Indian Market Is Likely To Open Positive

Indian equities indices maintained its northward journey for the fourth consecutive session on yesterday led by gains in RIL, Infosys while Coal India gained the most after the coal ministry allowed the company to revert to the old system, removing the cap on e-auction volumes with effect from April 2015. Positive global cues and banks passing on rate cuts to system boosted sentiment today.

The BSE index rose 0.67% or 191.16 points to end at 28,707.75, while the NSE index rose 0.62% or 5.7 points to end at 8,716 at their highest level since March 17, 2015. BSE Smallcap index outshines Sensex and Nifty, gains 204.30 points, or 1.79% to 11,643.85 points and touched a seven-year high on yesterday. The BSE mid-cap index rose 0.65% to end at 11,022.17 points. In the past six trading sessions, the BSE small-cap index has surged 11.4% and the CNX small-cap index, too, gained 10% during the period.

The U.S. Stock markets slightly higher on Wednesday after Federal Reserve meeting minutes showed officials were divided about whether to raise interest rates in June. The S&P 500 index rose 5.57 points, or 0.27%, to 2081.90. The Dow gained 27.09 points to close at 17,902.51 on Wednesday, while the NASDAQ gained 40.59 or 0.83% to end the session at 4,950.82.

The Stoxx Europe 600 climbed to a 15-year high, buoyed by a rise in oil and gas shares as investors bet Royal Dutch Shell’s deal to buy BG Group will spark a wave of mergers in the industry. The Stoxx Europe 600 added 0.1% to end at its highest level since 2000. Germany’s DAX fell 0.7% while the FTSE and France’s CAC-40 both lost 0.3%.

WTI crude oil futures rose around half a dollar in early Asian trading on Thursday, clawing back from an over 6% fall in the previous session. Yesterday, U.S. May crude closed down USD 3.56, or 6.6%, at USD 50.42 a barrel. The commodity has erased 2015's gains and is now down 5.4% on the year. Meanwhile, Brent May crude was down USD 3.30 at USD 56.90 a barrel.

In Asian front, Hong Kong and Tokyo outperform the region to scale fresh multi-year highs early Thursday. Other parts of Asia saw relatively muted. The Hang Seng Index jumped as much as 6.4% in the early morning and touched the highest level since 2007. Currently it is up by 3%. China's Shanghai Composite index opened down 1.5%, a whisker below Wednesday's seven-year closing highs. South Korea's Kospi index stayed at a more than 5-month high at 0.1% to 2,061.27. Japan's Nikkei 225 clinched a fresh high of 0.65% at 19,916 points - its highest level since June 2000.

SGX Nifty is up by 36 points. Indian market is likely to open in positive. February IIP data will be released on 10 April. The next major trigger for the Indian markets is Q4 results which will start from next week.