Market Ahead, October 18: All you need to know before the Opening Bell

Top headlines --- 

>> Over to the Commons as UK and European Union reach Brexit deal

>> IndiGo promoter Rahul Bhatia moves US court against co-promoter Rakesh Gangwal

>> Govt asks PSBs to look for alternative resolution mechanism outside IBC

>> Zee's Q2 net profit misses estimates on ICD write-off

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Nifty's level -- 

Nifty closed in the positive territory on Thursday. However, the move on the hourly charts appears to be a corrective one. Hence, the probability of a downside till 11,183 is quite high in the short term till the swing high of 11,425 levels aren’t taken off.

Market cues for today --

Corporate earnings, global cues, and minutes of RBI's October monetary policy meeting will be the top factors that will steer the markets today. About 22 companies, including Reliance Industries, ICICI Lombard, and Ambuja Cements, are scheduled to report their September quarter earnings later in the day.

With an improvement in refining margins, Reliance Industries is expected to report a strong quarter for the July-September period. Analysts expect refining to offset weakness in petrochemicals and a lower tax rate benefit for the retail and telecom businesses. 

Domestic indices may track the global lift in sentiment after the UK and the European Union struck a long-awaited Brexit deal, but concern about the Chinese economy is likely to cap gains with data expected to show weaker growth.

Trends on SGX Nifty suggest a negative start to the domestic markets today. 

Globally, Wall Street advanced on Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.09 per cent, the S&P 500 gained 0.28 per cent, and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.4 per cent.

Asian stocks edged higher on Friday. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up about 0.1 per cent in early trade, echoing Wall Street's small gains. Australian shares were off 0.6 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei added 0.5 per cent.

These apart, investors will take note of the Reserve Bank of India's minutes of the last monetary policy committee meeting scheduled to be released today for hints on further rate cuts. They will also track oil price movement, the rupee's value against the dollar and foreign investment by FIIs and DIIs will guide the market trajectory.

Oil was mixed ahead of the China data, with U.S. crude up 0.1 per cent to $53.99 a barrel, but Brent crude easing by 0.13 per cent to $59.83 a barrel.

Domestic equity markets rallied on Thursday. The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex added over 1 per cent to settle at 39,052 levels. On the NSE, the broader Nifty50 index ended at 11,586.35 levels, up over 1 per cent.