NIFTY50, SENSEX today: Wall Street cues, FII activity, key things to know before markets open on October 30

The Indian equity markets are set to open lower on Thursday, October 30, as indicated by GIFT NIFTY futures. NIFTY futures at GIFT City in Ahmedabad declined 60 points or 0.23% to 26,195 despite firm cues from other Asian markets. In Wednesday's session, National Stock Exchange benchmark NIFTY50 index ended above 26,000 level for the first time in over a year. Last time the index closed above 26,000 mark was on September 27, 2024, data from NSE showed.

The NIFTY50 index rose as much as 162 points to hit an intraday high of 26,097.85 and the 30-share SENSEX surged as much as 478 points to hit an intraday high of 85,105.83 led by gains in index heavyweights like Reliance industries, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, NTPC, State Bank of India and HCL Technologies.

Asian markets

Most of the Asian markets were trading higher on Thursday after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates and as investors waited to see if US and Chinese leaders could reach out a trade deal.

Trump is due to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea later today. US negotiators have signalled they seek a return to a fragile trade war truce, but tensions remain high and longer-term economic irritants will likely persist between the geopolitical rivals, news agency Reuters reported.

Japan's Nikkei rose 0.12%, Singapore's Straits Times fell 0.21%, Hing Kong's Hang Seng advanced 0.64% and South Korea's KOSPI rose 0.87%.

Wall Street update

Overnight US stocks ended on a mixed note as Dow Jones ended 0.16% lower, S&P500 ended unchanged while Nasdaq advanced 0.55% after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell dampened expectations for another interest rate cut by the central bank in December.

The Fed on Wednesday cut rates by 25 basis points, noting the limited data visibility due to the current US government shutdown, and said it is ending the drawdown of its $6.6 trillion balance sheet, also known as quantitative tightening (QT) amid evidence that money market liquidity conditions have begun tightening and bank reserve levels are dropping, Reuters reported.

FII/DII activity

Foreign institutional investors sold shares worth ₹2,540 crore on Wednesday while domestic institutional investors bought shares worth ₹5,693 crore, data from the National Stock Exchange showed.

The FIIs have so far this month bought shares worth ₹17,943 crore and for the calendar year they have been net sellers to the tune of ₹1,36,577 crore, according to the data from National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL).

Stocks to watch

Trade setup

On the technical front, the index now trades near the crucial resistance of 26,053, before hitting the previous record high levels of 26,277. The 21 EMA level stands at 25,530, which is the medium-term support for the index.

On the options data front, the 26,500 calls now hold the highest open interest on the upside, indicating next resistance at these levels for NIFTY50. Similarly, on the downside, the 26,000 puts witnessed heavy open interest addition and held the highest open interest, indicating a strong near-term support for the index.