Tracking a weak global market setup, benchmark indices look poised to extend their losing run to the fourth day in a row, having shed over 1.5 per cent in the past three sessions.
At 7.15 am, Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange traded 42 points down at 15,072, indicating a weak start for indices back home. Besides the global market, stock-specific moves, FII flows and crude price movement could also influence market sentiment.
In the overnight session, stocks on Wall Street closed lower as investors shifted out of big technology names, while an unexpected rise in weekly US jobless claims pointed to a fragile recovery in the labour market.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.38%, the S&P 500 lost 0.44% and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.72%.
In Asia too, stocks retreated as investors assessed how rising borrowing costs could impact the equity rally. Japan’s Topix index and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 0.6% each. South Korea's Kospi was down over 1%.
Meanwhile, Brent crude futures slipped more than $1 or 1.63% to $62.80 a barrel in early trading while WTI crude shed over 2% to drop to $59.23 a barrel. The global oil market is grappling with the weather crisis in the U.S., which will likely keep refineries shut for another week.
In other news, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India’s inflation target band of 2-6 per cent is up for review as the five-year term for the MPC's inflation-targeting framework draws to a close. The government has asked the RBI for its views on the targeting framework, said a senior government official according to a BS report.
Now, a look at the stock-specific developments that are likely to sway the market today:
Mahindra CIE Automotive, Asian Tea & Exports and 6 other firms are set to post their December quarter numbers today.
Ambuja Cements reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 732 crore in the December quarter, up 24 per cent from same period last year on the back of increased revenue.
Telecom stocks will be in focus after latest TRAI data showed that Airtel added as many as 5.5 million regularly paying users in December over the preceding month. Reliance Jio, meanwhile, added nearly 3.2 million subscribers and Vodafone Idea Ltd. lost 1.5 million subscribers.
Private sector IDFC First Bank said its board has okayed raising up to Rs 3,000 crore through various means.
Oil India in consortium with Engineers India has decided to bid for acquiring 61.65 per cent stake of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) in Numaligarh Refinery Limited.
DLF's rental arm DCCDL has completed the acquisition of the entire 52 per cent stake of US-based Hines in a premium commercial project in Gurugram for Rs 780 crore.
The IPO by RailTel Corporation got 42 times bids by the end of Day 3. The institutional investor portion was subscribed 65 times, the high-net-worth individual (HNI) portion 73 times, retail portion 17 times and employee quota 3.4 times. The government is likely to price the Rs 820-crore IPO at Rs 94 which values the company at around Rs 3,000 crore.
 "Market Ahead, February 19: All you need to know before the opening bell")
