GIFT NIFTY futures hint towards weak opening on November 13; what investors need to watch before market opens

Equity market futures indicated a weak opening and performance on Friday, November 13, as investors focused on hopes of FII buying support amid elevated US Treasury yields, higher domestic inflation rate, volatile crude oil prices, and US President Donald Trump’s latest comments on the West Asia conflict.

As of 7:46 am (IST), the GIFT NIFTY futures (November) were trading 0.17% lower at 25,232 points ahead of the opening bell on Friday’s market, indicating that the benchmark index is likely to open around 67 points lower due to weak global cues.

NSE data showed that the NIFTY50 index closed 0.18% higher at 25,299.35 points after Thursday’s trading session, in comparison to 25,255.05 points at the previous equity market close.

The BSE SENSEX ended 0.04% higher at 81,911.01 points after the trading session on Nov 12, compared to 81,879.40 points at the previous stock market close, as per the exchange data.

Equity market investors are expected to pin their hopes on a potential turnaround in sentiment after the market opens, with the help of FII buying in the domestic market, amid volatile crude oil prices and elevated Treasury yields.

Data showed that the benchmark 10-year US Treasury yields were trading around 5.12% level as of 9:20 pm (ET), attracting safe-haven bets amid geopolitical uncertainty.

Things to know before today’s opening bell

FIIs bought ₹7,830 crore

Foreign investors continued to maintain their buying momentum in Indian equities, resulting in the domestic market ending with marginal gains on Thursday, while, in contrast, domestic institutional investors maintained their selling streak, booking profits in the current market.

FIIs bought ₹7,830.60 crore worth of assets in a single day across the equity exchanges on Thursday, while the DIIs sold ₹6,331.17 crore during the trading session.

So far in the first 12 days of November, FII net inflows have been to the tune of ₹75,392 crore in the Indian market.

Retail inflation at 6.09%

Investors were also focused on India’s retail inflation rising to 6.09% in October, breaching the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) upper tolerance band of 6% for the first time in two years.

The year-on-year retail inflation, measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), stood at 5.54% in September.

The rise in food inflation in the economy contributed to the surge in domestic prices in the market.

Oil trades above $95/barrel

Global crude oil prices were trading above $95 per barrel (bbl) during the early market hours on Friday, November 13, as commodity market investors focused on US President Donald Trump’s latest comments to the media that he would not hesitate to resume military strikes on Iran.

The benchmark Brent crude oil prices were trading 0.66% lower at $95.14 per bbl on Friday’s early market, in comparison to $95.77 per bbl at the previous market close, according to Investing.com data.

Oil prices hit an intraday high of $96 per bbl during the early market hours on Friday, November 13.

The indication that the United States could potentially take further action or escalate the geopolitical conflict dented market sentiment, adding to the pressure on crude oil prices with fear of another supply chain disruption.

In a social media post, Trump also ruled out the possibility of a deal with Iran, citing that “those days have long since passed.” He also claimed that the US does not need an agreement with Iran as it allegedly controls the money and the Strait of Hormuz.

Although Trump has been relatively conservative after the midterm elections, with the Democratic Party taking charge of the US Congress, the US President can further escalate the conflict if there are no signs of a peace agreement.

Nvidia CEO resigns

Global chipmaking giant Nvidia CEO and founder, Jensen Huang, resigned from his role on Thursday evening, India time, after the board’s ongoing investigation over his alleged affair with a Chinese spy.

The board of directors appointed Colette Kress to replace Huang as the CEO, who has been serving as the Executive Vice President and CFO of the chipmaking company. Kress has more than a decade of experience at Nvidia.

Jensen Huang’s exit acted as negative news for Nvidia’s stock, which declined over 10% on Nov 12. However, the global AI turmoil benefits Indian equities as foreign investors continue to look at domestic stocks as more of an anti-AI play amid geopolitical volatility.

Asian markets today

Despite the weak global cues and the subdued close of Wall Street, the Asian equity market indices were largely trading higher during the morning hours on Friday, November 13, as investors focused on buying after the negative market close yesterday.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 was trading 1.77% higher, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.24%, KOSPI was up 1.86%, while, in contrast, Hang Seng was down 0.62%, and Singapore’s FTSE was down 0.98% today.

How did Wall Street end on Thursday?

The US equity market indices ended lower on Thursday, November 12, as investors focused on Nvidia’s leadership saga with Jensen Huang stepping down from his role and elevated US Treasury yields amid buying sentiment in other chipmaking stocks.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.36% lower at 52,297.09 points after the trading session on Thursday, in comparison to 52,486.49 points at the previous stock market close, according to the exchange data.

The S&P 500 index ended 0.35% lower at 7,592.40 points after the trading session on Nov 12, in comparison to 7,619.38 points at the previous US stock market close.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 index recovered some of its early market losses to close 0.30% lower at 28,289.19 points, compared to 28,374.25 points at the previous Wall Street close, as per the data.