GIFT Nifty Futures, Share Market News: Domestic equity benchmarks are set to start Thursday's session on a negative note amid sustained selling by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) and mixed global cues. GIFT Nifty futures, an early indicator of the headline Nifty 50 index, were seen trading 100.1 points, or 0.4 per cent, lower at 24,271 around 8:20 am, suggesting a weak start for the market. Thursday marks the last trading session of the October futures & options (F&O) series as well as Samvat 2080, the year that began on Diwali last year. 

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Thursday's session will be followed by a special, one-hour-long trading session, popularly known as the Muhurat trading session, starting at 6 pm following a 15-minute pre-market session on November 1. 

On Wednesday, the Sensex and Nifty50 halted a two-day winning run amid selling pressure in financial and IT shares though buying interest in FMCG and energy stocks lent some support. Both headline indices finished half a per cent lower. The Sensex shed 426.9 points to end at 79,942.2 and the Nifty at 24,340.9, down 126 points from its previous close.

Investors and analysts await more corporate earnings reports from India Inc for domestic cues. 

Meanwhile, here are 5 things to know about the market this morning: 

Asia: Equities in other major Asian markets staged mixed moves before the opening bell on Dalal Street, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan trading 0.1 per cent higher at the last count. Japan's Nikkei 225 was down 0.4 per cent and South Korea's KOSPI down 0.7 per cent, while China's Shanghai Composite was up 0.6 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng up 0.5 per cent. Singapore's Straits Times was unavailable for trade due to a holiday.

Wall Street: Overnight on Wall Street, the US equity benchmarks fell amid weakness in semiconductor chip-related stocks as investors awaited corporate earnings reports of tech giants such as Microsoft and Meta. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2 per cent, the S&P 500 dropped 0.3 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.6 per cent.

FII Outflows: Sustained offloading of Indian shares by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continues to dampen the sentiment on Dalal Street. On Wednesday, FIIs net sold equities worth Rs 4,613.7 crore while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) made net purchases of Rs 4,518.3 crore, according to provisional exchange data. FIIs are on track to exit October with more than Rs 1 lakh crore in net outflows, according to the data. 

Lukewarm Results: It has been an overall mixed earnings season for India Inc so far, with more than 1,000 companies having reported their financial results for the July-September period. As of October 30, four in every 10 listed companies on Dalal Street had registered a contraction in revenue.

Crude Oil: Oil benchmarks began Thursday on a higher note after data showing US petrol stockpiles declined in the week ended October 25, with Brent futures and WTI futures down 0.5 per cent each at $72.9 a barrel and $68.9 a barrel respectively. Still, lower crude oil prices are positive for India which meets more than four-fifth of its annual oil demand through imports. 

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