The markets may start the day on a quiet note in line with the cues from the global front and the subdued nature of the previous day's proceedings.
Wall Street rose marginally on Wednesday on stronger-than-expected Dell earnings and a flurry of deal news, but concern about tensions between Israel and Iran gave investors reason to pause. The Dow gained 36 points and Nasdaq rose 12 points. On the Asian front, the Hang Seng was up 13 points and Nikkei was up 41 points in early trades, but the Seoul Composite had weakened by 15 points, Straits Times was down nine points and Taiwan Weighted was down 11 points. And there was no sense of direction from the Indian ADRs either; Infosys ended higher by 0.5% and Wipro ended up 0.3%, but ICICI Bank weakened by $0.6. And the SGX Nifty was trading lower by 13 points at 5481 in pre-market trading.
The markets had ended Wednesday's session on a subdued note as investors turned to the sidelines after three consecutive days of gains which pushed the markets up 4.6% and the Eid holiday also added to the lacklustre mood; the Sensex had closed at 18,306, up 32 points, and the Nifty had ended at 5482, up one point.
Metal and construction stocks could witness follow-up buying after the gains of the previous day. Tata Steel had vaulted by nearly 4% on strong Q3 results and Jindal Steel had strengthened by 3.2% at Rs 670. And construction shares had surged after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh hinted at big initiatives for infrastructure development in the Budget in his televised press conference with India's leading editors. Among indicidual stocks, RCom could be in the limelight on the news that Anil Ambani met the CBI officials in the later half on Wednesday in connection with the ongoing investigations in the 2G scam. Hexaware and Aventis Pharma coould also see action after reporting a stellar set of numbers in the third quarter.