Market Ahead, February 25: All you need to know before the opening bell

Domestic markets closed with massive gains in a session marred by a technical glitch and look set to extend their winning run to the third day today amid strong cues from global peers. 

However, volatility could remain high ahead of the February F&O expiry, and high crude oil prices could cap gains for the indices. At 7.20 am, SGX Nifty futures traded slightly higher at 15,030.

In the overnight session, US Fed's Jerome Powell once again soothed investors' fears over inflation and drove Wall Street higher. Powell, in a second day of testimony in Washington, said it may take more than three years to reach the central bank’s inflation goals, a sign the Fed plans leave interest rates unchanged for a long time to come. Besides, the US regulator said Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine is safe and effective, further boosting the market sentiment.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 1.35%, the S&P 500 gained 1.14% and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.99%.

Asian stocks and US futures rose, tracking strong Wall Street gains. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.90% in early trade while Japan's Nikkei 225 added 1.37%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index futures rose 0.92%.

In the oil markets, crude oil climbed to fresh 13-month highs after US government data showed a drop in crude output as a deep freeze disrupted production last week. Brent was last up 0.18% at $67.16 a barrel while WTI crude was trading 0.13% higher at $63.30 a barrel.

That apart, NSE's three-hour outage that jolted and jeopardised the interest of many market participants is facing scrutiny by Sebi and Finance Ministry. Both the finance ministry and the Sebi have sought a detailed report from the NSE as trading was halted for several hours. According to a BS report, an interim report would be submitted by the NSE to the ministry and Sebi within 24 hours. A root-cause analysis could take a week.

Now, a look at the stock-specific action that would guide market today:

Shares of Nureca will list on the bourses today. The IPO by home healthcare and wellness products provider that ran between February 15-17 witnessed 40 times subscription.

Max Financial Services said the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has given its approval for the acquisition of up to 12% stake in Max Life Insurance by Axis Bank and its subsidiaries Axis Capital and Axis Securities.

Affle Holdings Pte Ltd, a promoter of Affle (India), on Wednesday, offloaded 3 lakh shares of the company worth over Rs 161 crore through an open market transaction.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) approved the proposed merger of NAM Estates Pvt Ltd and Embassy One Commercial Property Developments Pvt Ltd into Indiabulls Real Estate (IBREL).

India is set to attain self-reliance in the manufacturing of dredgers with Cochin Shipyard and Dredging Corporation collaborating with IHC Holland BV to locally build equipment, Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Wednesday.

Vodafone Group Plc has nominated Sunil Sood and Diego Massidda as additional directors on the board of its India unit JV Vodafone Idea.

Lastly, Heranba Industries IPO was subscribed 2.74 times on the second day of bidding. The issue closes for subscription today.