Market Ahead, April 23: All You Need To Know Before The Opening Bell

A sharp rebound in oil as well as most global markets is signalling a higher opening for the Indian indices today. At 7:15 AM, the SGX Nifty was trading over 30 points higher. Both the US crude and Brent rose more than 7 per cent after touching their lowest levels since 1999 on the prospects for further production cuts to reduce the glut in the oil market.

Oil prices' recovery was mirrored by the Wall Street where major indices surged after the US Senate unanimously approved a new relief package worth nearly $500 billion. The House of Representatives is expected to clear the bill which is aimed at aiding small businesses during the coronavirus crisis.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 2 per cent, while the S&P 500 gained 2.3 per cent, and the Nasdaq Composite added 2.8 per cent.

After market hours, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to temporarily suspend the approval of some green cards.

Asian equity markets edged higher in Thursday's early trade. Australian ASX 200 was up 0.7 per cent, while Japan’s Nikkei added nearly 1 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.6 per cent.

Meanwhile, the number of Covid-19 cases in India surpassed 21,000 with 681 deaths, according to Worldometer. Globally, over 26 lakh people have been infected and 1.84 lakh have died so far.

The Economic Advisory Council will meet today and tomorrow to take stock of the country's economic situation due to the pandemic.

In the earnings department, a total of seven companies including Britannia, Bharti Infratel, and Hathway Cable are scheduled to announce their March quarter results today.

The Sebi has proposed an easier fund raising route for stressed companies through easier pricing norms, as well as exemptions from open offers.

In company-specific news, Vodafone has made an advance payment of $200 million to its India arm -- Vodafone Idea, mainly to tide over any liquidity crisis arising out of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Indian equity markets ended sharply higher on Wednesday. The Sensex closed 743 points up at 31,380 and the Nifty settled 206 points higher at 9,187.

According to technical analysts, Nifty can witness weakness only if it breaks 9,000 while 9,500 will act a a stiff resistance. Hence, traders can go long while keeping a close eye on 9,000.

And, in the end, here's a stock idea by CapitalVia Global Research which recommends buying Dabur Limited above Rs 505 for the target of Rs 535 with stop-loss at Rs 485.

Read by: Kanishka Gupta