NIFTY50, SENSEX: Asian market cues, FII selloff, oil prices, other key things to know before market opens on June 9

NSE data showed that the GIFT NIFTY futures indicated the benchmark NIFTY50 index is likely to open around 177 points or 1.76% higher on Tuesday, when compared to the previous index close level of Monday.

At 7:58 am, the GIFT NIFTY futures were trading at 23,300 points ahead of the opening bell as investors focused on the easing oil prices and the temporary halt in military strikes on the West Asian front.

After the trading session on Monday, the NIFTY50 index closed 1.04% or 243.70 points lower at 23,123 points, compared to 23,366.70 points at the previous stock market close, according to the exchange data.

The BSE SENSEX index closed 0.97% or 719 points lower at 73,524.26 points after the trading session on June 8, compared to 74,243.24 points at the previous market close, as per the data.

The stock market investors will be focused on any further signs of relief or de-escalations in West Asia, which can further cool down oil prices and increase the hopes of the long-awaited peace deal. Stock-specific action is expected on Tuesday’s market after the massive profit booking session on Monday.

Key things to know before opening bell

Asian markets today

After a day of bloodshed on the Asian markets, the benchmark stock indices were trading on a mixed note on June 9, recovering in some countries while traders continue to remain cautious amid the volatile geopolitical sentiment.

MarketWatch data showed that Japan’s Nikkei 225 was trading 0.83% higher at 64,514.70 points, China’s Shanghai Composite was trading 0.06% higher at 3,961.59 points, and the Singapore-based FTSE was up 0.59% at 4,993.45 points on Tuesday’s market.

While the South Korea-based KOSPI index, which lost more than 8% of its value during the trading session on Monday due to intense selling pressure amongst tech stocks, was trading 3.77% higher at 7,766 points on Tuesday, staging a recovery post losses.

However, the Hong Kong-based Hang Seng was down 0.45% at 24,553 points on June 9, with investors focusing on bearish anchors.

Israel and Iran halt attacks

On Monday, both Israel and Iran halted their missile and drone attacks on each other after a heated exchange of firepower in violation of the ceasefire deal in West Asia.

Local media reports suggest that although Iran has stopped its escalations, the country has also warned that they plan to retaliate if Israel carries out any further acts of “aggression and hostility” in Lebanon or Iran.

Meanwhile, Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel has halted the attacks on Iran, acknowledging the ceasefire in the region.

“At the moment, the fire has ceased, because after we struck the terror regime in Tehran, it stopped attacking us. If the terror regime in Iran makes the mistake of attacking us again, we will respond with force,” said Netanyahu in an official statement cited by CNN.

Iran and the United States continue to remain in the third round of negotiations. However, the talks have so far not yielded any potential peace deal or an interim agreement for the conflict in West Asia.

Crude oil prices today

Crude oil prices ease to near $93 per barrel (bbl) during the early market hours on Tuesday, India time, after Iran and Israel announced that they are putting a pause to the escalations after a few days of continued missile strike exchange.

Global benchmark, Brent crude oil prices were trading 0.63% lower at $93.66 per bbl as of 7:43 am (IST), compared to $94.25 per bbl at the previous market close, according to Investing.com data.

While the US-based West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures were also trading 0.67% lower at $90.70 per bbl on Tuesday morning, compared to $91.3 per bbl at the previous commodity market close.

Although oil prices have eased in the current market, tensions remain heightened on whether or not the commodity can sustain the prices as the energy price continues to be linked to the dynamic geopolitical developments in West Asia.

₹5,555 crore FII sell-off

During the stock market crash on Monday, the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold ₹5,555 crore worth of capital market assets across the exchanges, maintaining their streak and selloff pressure in the domestic equities.

In situations where the risk sentiment is heightened in the market, global traders are likely to pull funds out of emerging markets and assets like equities to shift their bets to safer assets such as gold and treasuries.

While the FIIs were net sellers, the domestic investors purchased ₹5,165 crore worth of assets in a single day. This was not enough to support the benchmark indices from the weak market momentum and the profit booking cues from Asia.

Gold prices today

At 10:11 pm (ET), the New York Mercantile Exchange-based COMEX data showed that the gold prices were trading 0.20% lower at $4,354.40 per ounce on Monday evening in the United States, compared to $4,363.40 per ounce at the previous market close.

Gold prices were trading lower during Tuesday’s market session as geopolitical uncertainty was fuelling the demand for the benchmark US dollar, in turn keeping the rates elevated.

As traders buy precious metals in exchange for dollars, a higher dollar rate weighs down the demand for gold in the market. The data further showed that the global gold prices have dropped 3.3% in the last five days and 7.8% in the last one month period.

The Bloomberg US dollar spot index (DYX) was trading 0.09% lower at 99.95 as of 10:12 pm (ET), right under the psychological 100-mark after easing on Monday evening due to the temporary halts of attacks in West Asia.