NIFTY50, SENSEX today: Wall Street cues, FII activity, key things to know before markets open on July 15

The Indian equity benchmarks are set to stage a flat opening on Wednesday, July 15, as indicated by GIFT NIFTY futures. NIFTY futures at GIFT City in Gandhinagar advanced 20 points to 24,044 amid positive cues from Asian markets.

The Indian equity benchmarks snapped their three-day winning streak on Tuesday, July 14, as investor sentiment turned cautious tracking a surge in crude oil after US Central Command (CENTCOM) said that its forces will resume blockading maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports on July 14.

The SENSEX fell as much as 615 points and NIFTY50 index touched an intraday low of 24,024 dragged down by losses in the index heavyweights like HDFC Bank, State Bank of India, Larsen & Toubro, Mahindra & Mahindra, HCL Technologies and Kotak Mahindra Bank.

The SENSEX ended 561 points lower at 77,055 and NIFTY50 index dropped 159 points to close at 24,052.

Asian markets

Asian markets were trading higher on Wednesday powered by a rally in chip makers led by South Korean chip maker SK Hynix. Japan's Nikkei rose 1%, South Korea's KOSPI index jumped 7% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 1.6%.

Wall Street update

US stocks ended higher on Tuesday after a report showed U.S. inflation was not as bad last month as economists expected, news agency AP reported.

Dow Jones Industrial Average ended on a flat note, tech heavy Nasdaq gained 0.9% and S&P 500 index closed 0.4% higher.

FII/DII activity

Foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth ₹739.69 crore on Tuesday while domestic institutional investors bought stocks worth ₹2,927.71 crore, as per NSE data.

FIIs have so far this year sold shares worth ₹2,58,479 crore, data from National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) showed.

Trade setup

The NIFTY50 snapped its three-day winning streak on Tuesday as the index fell over 0.6%. The index opened below the hourly 20-day and 50-day EMAs and continued to trade below it throughout the session, indicating a sell-on-rise sentiment adopted by the investors.

However, on the daily charts, the index defended the crucial support of the 20-day EMA near the 24,000 zone. The index made an inverted hammer candlestick pattern, suggesting a bearish outlook on Wednesday, unless it closes above Tuesday's swing high level of 24,150.

The initial buildup for the coming weekly expiry indicates a narrow range of trade for NIFTY50 on Wednesday. The 24,100 calls hold the highest open interest, indicating near-term resistance. While the 24,000 puts hold the highest open interest, suggesting a strong support.