Market Ahead, August 29: All you need to know before the Opening Bell

Investors may be set for volatile session today as the August series futures & options contracts expire and participants roll over positions to the September series.

Weak global cues and the Rupee's trajectory will be other major factors affecting investor sentiment today.

Trends on SGX Nifty, too, suggest a negative start for the domestic indices. 

On Wednesday, The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex closed Wednesday's session at 37,452 level, down 0.5 per cent, and The broader Nifty50 settled 0.53 per cent lower at 11,046 level.

In the forex market, the rupee declined by 29 paise to close at 71.77 against the US dollar.

Globally, Asian stocks struggled to recover on Thursday as economic turbulence from intensifying US-China frictions and the spectre of a no-deal Brexit drove investors to safer harbours. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was flat in early trade while Japan's Nikkei rose 0.14 per cent. On Wall Street, the Dow rose 1 per cent and the S&P 500 gained 0.65 per cent, due in part to gains in energy sector following a rebound in oil prices.

In a major news today, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday relaxed the rules for single-brand retail, more than seven years after the foreign investment cap was removed for the segment to attract marquee foreign brands such as Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Ikea and others into the country. 

Now, here are the stocks that should be on investors' radar-- 

-- Sugar stocks will be in focus today after the Union Cabinet yesterday approved an export subsidy of Rs 10.44 per kg which would enable mills to ship around six million tonnes (mt) of the sweetener in the coming season that starts from October.

-- South America’s Synergy Group Corp is planning to pick up 49 per cent stake in Jet Airways. It will discuss co-investment options with its lenders and infrastructure companies, the group’s advisor told Business Standard.

-- A preliminary enquiry by the SEBI has found no merit in allegation of violation of securities laws, levelled by a whistleblower, against pharmaceutical major Sun Pharmaceutical Industries.