SGX Nifty up 5 points; here's what changed for market while you were sleeping

Equity markets took comfort from the Reserve Bank of India's smaller rate hike, which was in line with market expectations. Benchmark Sensex on Wednesday rebounded 377 points while Nifty closed above the 17,850 level on buying in IT, financial and oil stocks.

Option data suggests a broader trading range in between 17400 to 18200 zones while an immediate trading range in between 17700 to 18050 zones.

Here's breaking down the pre-market actions:

STATE OF THE MARKETS

SGX Nifty signals a flat start
Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange traded 3 points, or 0.01 per cent, higher at 17,893, signaling that Dalal Street was headed for a muted start on Thursday.

• Tech View: On the daily scale, the Nifty index is trading within the falling channel pattern and is hovering near its 9 & 21 EMA, which is placed at 17,785 & 17,868 levels respectively. Nifty is still moving within the big budget day candle from the past five trading sessions. Technically, Nifty is gathering momentum, reviving bullish hopes, for a test of near-term resistance at 18,000 levels. On the lower side, immediate support for the prices is placed at 17,650 levels.
• India VIX: India VIX, which is a measure of the fear in the markets, moved down 3.84% to settle at 13.57 levels

US stocks dip
U.S. stocks ended down on Wednesday, paring most of the previous session's strong gains, with tech-focused shares leading the way lower.

• Dow down 0.6%,
• S&P 500 dips 1.1%,
• Nasdaq falls 1.7%

Asian shares fall
Asian shares tracked Wall Street lower on Thursday, as a number of Federal Reserve speakers echoed Chair Jerome Powell in saying that interest rates are set to go higher, capping risk sentiment, while the dollar hovered near one-month highs.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slid 0.3%. Japan's Nikkei also fell 0.3%.

• S&P 500 futures rose 0.1% as of 9:13 a.m. Tokyo time. The S&P 500 fell 1.1%
• Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.2%. The Nasdaq 100 fell 1.8%
• Japan’s Topix index fell 0.4%
• South Korea’s Kospi index fell 0.6%
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 0.3%
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng futures fell 0.5%

Dollar flat
The U.S. dollar was little changed on Thursday as investors looked ahead to next week's U.S. inflation data and digested comments from a slew of Federal Reserve officials who said modest interest rate rises were on the way.

FII/DII action
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have net sold shares worth Rs 736 crore on Monday, provisional data showed. DIIs on the other hand, net bought shares to the tune of Rs 941 crore.

Stocks in F&O ban today

1) Ambuja Cements

2) Indiabulls Housing Finance

Securities in the ban period under the F&O segment include companies in which the security has crossed 95% of the market-wide position limit.

Rupee
The rupee appreciated 19 paise to close at 82.51 (provisional) against the US dollar on Wednesday after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) hiked the repo rate by 25 basis points.

Earnings
With earnings season in the last leg, a host of companies including insurance behemoth Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), Adani Total Gas, Hindalco Industries, Zomato, IRCTC among others will announce their third quarter results on Tuesday.

IPO watch
The Rs 35.2 crore SME initial public offering (IPO) of Shera Energy opened for subscription on February 7, and will close on February 9. The company is selling its shares in the range of Rs 55-57 apiece. Shera Energy is engaged in the business of manufacturing wires and tubes made of non–ferrous metals, primarily aluminium and copper.