GIFT NIFTY futures hint weak opening on Nov 6 as oil rebounds to near $100/bbl; key things to know before market opens

Equity market indices are expected to witness a gap-down opening on Friday, November 6, as indicated by the GIFT NIFTY futures, with investors focusing on the rebound in crude oil prices hovering under $100 per barrel (bbl) amid the overall selling pressure emerging from the stock market crash on Wall Street and Asian markets due to AI trade reversal.

As of 7:40 am (IST), the GIFT NIFTY futures (November contract) were trading 0.6% lower at 24,465 points ahead of the opening bell, indicating the potential for a 71-point gap-down opening for NIFTY50 when compared to the previous market close levels.

The equity futures were indicating a negative performance for the trading session on Friday, as investors focused on the global sell-off sentiment despite strong FII interest in Indian equities.

NSE data showed that the NIFTY50 index closed 2.4% higher at 24,536.60 points after the mega rally on Thursday’s market, in comparison to 23,960.60 points at the previous equity market close.

The BSE SENSEX ended 2.6% higher at 79,310.01 points after the trading session on November 5, in comparison to 77,301.40 points at the previous equity market close, as per the exchange data.

Investors are expected to pin their hopes on FII buying support to prevent a stock market crash during the trading session on Friday while keeping a watch on the geopolitical sentiment, rising crude oil prices, and any further escalation in West Asia, which can impact market sentiment.

Key things to watch before market open

Asian market crash

Asian market indices crashed during the morning trading session on Friday, November 6, as investors focused on the massive selling pressure in tech and AI stocks emerging from the stock market crash on Wall Street on Thursday.

As of the morning hours, Nikkei 225 was down 6.25%, Hang Seng was down 1.25%, Shanghai Composite was down 1.53%, KOSPI crashed 7.23%, and Singapore’s FTSE was down 2% on Friday’s market.

The dented sentiment, along with elevated crude oil prices, dragged down all the benchmark indices in Asia on November 6.

Crude oil jumps over 5%

Global crude oil benchmark, Brent crude prices surged more than 5% during the trading session on Thursday to hit a high of $99.62 per bbl during the evening session, with commodity market investors focusing on Trump’s latest threat to “destroy” Iran amid the tanker attacks at the Strait of Hormuz.

Investing.com data showed that Brent crude oil prices (January futures) were trading 0.17% higher at $99.41 per bbl as of the morning hours on Friday, India time, in comparison to $99.21 per bbl at the previous market close.

Latest reports suggest that Iran claimed three more tankers have been damaged at the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, bringing the number of vessels attacked since Sunday up to a total of five amid the West Asia conflict.

Local media reports claimed that those three vessels caught on fire at the Strait of Hormuz after allegedly trying to pass the key maritime pathway using an “unauthorised route.”

This comes at a time when US President Donald Trump threatened that the United States may have to “destroy” the rest of Iran and rebuild it in the next 25 years, citing that the people will know “soon enough” if that happens.

Bloodbath on Wall Street

The US equity market plummeted during the trading session on Thursday, November 5, as the benchmark indices recorded one of their biggest single-day drops, with investors exercising selling pressure in tech and AI stocks, and sentiment reversing after a rally in the previous market session.

AI trade reversal was the key trigger which powered investors' sentiment as investors steer clear of AI and tech stocks after Democrats took control of the majority at the House and Senate levels after the US midterm elections.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 3.44% lower at 51,523.06 points after the market close on Thursday, in comparison to 53,356.12 points at the previous equity market close, according to MarketWatch data.

The S&P 500 also crashed, closing 4.3% lower at 7,353.73 points after Thursday’s trading session, in comparison to 7,688.62 points at the previous equity market close, as per the exchange data.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq plummeted to end 6.3% lower at 26,629.81 points after the trading session on November 5, in comparison to 28,437.17 points at the previous Wall Street close.

FIIs fuel ₹14,974 crore inflows

Maintaining their massive buying support, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) purchased ₹14,974.68 crore worth of capital market assets across the stock exchanges in a single day on Thursday’s market, powering the massive rally due to the inflows.

In contrast, domestic investors continued to book profits by selling ₹10,444.54 crore worth of capital market assets on Thursday’s trading session.

If the FIIs keep up their buying spree due to the lower risk profile of Indian equities, then the domestic market indices are set to rise despite the weak global market cues.