NIFTY50, SENSEX today: Wall Street cues, FII activity, key things to know before markets open on June 18

The Indian equity benchmarks are set to open lower on Thursday, June 18, as indicated by GIFT NIFTY futures. NIFTY futures at GIFT City in Ahmedabad declined 30 points or 0.12% to 24,064 amid mixed cues from Asian markets.

The Indian equity benchmarks rose for a fourth straight session on Wednesday as market sentiment remained upbeat tracking fall in crude prices in international markets and strengthening rupee against the US dollar.

The SENSEX ended 347 points or 0.45% higher at 77,156 and NIFTY50 index advanced 97 points to close at 24,086.

Asian markets

Asian markets were trading on a mixed note taking cues from weak closing of US markets as investors dumped stocks on expectations of a rate hike to contain inflation going ahead.

Japan's Nikkei rose 1.72%, China's Shanghai Composite declined 0.11%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.1.45% and South Korea's KOSPI rose 0.6%.

Wall Street update

US stocks ended sharply lower on Wednesday after US Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged in range of 3.5% to 3.75%. Market participants anticipated rate hikes going ahead to contain inflation as higher energy prices pushed inflation above 4%.

Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.98%, S&P 500 index declined 1.21% and tech heavy Nasdaq dropped 1.34%.

Crude oil update

India-UK trade pact update

After resolving a steel issue, India and the UK on Wednesday announced that the free trade agreement will come into force on July 15, a move which is expected to help double two-way commerce to $100 billion by 2030.

The two countries will also implement the Agreement on Social Security or the Double Contribution Convention (DCC) on the same day.

Under this, Indian companies operating in the UK would not have to make social security contributions for up to five years for employees they move from India to support their operations.

"The period of exemption under DCC has been increased from 3 years to 5 years, thereby marking a major gain for India’s temporary workers," the commerce ministry said in a statement.

It said that following the successful completion of internal procedures and ratifications by both governments, the agreements will formally enter into force on July 15, 2026.

FII/DII activity

Foreign institutional investors (FII) bought shares worth ₹101.59 crore on Wednesday while domestic institutional investors bought stocks worth ₹1,561 crore, as per NSE data.

FIIs have so far this year sold shares worth ₹2,84,482 crore, data from National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) showed.

Stocks to watch

The filing marks a major milestone for NSE, whose listing plans had been stalled for nearly a decade due to regulatory hurdles, including the co-location controversy.

A telecom veteran with about 30 years of experience, Vatts joined Airtel in April 2020 as the chief regulatory officer.

"Bharti Airtel has expanded the responsibilities of Rahul Vatts, appointing him as Director — Corporate Affairs and Group Chief Regulatory Officer," the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

It also said the margins of tractor manufacturers are likely to remain healthy, aided by operating leverage and stable raw material costs.

According to ICRA Tractor demand remained strong in May with the wholesale volumes rising sharply by 19.3% year-on-year, while retail volumes increased by 13.6% YoY during the previous month, driven by a low base effect, steady farm cash flows and improved affordability following the GST rate cut.

In his message to shareholders in the latest annual report, Chairman Sridhar Gorthi said the battery maker's investment in wholly-owned subsidiary Exide Energy Solutions Ltd (EESL) should be viewed as a long-term strategic move to build domestic lithium-ion manufacturing capability.

"Lead-acid technologies will remain relevant across several established and critical use cases, while lithium-ion technologies are expected to gain share in mobility and energy storage segments where their performance characteristics are best suited," he said.