Market Likely To Open In Negative

The BSE Sensex and Nifty rose by nearly 1% on Wednesday, led by gains in software exporters as investors seeking bargains bought into beaten down stocks. Information technology stocks like Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro led the rally on a strong US dollar on rising expectations of an interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve. Other than IT, buying interest was visible in realty, pharma, FMCG and auto stocks. The broader markets outperformed the benchmark indices. The BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices jumped nearly 1% each. Both the indices on the BSE touched their respective all-time high levels.

U.S. stocks pared early-session gains and the Dow industrials switched been modest gains and losses in a choppy day of trading Wednesday as investors digested conflicted U.S. economic data. The S&P 500 rose 8 points, or 0.4%, to 2,102.02, after being up about 19 points earlier. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 45 points, or 0.9%, to 5,150.65, after being up nearly 70 points earlier. The Dow Jones Industrial Average which flipped between gains and losses in afternoon trade and closed down 10.22 points at 17,540.47.

Europe's main stock markets closed higher Wednesday, with all eyes on US economic data and prospects of an interest rate hike in the world's biggest economy. Eurozone indices performed better, with Frankfurt's DAX 30 climbing 1.22% to 11,596.13 points and the CAC 40 in Paris up 1.15% to 5,170.84 compared with Tuesday's close. London's benchmark FTSE 100 index ended the day 0.98% higher at 6,7432.94 points.

Oil prices fell to new multi-month lows Wednesday after weekly inventory data showed a small increase in U.S. crude production and President Barack Obama urged lawmakers to support the Iranian nuclear deal. WTI crude settled down 59 cents, or 1.3%, to USD 45.15 a barrel, the lowest settlement since March 19. Brent slid 40 cents, or 0.8%, to USD 49.59 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.

Asian stocks opened mixed on Thursday, tracking modest offshore gains. Japan's Nikkei rose 0.7% as the Bank of Japan kicks off its monthly two-day policy meeting while South Korea's Kospi reversed a gained and fell 0.3%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index drops 0.7% to a one-week low. New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index shed early gains to flat. China's Shanghai Composite index reversed early losses to gain 0.15%.

A SGX CNX Nifty Index future for August delivery was down 9 points at 8,583. Indian markets likely to open in negative. Aarti Industries, Arvind, Bajaj Electricals, Bombay Dyeing, Cummins India, Escorts, KEI, Motherson Sumi, Praj Industries, SRF, Talwalkars, Tata Global, T D Power, Timex And Trent would be reporting first quarter earnings today.