NIFTY50, SENSEX today: Wall Street cues, FII activity, key things to know before markets open on January 9

The Indian equity benchmarks are set to open higher on Friday, January 9, as indicated by GIFT NIFTY futures. NIFTY futures at GIFT City in Ahmedabad advanced 17 points to 26,003 amid positive cues from Asian markets.

The Indian equity benchmarks dropped for a third straight session on Thursday, January 8, with NIFTY50 index posting its worst day since August 26, 2025 and SENSEX posting its biggest single day loss since March 26, 2025.

Investor sentiment was shaken after reports suggested that United States President Donald Trump backed a sanctions bill that could impose 500% tariffs on countries buying Russian oil, giving the White House leverage against countries like China and India to stop them from purchasing cheap oil from Moscow, news agency Press Trust of India (PTI) reported.

Asian markets

Asian markets were trading higher on Friday tracking as Japan's Nikkei advanced 1.2%, China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.32%, South Korea's KOSPI gained 0.6% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.11%.

Wall street update

US benchmark indices ended mixed on Thursday with Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 0.55%, S&P500 gained 0.01% and tech heavy Nasdaq slipped 0.44%.

The majority of stocks climbed as yields ticked higher in the bond market following mixed reports on the US economy.

The number of US workers applying for unemployment benefits rose last week, a potential indicator of increasing layoffs, but by no more than economists expected. Other reports said US workers improved their productivity by more in the summer than economists expected, while the US trade deficit unexpectedly shrank in October, news agency AP reported.

FII/DII activity

Foreign institutional investors sold shares worth ₹3,367 crore on Thursday while domestic institutional investors bought shares worth ₹3,701 crore, data from the National Stock Exchange showed.

The FIIs have so far this month sold shares worth ₹8,080 crore, according to the data from National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL).

Stocks to watch

Peanutbutter and Jelly Pvt Ltd owns the health-focused 'Get-A-Way' brand, which produces high-protein, no-added-sugar ice creams and desserts.

"Sky Gate Hospitality, a subsidiary company, had executed a Share Purchase Agreement with Heritage Foods for the sale of its entire 51% equity stake held in Peanutbutter and Jelly, a subsidiary of Sky Gate and a step-down subsidiary of the company," said a regulatory filing from Devyani International Ltd (DIL).

Order intake for the quarter was ₹701 crore, and "our order book as of December 31, 2025, stood at ₹1,372 crore. The strong order book, combined with a healthy outlook for order inflow across both domestic and overseas markets, provides good visibility and confidence going forward," the company said.

The size of the order is around ₹5,400 crore, excluding GST.

The company added that the commercial order has been reduced from ₹1,252.43 crore to ₹1,039.60 crore (excluding taxes), resulting in a reduction of ₹1,212.83 crore.

The IEX petition, according to reports, claims that the CERC order is arbitrary and violates the principles of natural justice. It claims that the coupling order will only lead to the loss of market share without any conceivable benefits.

Trade setup

On the technical front, the NIFTY50 closed below the crucial 20 SMA levels of 26,062 on the daily charts. Additionally, the index closed below the crucial support trendline of lower lows, adding to the bearish sentiment. The medium-term weekly charts indicate 25,700 as the next support for the NIFTY50.

On the options data front, the 26,200 calls witnessed heavy open interest addition, indicating a strong resistance for the index for the current weekly expiry. On the other hand, the 25,500 puts hold the highest open interest, indicating the next support for the index.