Will Nifty trade above 21,700 levels or fall ahead? See GIFT Nifty, FII data, F&O ban, crude, more before market opens

financialexpress.com:

GIFT Nifty indicated that Indian equity indices BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 may see a positive opening on Friday. Here is all you need to know before the market opens.

GIFT Nifty traded up by 21 points or 0.10% at 21,715. indicating a positive opening for domestic indices NSE Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex on Friday. Previously, on Thursday, the NSE Nifty 50 gained 28.50 points or 0.13% to settle at 21,647.20, while the BSE Sensex ended higher by 63.47 points or 0.09% to 71,721.18.

“Markets traded dull and settled almost unchanged, in continuation to the prevailing consolidation phase.  After the initial uptick, Nifty slipped gradually lower however recovery in the select index majors pared the losses in the final hour. Consequently, Nifty closed at 21647.20 levels; up by 0.13%.  A mixed trend continued on the sectoral front wherein energy and auto performed well while media and realty closed with modest cuts,” Ajit Mishra, SVP – Technical Research, Religare Broking Ltd.

Mishra also added that, Nifty has been hovering in a range for almost two weeks now and a mixed trend in index majors is not offering any clear signal over the next directional move. We feel participants should prefer hedged positions, with the beginning of the earnings season and wait for clarity. 

Wall Street saw a volatile session, with stocks down and bonds whipsawing after hotter-than-anticipated inflation data tempered bets on a Federal Reserve rate cut in March, Bloomberg reported. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped 17.11 points or 0.11% at 14,952.54. The S&P 500 diped by 2.93 points or 0.06% at 4,780.52, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended flat.

The US Dollar Index (DXY), which measures the value of the dollar against a basket of six