Bitcoin, other cryptos fall: Bitcoin tumbled to $31,663 on Wednesday evening, lowest since January 28, 2021. China has banned financial institutions and payment companies from providing services related to cryptocurrency transactions. Under the ban, such institutions, including banks and online payments channels, must not offer clients any service involving cryptocurrency, such as registration, trading, clearing and settlement, Reuters cited three industry bodies as saying in a joint statement on Tuesday.

FIIs, DIIs net sellers: On Wednesday, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold indian equities worth Rs 697.75 crore. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs), also offloaded shares to the tune of Rs 852.52 crore on a net basis.