Pre Session- Gap up opening seen for Sensex on global rebound

Indian equity benchmarks are poised to witness a positive opening on Friday tracking a bullish trend in markets across Asia and overnight gains at Wall Street as prospects of central bank stimulus from Japan to the Euro area and a rally in oil prices bolstered the appetite for risky assets. Strength in the CNX Nifty Index futures for January delivery which advanced by 0.79 per cent or 58 points at 7,364 at 10:20 am Singapore time also signals that Dalal Street may open higher today. Speculation is rife that the Bank of Japan is set to consider more easing measures while European Central Bank (ECB) chief Mario Draghi on Thursday hinted that he may bolster stimulus as early as March as a commodity slump rekindles the threat of deflation in the Euro area economy. Further monetary easing measures in developed economies may support the global economic recovery and help tackle the threat of disinflation. Back home, traders will eye the December quarter earnings from Cairn India, ITC, Reliance Communication and SpiceJet to be unveiled today. Shares of telecom operator Idea Cellular may see some selling pressure today after the company on Thursday in after-market hours announced Q3 earnings that missed analysts’ estimates. India's third largest wireless operator posted a marginal dip in third quarter consolidated net income at Rs 764.21 crore, year on year on high spectrum costs. Marking a second straight drop, the 30-share Sensex on Thursday shed 99.83 points or 0.41 per cent to end at the lowest level in over 20 months at 23,962.21 as weakness in Asian shares, a continued oil rout and rupee depreciation pulled down the benchmark from the 24 K mark.

Asian stocks soared on Friday as traders cheered speculation of a central bank stimulus boost in Japan while the ECB also hinted at further monetary easing as soon as March as policymakers step up efforts to combat depressed inflation amidst a rout in oil prices. China’s Shanghai Composite advanced led by a rally in energy producers amidst a rebound in oil prices which were back towards the USD 30 per barrel mark, while officials indicated they will curb industrial overcapacity which is dragging down economic growth. Hang Seng soared over 2 per cent while Japan’s Nikkei 225 rallied over 3 per cent as a weaker yen bolstered the lure for exporter stocks, and as speculation grew that the Bank of Japan will step up stimulus. Wall Street ended on a bullish note on Friday as speculation rose that China and Europe could boost stimulus if needed, while oil prices witnessed a rebound. The ECB, which kept key interest rates unchanged at record lows, vowed to take policy action in March when it will consider expanding monetary stimulus. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.74 per cent; the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.01 per cent while S&P 500 closed up 0.52 per cent.

Top traded Volumes on NSE Nifty – State Bank of India 28697205.00, Axis Bank Ltd. 28200956.00, Vedanta Ltd. 23015169.00, Tata Motors Ltd. 16524035.00 and ICICI Bank Ltd. 14241694.00.

On BSE, total number of shares traded was 28.06 Crore and total turnover stood at Rs. 3007.26 Crore.

On NSE Future and Options, total number of contracts traded in index futures was 481383 with a total turnover of Rs. 24631.88 Crore. Along with this total number of contracts traded in stock futures were 728293 with a total turnover of Rs. 32694.57 Crore. Total numbers of contracts for index options were 5943386 with a total turnover of Rs. 321724.80 Crore and total numbers of contracts for stock options were 424136 with a total turnover of Rs. 19919.44 Crore.

The FIIs on 21/01/2016 stood as net seller in equity and debt. Gross equity purchased stood at Rs. 3888.71 Crore and gross debt purchased stood at Rs. 463.64 Crore, while the gross equity sold stood at Rs. 5084.56 Crore and gross debt sold stood at Rs. 698.31 Crore. Therefore, the net investment of equity and debt reported were Rs. -1195.85 Crore and Rs. -234.67 Crore.