“Crude oil prices seen easing on Monday with WTI November futures trade $86/b as the large-scale ground assault has not begun after the 24-hour deadline that Israel first notified residents of the northern half of Gaza to flee to the south. Outlook: we expect Chinese economy to stabilize in coming months that is a big positive for overall demand for industrial commodities. In short term prices could vary in either direction but given the resilient US economy and supply tightness by OPEC+ we expect crude oil to remain buy on dip counter. Crude oil prices are likely to trade in the range of $83-$88,” said Mohammed Imran, Research Analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.

Tata Motors, HDFC BAank, GSFC, MMTC and Fertilisers & Chemicals Travancore are among the most active stocks on the NSE during the intra-day trade on Monday.

The share price of Reliance Industries slipped marginally 0.03% to 2,348.55 during the intra-day trade on Monday.

India's wholesale price index (INWPI=ECI) in September fell 0.26% from a year earlier, according to government data released on Monday, reported Reuters. Economists polled by Reuters had estimated the wholesale price index for September would rise 0.5%. It fell 0.52% in August.

Federal Bank on Monday posted a profit of Rs 1,000.16 crore for the quarter ended September 2023, up 35% in comparison to Rs 740.91 crore during the same quarter last year, surpassing estimates. It posted total interest earned during the second quarter of FY24 at Rs 5,791.28 crore, up 36% as against Rs 4,258.93 crore during the second quarter of the previous year. 

The Nifty Metal Index surged 1.30% to 6,891 during the intra-day trade on Monday. NMDC and Hindustan Copper led the gains and added 3.03% and 1.97%, respectively.

“Ideal buy on dip sectors are capital goods, automobiles and financials. Capital goods and automobiles are in a cyclical uptrend and the cycle will last for a few years. There is robust demand for capital goods and the automobiles sector will benefit from demand recovery plus margin improvement arising from fall in commodity prices. Financials, particularly banking, are doing well and valuations are lower than historical averages,” said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Revenue of Indian corporates is expected to grow by 8-10% during the quarter ended September 2023, marking the first such improvement in the pace of growth after four quarters, according to a report by CRISIL. Revenue was up sequentially, too, by an estimated 150-200 basis points (bps), it said. CRISIL analysed more than 300 companies, excluding financial services and oil and gas sectors, to reach this conclusion. Of the 47 sectors CRISIL MI&A Research tracks, nine, accounting for more than 70% of overall revenue, saw a pick-up in on-year growth.

HCL Tech, LTIMindtree, ONGC, Coal India and Hero MotoCorp are among the top gainers on the NSE during the intra-day trade on Monday.

Nestle India, Divi's Labs, Grasim Industries, Asian Paints, and IndusInd Bank are among the top losers on the NSE during the intra-day trade on Monday.

“COMEX Gold prices saw a weekly gain of more than 3% and closed at $1941.5 per troy ounce during the previous week, as dovish comments from Fed officials coupled with heightened geo-political tensions proved to be the perfect bullish cocktail for the yellow metal. US CPI data showed that the headline inflation rose 0.4% m/m (3.7% y/y and slightly higher than expectations), while core inflation rose 0.3% m/m (4.1% y/y as expected) in September. Meanwhile, September FOMC minutes were also less hawkish than expected. US and allies are focusing on negotiations and any de-escalation might weigh down on prices,” said Ravindra Rao, CMT, EPAT, VP-Head Commodity Research, Kotak Securities.

“Nifty weekly contract has highest open interest at 19,800 for Calls and 19,700 for Puts while monthly contracts have highest open interest at 20,000 for Calls and 19,500 for Puts. Highest new OI addition was seen at 19,700 for Calls and 19,700 for Puts in weekly and at 19,700 for Calls and 19,700 for Puts in monthly contracts. FIIs increased their future index long position holdings by 2.79%, increased future index shorts by 9.98% and in index options by 23.13% in Call longs, 30.07% in Call short, 68.58% in Put longs and 46.68% in Put shorts, ” said Anand James, Chief Market Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

The NSE Nifty 50 opened at 19,737.25, down marginally 0.06%, while the BSE Sensex opened at 66,238.15, down 44.50 points.

