Market Ahead, Oct 31: Top factors you need to know before the Opening Bell

Expiry of October series of Futures and Options (F&O) contracts and corporate results would dominate the investor sentiment on Thursday. Besides, a third interest rate cut by the US Federal Reserve could also lift indices.

The Fed on Wednesday cut interest rates by 25 bps to a range between 1.5-1.75 per cent to ensure the US economy weathers a global trade war without slipping into a recession. It, however, signalled at a pause in the rate cut cycle. 

That apart, telecom stocks could see major movements today after Reliance Jio on Wednesday attacked incumbent operators saying the SC judgment will have no impact on the government’s digitisation programs, as operators were in any case not investing sufficiently. 

UK's Standard Life on Wednesday divested 4.95 per cent stake in HDFC Life Insurance Company for a little over Rs 5,750 crore through open market transactions.

The US-based Capital Group is among the buyers which picked up shares of the insurance firm.

Rating agency CARE has downgraded its rating on Vodafone Idea Ltd’s long-term loans and debentures from “A” to “A-” and also paced the rating under watch with negative implications.

The revision in long-term ratings factors in the Supreme Court’s (SC’s) recent ruling that telecom players have to include non-core revenues in their adjusted gross revenue (AGR) to calculate their license fee dues. Based on the court order, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) can now raise its demand from Vodafone Idea to Rs 28,309 crore.

On the macro front, India's infrastructure output print for September will be unveiled later today. 

On Wednesday, the S&P BSE Sensex added 220 points or 0.55 per cent to end at 40,052. On the NSE, the Nifty50 index ended at 11,844, up 57 points or 0.49 per cent.

EARNINGS TODAY

Indian Oil Corporation is scheduled to report its Q2 results today along with 40 other companies. 

GLOBAL CUES

Asian shares and US stock futures edged higher on Thursday. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.2 per cent. Japan’s Nikkei stock index rose 0.41 per cent, but Australian shares fell 0.24 per cent.

On Wall Street, the S&P500 gained 0.33 per cent to close at a record high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.43 per cent, while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.33 per cent.

In the energy market, oil futures extended declines on Thursday as a massive buildup in US crude stockpiles reinforced concerns about oversupply. Brent Crude was trading at $60.70 per barrel mark in the early trade.