SGX Nifty up 45 points; here's what changed for market while you were sleeping

A slower than expected rise in consumer price inflation in the US could come in favour of Dalal Street bulls and help markets move higher.

However, a sharp upmove is unlikely as exit polls have predicted a close fight between Congress and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka, which went for polls on Wednesday.

Besides, a slew of companies, including Asian Paints and Eicher Motors, are slated to report numbers later today, which could keep action stock-centric.

Here's breaking down the pre-market actions:

STATE OF THE MARKETS

• Tech View: The market seems to be a bit timid as a strong follow up buying is missing at the current juncture. However, 18200-18250 zones will act as a strong support for the Nifty 50. On the upside, 18500 is very much in the vicinity and is highly anticipated.
• India VIX: Amid the tug-of-war between the bears and bulls, the volatility gauge rose for the fourth straight session on Wednesday. The index ended 3% higher at 13.0825 points.

SGX Nifty signals a positive start
Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange traded 43.5 points, or 0.24 per cent, higher at 18,402, signaling that Dalal Street was headed for positive start on Thursday.

US stocks up
The Nasdaq ended Wednesday at its highest intraday level in more than eight months, boosted by a slightly lower-than-expected increase in April inflation and Alphabet Inc's latest artificial intelligence rollout.

Asian shares mixed
Asian shares were mixed while US equity futures extended on gains for US stocks as inflationary pressure eased. The dollar held losses from the prior session after a drop in Treasury yields.

Oil rises
Oil prices rose in early Asian trade on Thursday after strong demand for fuels in the U.S. outweighed concerns about the possibility of the world's biggest oil producer and consumer defaulting on its debt. Brent crude futures rose by 26 cents, or 0.34%, to $76.67 a barrel by 0015 GMT. U.S. crude futures rose 28 cents to $72.84.



Stocks in F&O ban today
1) Manappuram Finance
2) BHEL
3) GNFC
4) Canara Bank

Securities in the ban period under the F&O segment include companies in which the security has crossed 95% of the market-wide position limit.


FII/DII action
Buying by foreign portfolio investors ensured the downside in the market was limited. They net invested Rs 1,833 crore on Wednesday, whereas DIIs net sold shares worth Rs 790 crore.

Rupee
The rupee managed to recoup most of the losses against the dollar on Wednesday amid steady inflows from overseas investors in the initial public offering of Nexus Select Trust. The Indian unit ended at 81.9850 after touching a low of 82.0875 during the day.

Corporate results
Asian Paints, Siemens, Eicher Motors, Aditya Birla Capital, Dr Lal Pathlabs, Gujarat State Petronet, and several others are scheduled to release their March quarter earnings today.

Macro news
Consumer price inflation in the US slowed marginally in April, while the gauge of core prices closely watched by the Federal Reserve decelerated slightly. The consumer price index rose 4.9% on an annualized basis, which was tad lower than the 5% rise expected by economists.