Pre-market: Positive opening seen, eye on credit policy

Markets are expected to notch gains in opening trades on back of strong global cues, however investors will remain cautious ahead of the credit policy expected at noon today. The Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange surged 29 points, at 5770.

The credit policy later today will set the sentiment of the market. The Reserve Bank of India in its macro-economic review on Monday said "while downside risks to growth have receded, upside risks to inflation have increased." Analysts expect a 25 bps rate hike today as RBI faces a tough task balancing between growth and inflation. Volatility may continue on account derivatives expiry this week. Technical Analysts said that trend deciding level for Nifty is 5750. Puneet Kinra, Senior Technical Analyst (Equity Research) from Bonanza Portfolio said, "Nifty showed good strength but could not close above 5750 levels. Nifty is trading in 5625-5750 range. Until Nifty manages to close above 5750 levels, volatility may be seen. However, Nifty's intraday trend is up as long as Nifty trades above 5720 levels."

Markets in Asia were trading mostly higher after overnight gains on Wall Street. Dow Jones Industrial Average was within a hair of a return to 12,000 mark as investors embraced strong corporate earnings.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average was up 0.9%, at 10,443 led by gains in exporters on back of rising Yen. Hong Kong's Heng Seng index was trading in a tight range, the index gained 0.7%, at 23,969 pulled by rise in energy producers and banking shares. China's Shanghai Composite slipped 0.2%, at 2,690 on back of losses in commodity stocks after the country said it may scrap export-tax rebates on commodities.