“Israel's warning to Gaza Palestinians to evacuate North Gaza strip within 24 hours as it aimed to launch an all-out offensive against Hamas heightened the geopolitical tensions that led the investors pile up into safe haven assets like bullions and US treasuries. The metal closed with a huge gain of 3.32% at $1932 Friday, which was its best single day performance in almost seven months. The metal recorded a gain of $100 on the week as the ten-year US yields were down nearly 4% to 4.61%. A furious short covering and massive short squeeze above the key psychological resistance at $1900 contributed to its parabolic rise. Today, gold is slightly lower as Israel's ground offensive is yet to begin. The US warns Iran against escalating the war as the US president Biden considers a trip to Israel. There is a strong resistance at $1950 followed by $1965. Support is at $1920/$1900,” said Praveen Singh – Associate VP, Fundamental Currencies and Commodities, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.

“Crude oil prices surged by approximately 6.0% after Israel announced the evacuation of civilians from the northern Gaza Strip last week. Israeli forces are prepared to enter Gaza, raising concerns of an escalation in the conflict between Israel and Hamas, which in turn impacted crude oil prices. Crude oil prices experienced an upswing following statements made by Iran in support of Palestine. Iran's Oil Minister, Javad Owji, mentioned on Friday that oil prices could potentially reach $100 per barrel due to the current situation in the Middle East. However, the strength of the dollar index, rising US stock markets, subdued US consumer sentiment, and a 6.2% decrease in Chinese exports in September may act as limiting factors for crude oil gains. It is anticipated that crude oil prices will remain volatile during today's trading session. Crude oil finds support levels at $85.20–84.40 and resistance at $86.80–87.50 for today's session. In terms of INR, crude oil has support at Rs 7,200-7,080, with resistance at Rs 7,290–7,350.”

– Rahul Kalantri, VP Commodities, Mehta Equities.

“In this dynamic financial market, all eyes are on HDFC Bank's Q2 results, which are eagerly anticipated as they report merged figures for the first time. Expectations are for moderated margins and a potential 40-45% YoY profit increase. Nifty (19,751) is the center of attention with a suggested strategy to sell at the current market price (CMP), placing a stop at 19.987, and targeting 19,649 – 19,507 or even more aggressively at 19,333. The financial landscape remains uncertain due to geopolitical tensions potentially impacting Nifty. Technically, Nifty's strength lies above 19,889, with crucial support at 19,507. Market volatility persists until the Fed addresses inflation concerns. Keep an eye on October 19 when Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is scheduled to speak, introducing more uncertainty into the market,” said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities.

Adani Enterprise, Tata Motors, Infosys, HDFC Bank, Ksolves India and Delta Corp are among the top stocks to watch during Monday's trading session.

The NSE has added SAIL, Balrampur Chini Mills, Indiabulls Housing Finance, India Cements, L&T Finance Holdings, BHEL, Delta Corp, Hindustan Copper, Manappuram Finance, Punjab National Bank, and Sun TV Network to its F&O ban list for October 16, 2023.

Foreign institutional investors (FII) purchased shares worth net Rs 317.01 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DII) sold shares worth net Rs 102.88 crore on October 13, 2023, according to the provisional data available on the NSE.

WTI crude prices are trading at $87.43, down 0.36%, while Brent crude prices are trading at $90.68, down 0.23%, on Monday morning.

Wall Street’s major indexes ended broadly in the negative territory on Friday as Investors monitored news from the Middle East. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite plunged 166.99 points, or 1.23%, to 13,407.23. The S&P 500 fell 21.83 points, or 0.50%, at 4,327.78, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 39.15 points, or 0.12%, to 33,670.29.