Pre Session- Sensex may open higher amid global rebound

Indian equity benchmarks may witness a positive opening on Thursday as oil’s rebound to above the USD 32 per barrel mark fueled a resurgence in stocks across Asia and the US, renewing risk taking appetite. A positive trend across most Asian equities, coupled with strength in the CNX Nifty Index futures for February delivery which advanced by 0.97 per cent or 72.5 points at 7,442 at 10:24 am Singapore time, indicates that the three-day gloom at Dalal Street might have been overdone and local bourses may witness a gap up opening today. This week’s manufacturing and services data releases have delivered an upbeat prognosis on the health of Asia’s third biggest economy. While manufacturing returned into positive terrain, services growth hit the highest level in 19 months as the PMI rose to 54.3 in January from 53.6 in December, with a reading above 50 signaling expansion. Signs of a pickup in the Indian economy even amidst heightened global economic uncertainty should support investor sentiment. Shares of ABB India, Tata Steel, Bajaj Auto and JK Lakshmi Cement will be in focus today as these companies unveil their December quarter earnings numbers. Marking a three-day rout, the 30-share Sensex on Wednesday tumbled by 315.68 points or by 1.29 per cent to end at 24,223.32, as a global sell-off, a continued slide in oil prices and a weak rupee which plunged below the 68 mark against the dollar, soured sentiment.

Most Asian stocks rallied as weakness in the dollar helped spur a rebound in crude oil prices, bolstering the lure for risky assets. Oil returned to USD 32 per barrel amid speculation that OPEC and other major oil producing nations have reached an agreement to hold an emergency meeting to combat the ongoing market volatility. China’s Shanghai Composite soared by over 1.5 per cent led by gains in commodity producers and as the central bank pumped in 80 billion yuan into the banking system via reverse repurchase agreements to address a cash shortage before the start of the Lunar New Year holidays. Policymakers set a range for the country’s economic growth for the first time in two decades predicting China’s economy to expand by 6.5 -7 per cent in 2016, weaker than last year’s goal of about 7 per cent. Hang Seng also soared by more than 1.5 per cent but Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell as a stronger yen eroded the appeal of exporter stocks. Bullish sentiment returned to Wall Street on Wednesday as most benchmarks closed higher driven by gains in commodity producers and a renewed rally in oil. Traders cast aside mixed US economic data which showed that services in the world’s biggest economy expanded at the weakest pace in two years in January but private payrolls growth stood solid. While the American private sector added 205,000 workers in January, compared to 267,000 in December, the US services gauge fell to the lowest level since February 2014 at 53.5 in January 2016 from 55.8 in December 2015. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 1.13 per cent; the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.28 per cent while S&P 500 rallied 0.50 per cent.

Top traded Volumes on NSE Nifty – Vedanta Ltd. 24379236.00, State Bank of India 24132003.00, ICICI Bank Ltd. 21447535.00, Axis Bank Ltd. 10077279.00 and Tata Steel Ltd. 7791522.00.

On BSE, total number of shares traded was 31.04 Crore and total turnover stood at Rs. 2708.89 Crore

On NSE Future and Options, total number of contracts traded in index futures was 300456 with a total turnover of Rs. 15302.19 Crore. Along with this total number of contracts traded in stock futures were 578575 with a total turnover of Rs. 25719.63 Crore. Total numbers of contracts for index options were 2924045 with a total turnover of Rs. 159814.42 Crore and total numbers of contracts for stock options were 323703 with a total turnover of Rs. 14885.73 Crore.

The FIIs on 03/02/2016 stood as net seller in equity and net buyer in debt. Gross equity purchased stood at Rs. 4102.32 Crore and gross debt purchased stood at Rs. 1255.17 Crore, while the gross equity sold stood at Rs. 4168.29 Crore and gross debt sold stood at Rs. 1158.84 Crore. Therefore, the net investment of equity and debt reported were Rs. -65.97 Crore and Rs. 96.33 Crore.