NIFTY50, SENSEX today: Wall Street cues, FII activity, key things to know before markets open on April 20

The Indian equity benchmarks are set to on higher on Monday, April 20, as indicated by GIFT NIFTY futures. NIFTY futures at GIFT City in Ahmedabad surged 103 points or 24,470 amid positive cues from Asian markets despite volatile geopolitical situation in West Asia.

The Indian equity benchmarks closed higher on Friday outperforming their Asian peers powered by gains in index heavyweights like Reliance Industries, Hindustan Unilever, HDFC Bank, State Bank of India, Kotak Mahindra Bank, IT and Axis Bank.

The SENSEX ended 505 points higher at 78,494 and NIFTY50 index advanced 157 points or 0.65% to close at 24,353.

Asian markets

Asian markets were trading higher taking cues from strong closing of US markets on Friday despite a volatile geopolitical situation in West Asia. Japan's Nikkei rose 0.95%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 0.77%, South Korea's KOSPI rose 1.23% and China's Shanghai Composite gained 0.6%.

Wall Street update

Oil prices dropped back to where they were in the early days of the Iran war, and US stocks raced to another record Friday after Iran said the Strait of Hormuz is open again for commercial tankers carrying crude from the Persian Gulf to customers worldwide, news agency AP reported.

S&P 500 index advanced 1.2%, Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 1.8% and tech heavy Nasdaq surged 1.52%.

Crude oil and West Asia conflict update

Crude oil prices surged above $95 per barrel after witnessing a sharp fall on Friday on the back of rising hopes, while dashed expectations with regard to the opening of Strait of Hormuz.

FII/DII activity

Foreign institutional investors bought shares worth ₹683 crore on Friday while domestic institutional investors sold stocks worth ₹4,721 crore, as per NSE data.

The FIIs have so far this month sold shares worth ₹43,419 crore, data from National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) showed.

Stocks to watch

The bank's net profit in the fourth quarter of financial year 2025-26 (Q4FY26) was supported by lower provisioning for bad loans. Its provisions declined 18% annually to ₹2,610 crore as against ₹3,193 crore.

The Mumbai-based lender's net interest income or the difference between interest earned on loans and expended on deposits rose 3.2% to ₹33,082 crore from ₹32,066 crore in the year ago period.

ICICI Bank’s net interest income (NII) for the fourth quarter rose by 1.99% to ₹43,275 crore, compared year-on-year (YoY) with ₹42,430 crore in the same period a year earlier.

In its press release, the PIB said that the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, on Saturday, April 18, approved the continuation of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana-III (PMGSY-III) beyond March 2025, up to March 2028.

It involves consolidation of through routes and major rural links connecting habitations to Gramin Agricultural Markets (GRAMs), higher secondary schools, and hospitals.

Trade setup

On the short-term charts, the index defended the hourly 20 EMA for eight consecutive sessions, indicating the robust relative strength of the index. On the daily charts, the index defended the 50 EMA at 24,196, which now becomes the crucial support in the near term. On the upside, the 200 EMA level of 24,830 remains the crucial resistance for the index.

The latest open interest data for tomorrow’s expiry suggest heavy open interest concentration on the downside from 23,900 to 24,300. On the other hand, 24,800 calls hold the highest open interest, indicating a strong resistance for tomorrow’s expiry.