Market Ahead, February 9: All you need to know before the opening bell

Wall Street reached all-time closing highs in overnight trade as investor optimism was stoked by prospects of a speedier economic recovery from the global health crisis, driven by increased stimulus and an accelerated vaccine rollout.

All three major U.S. stock indexes gained ground, with the S&P 500 and the Dow posting their sixth consecutive gains, their longest winning streak since August. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.76%, the S&P 500 gained 0.74% and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.95%.

In Asia, stocks traded mixed as investors mulled stimulus prospects and the impact of rising inflation expectations with stocks at record highs. Topix index rose 0.1%, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 0.2% and Kospi index added 0.9%.

Tracking the global setup, Indian indices looked set to extend the winning run to a seventh straight session on Tuesday. At 7.15 am, SGX Nifty futures were trading 32 points higher, indicating a positive start for benchmark indices back home.

Meanwhile, oil prices edged to their highest in 13 months as supply cuts by major producers and optimism over fuel demand recovery support energy markets. Brent and WTI crude futures gained 0.5% each to trade at $60.85 and $58.25 a barrel, respectively.

That apart, bitcoin prices jumped to a record after Tesla Inc. bought $1.5 billion of the cryptocurrency. Bitcoin added as much as 2.5% to hit a record high of $47,565.86 on Tuesday and has gained 61% for the year so far.

Now, a look at the stock-specific developments that are likely to sway the market today:

Tata Steel, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, Berger Paints India, Burger King India, Central Bank of India, Future Retail, Lemon Tree Hotels, and Torrent Power are among 218 companies slated to announce their quarterly earnings today.

The Delhi High Court on Monday overturned an order that had stalled Future Group's $3.4 billion deal to sell its retail assets to Reliance in a setback for Future's partner Amazon.com Inc, which has challenged the sale.

The Indian government has challenged in the Singapore High Court an international arbitration tribunal's verdict that overturned its demand for Rs 22,100 crore in back taxes from Vodafone Group Plc, and the order passed in Cairn Group's case is under consideration of the government.

NMDC said its consolidated net profit jumped 53 per cent to Rs 2,108 crore for the quarter ended in December. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 1,375 crore during the same quarter a year ago.

Wipro announced the appointment of Michael Seiger as the country head and managing director for Germany and Austria.

Jindal Stainless Hisar posted an over three-fold jump in its consolidated net profit to Rs 270 crore for the December 2020 quarter. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 82 crore in the corresponding quarter of last fiscal.