Flat opening seen as global markets rebound

Markets are likely to open with marginal gains tracking sharp recovery in US stocks

Markets are likely to open flat with positive bias tracking mixed Asian cues and sharp recovery in US stocks in overnight trades. However, further upsides are likely to be capped on consistent selling by foreign funds

At 8:40am, the early indicator SGX Nifty was up 12 points at 7,550.

"Indian markets are expected to open with a flat note tracking global cues. US markets rebounded on Thursday on the back of better corporate earnings and rebound in oil prices. Asian markets were trading mixed tracking the US markets," Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services said in a note.

Meanwhile, foreign funds continue to remain sellers in equities worth Rs 1,222 crore on Thursday, as per provisional stock exchange data.

GLOBAL MARKETS

Asian markets rebounded on Friday with energy shares leading the gains after global crude oil prices rebounded from their lowest level in 12 years. Further, the Chinese yuan also stabilised. Meanwhile, investors are also awaiting key economic data from China early next week which includes GDP for the fourth quarter (Oct-Dec2015). The Nikkei was up 0.7% while Straits Times was trading with marginal gains. However,China's Shanghai was down 0.9% while Hang Seng was down 0.5%.

US stocks staged a recovery on Thursday to end nearly 1% higher led by energy shares after crude oil prices rebounded from their-12-year lows and were trading above $30 a barrel. The benchmark Brent futures were up at $31.03 a barrel. Further,upbeat earnings from financial major JP Morgan also boosted sentiment. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.8% to end at 16,283 while the broader S&P 500 ended up 0.8% at 1,904 and the tech-laden Nasdaq ended up 0.4% at 4,544.

STOCKS IN FOCUS

ICICI Bank may firm up on reports that that home loan disbursals at the country’s largest private sector lender, have crossed Rs 1 lakh crore. It’s the first private bank to cross this threshold.

Idea Cellular may see some action after the telecom major launched 4G services in Chhatisgarh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab.

Cadila Healthcare may gain after approval from Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB). Cadila Healthcare can now raise up to Rs 5,000 crore of fresh equity from foreign investors through qualified institutional placement route.

Prakash Industries may gain after the company said that the PVC Pipe division achieve 15% growth in FY16 and 20% in FY17.

Companies that will announce their Oct-Dec earnigns today include, HUL, Zee Entertainment, Indian Hotels and NIIT Technologies among others.