GIFT Nifty points to a 134-point gap-up as Kospi slides and SBI results loom

Indian shares look set for a firmer start on Tuesday. GIFT Nifty futures traded at 23,537 shortly before 8 am, up 134 points or 0.57%, pointing to an opening above the Nifty’s Monday close of 23,440.80 when trading begins at 9:15 am.

That would extend Monday’s rally, when the Sensex jumped 1,233.25 points to 75,692.78 and the Nifty gained 387.70 points. Reliance Industries did most of the lifting, rising 11.6%, its biggest one-day gain since April 2020, after a 40.6% jump in quarterly profit to ₹25,548 crore.

Asia turns red

The rest of Asia is in a gloomier mood. Seoul’s Kospi fell as much as 3.8% in morning trade as selling in chip stocks, driven by worries over heavy spending on artificial intelligence, returned a day after the index rose 2.24%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng edged up 0.3% and Australian shares were slightly higher. Tokyo is closed for a public holiday.

Overnight, Wall Street was split. The Dow closed 213.67 points higher at 51,983.98, while the Nasdaq fell 1.07% to 25,164.32 as semiconductor shares slumped. Apple slipped about 3% in after-hours trade after forecasting lower gross margins for the holiday quarter because of rising memory-chip costs. Weakness in US technology shares may weigh on Indian IT companies.

Oil is steadier after Monday’s 7% plunge. Brent for January was at $104.41 a barrel, up 0.12%, after reports that the United States had struck Iran’s Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz. Gold was near $3,950 an ounce and the US 10-year Treasury yield was about 4.91%.

Results and listings

About 80 companies report September-quarter results on Tuesday, among them State Bank of India, the National Stock Exchange, Bajaj Finserv, MCX, Lupin and Mahanagar Gas. SFC Environmental Technologies and BLS Polymers make their market debut.

Further afield, Australia’s central bank announces its rate decision on Tuesday, and Americans vote in the midterm elections, with results due only after the Indian session has ended.