NIFTY50, SENSEX today: Wall Street cues, FII activity, key things to know before markets open on July 14

The Indian equity benchmarks are set to stage a gap down opening on Tuesday, July 14, as indicated by GIFT NIFTY futures. NIFTY futures at GIFT City in Gandhinagar dropped 182 points to 24,064 amid negative cues from Asian markets.

The Indian equity benchmarks reversed early losses and ended higher for a third straight session on Monday, July 13, powered by gains in information technology heavyweights like Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services and HCL Technologies.

The SENSEX rose as much as 932 points from the day's lowest level and NIFTY50 index touched an intraday high of 24,260 after hitting a low of 24,000 earlier in the session.

The SENSEX ended 47 points higher at 77,616 and NIFTY50 index advanced 4 points to close at 24,211.

Asian markets

Asian markets were trading lower tracking sharp jump in crude prices amid simmering tensions between United States and Iran. Japan's Nikkei fell 0.53%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 0.66%, China's Shanghai Composite declined 0.47% and South Korea's Kospi tumbled 1.9%.

US Iran war update

Tensions between US and Iran escalated further sending crude oil northbound after US Central Command (CENTCOM) said that its forces will resume blockading maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports on July 14.

CENTCOM forces will enforce the blockade against vessels transiting to or from Iranian ports and coastal areas. The US military continues to support traffic flow through regional waters for all vessels not violating the blockade.

The resumption of the US blockade against Iran follows the initial implementation from April 13 to June 18. CENTCOM forces redirected more than 140 compliant vessels, disabled nine non-compliant ships, and allowed over 50 commercial vessels supporting humanitarian aid to pass through the blockade during the two-month period.

Crude oil update

Following rising tensions between US and Iran and a closure of Strait of Hormuz, Brent Crude futures surged past $85 per barrel.

Brent Crude futures rose as much as 2..83% to hit an intraday high of $85.66 per barrel.

FII/DII activity

Foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth ₹3,062.27 crore on Monday while domestic institutional investors bought stocks worth ₹2,171.70 crore, as per NSE data.

FIIs have so far this year sold shares worth ₹2,55,958 crore, data from National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) showed.

Wall Street update

US stocks ended lower on Monday tracking a surge in oil process and e selloff in AI stocks.

Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.26%, S&P 500 index declined 0.8% and tech heavy Nasdaq dropped 1.55%.

Trade setup

The NIFTY50 closed flat on Monday, after bouncing back over 200 points from the intraday low. The index successfully defended the crucial resistance level of 24,200. The index also managed to close above the 20-day and 50-day EMAs on an hourly basis, sustaining the short-term momentum in the index.

On the daily charts, the index made a bullish engulfing candlestick pattern, enveloping Friday’s gains. Despite a gap-down opening, the index closed in green, which indicates buying pressure near 24,000 levels.

After Monday’s bounce back from lower levels, the 24,000 puts witnessed strong open interest addition and held the highest open interest, indicating 24,000 as a crucial support level for today’s expiry trade. Similarly, on the upside, 24,500 calls hold the highest open interest, indicating a strong resistance for NIFTY50 on Tuesday.