Market Ahead, January 14: All you need to know before the Opening Bell

Favourable global cues, and expectations from corporate earnings and the upcoming Union Budget are likely to keep the overall bias in the Indian equity markets positive today. 

However, investor sentiment may be dented by the inflation data released yesterday which showed that retail inflation rate in December jumped to an over five-year high of 7.35 per cent in December. As such, the CPI inflation has surpassed the RBI's comfort level, thus strongly limiting the extent to which the central bank can ease rates further.

Today, market participants will watch out for the WPI-based inflation figures for December.

On the results front, a total of 12 companies are scheduled to announce their December quarter numbers today. Market participants will pay special attention to the results of IndusInd Bank, Mindtree, and Wipro.

Besides, investors will continue to track the Rupee's trajectory and the oil price movement.

Globally, tech favorites propelled Wall Street to record highs on Monday, fueled by an easing of Middle East tensions and the Phase 1 US-China trade agreement.The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3 per cent, while the S&P 500 gained 0.7 per cent, its highest close ever. The Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.04 per cent to a record high.

Asian share markets rose on Tuesday. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan opened at an all-time high and drifted higher. Japan's Nikkei added 0.8 per cent and Australia's ASX 200 rose 0.7 per cent. The SGX Nifty is also indicating a positive start for domestic indices.

Oil prices edged lower on Tuesday with Brent crude lowering 8 cents to $64.12 per barrel.

Back home, benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty settled at record highs yesterday. Sensex closed 260 points higher at 41,860 while Nifty shut shop at 12,330, up 73 points. The broader markets outperformed the benchmarks with the S&P BSE mid-cap index settling 0.8 per cent higher and the S&P BSE small-cap index up 0.93 per cent.

Going forward, analysts say that Nifty's overall structure still looks sturdy with 12,400 to 12,500 in the horizon. On the lower side, 12,200 followed by 12,140 would be seen as immediate supports.

And, in the end, here's a stock idea by Prabhudas Lilladher which recommends buying BHEL at the current market price of Rs 46.05 for the target of Rs 55 and with stop-loss at Rs 42.