Market Ahead, February 14: Top factors that could guide markets today

Investors look set for another cautious session on Friday as they try to gauge the extent and effect of the coronavirus. The death toll from a coronavirus outbreak in China’s Hubei province rose by 116 on Friday. However, China did not disclose the total number of deaths, which stood at 1,310 on Thursday.

A total of 946 companies, including ONGC, Embassy Office Parks REIT, and Fortis Healthcare are scheduled to announce their December quarter earnings today.

Telecom stocks may trade actively today as the Supreme Court will take up the telcos' plea, regarding the negotiation of the AGR payment terms.

Globally, Wall Street lost ground on Thursday as investors digested new coronavirus developments and mixed corporate earnings. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.43 per cent, the S&P 500 lost 0.16 per cent, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.14 per cent. Asian shares also eased on Friday. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dipped 0.08 per cent with South Korea's Kospi falling 0.25 per cent while Japan's Nikkei slid 0.67 per cent.

In commodities, oil prices extended gains on hopes of more production cuts.

Back home, Sensex ended Thursday's session 106 points lower at 41,460 while Nifty finished at 12,175, down 27 points. Analysts say that the Nifty seems to have resistance at 12,231. On the lower side, the Index is likely to slip till 12,000 levels which is the next immediate support.

And, in the end, here's a stock call by Anand Rathi shares and stock brokers which recommends buying Mcdowell for the target of Rs 801 with stop-loss at Rs 649.