NIFTY50, SENSEX on January 16: Oil prices fall, US stocks update, gold, silver rates, FII activity; key things to know before market opens

Many global media outlets reported that tensions between the United States and Iran appeared to ease on Thursday, with US personnel beginning to return to Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar after a partial evacuation earlier this week. "The move followed a lowering of the threat level at the base after several days of heightened risk of a direct US-Iran military confrontation," news reports added.

Wall Street update

The key benchmark indices climbed Thursday, rebounding from back-to-back losses as chip and bank stocks rallied.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 292.81 points, or 0.60%, to 49,442.44, boosted by gains in Goldman Sachs and Nvidia. The S&P 500 rose 0.26% to 6,944.47, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.25% to 23,530.02.

Chip plays led the market after Taiwan Semiconductor delivered another record quarter, saying it expects to boost capital spending in 2026 to between $52 billion and $56 billion — an outlook signalling confidence in the artificial intelligence buildout from the world’s largest contract chipmaker. The stock jumped more than 4%, CNBC reported.

Commodity market update

Oil prices fell about 4% on Thursday, snapping a five-day winning streak after U.S. President Donald Trump said the crackdown on protesters in Iran was easing, easing concerns over potential military action and oil supply disruptions.

Brent crude futures declined $2.76, or 4.15%, to $63.76 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropped $2.83, or 4.56%, to $59.19 a barrel.

Gold prices declined on Thursday as weaker-than-expected U.S. weekly jobless claims data boosted the ‌dollar, while U.S. President Donald Trump's moderated tone on Iran further weighed on safe-haven demand for the metal. On Friday, too, gold traded lower.

Silver prices edged lower on Friday after the US refrained from imposing import tariffs on critical minerals. Silver fell 0.8% to $91.6861 an ounce, though it still posted a weekly gain of about 15% amid strong demand for precious metals.

Asian Markets

Most Asian markets were trading higher in morning trade on Friday. South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.92%, while the small-cap Kosdaq slipped 0.59%. Chip heavyweights Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix gained 3.44% and 0.8%, respectively.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.31%.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up 0.68%, while China’s CSI 300 added 0.57%. State-linked semiconductor foundry SMIC rose 1.62%.

However, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.46%, extending losses from Thursday, while the broader Topix declined 0.57%. SoftBank Group, which has exposure to several chip-related companies, including Arm, gained 1.04%, according to CNBC.

FII, DII activity

As per the NSE data, DIIs net bought shares worth ₹5,056.87 crore in the Capital Market Segment on Wednesday, January 14. On the other hand, FIIs net sold securities worth ₹4,713.87 crore.

Stocks to Watch

Its net interest income (NII) for Q3 FY26 increased 19% year-on-year (YoY) to ₹486 crore as against ₹409.2 crore in the corresponding quarter of FY25.

It had logged a net profit of ₹99.2 crore in October-December 2024-25, a company statement said.