Positive start seen tracking rally in global markets

Markets are likely to open higher on Friday tracking firm Asian cues and sharp overnight gains on Wall Street. However, further upside is likely to be capped on caution ahead of the Budget on Monday.

At 8:35am, the early indicator SGX Nifty was up 59 points at 7,071.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in equities to the tune of Rs 1,466 crore on Thursday, as per provisional stock exchange data.

GLOBAL MARKETS

Asian stocks edged higher tracking sharp overnight gains on Wall Street while recovery in global crude oil prices also aided sentiment. Chinese shares rebounded on Friday after the sharp plunge in the previous session. Shanghai Composite was up 0.8% and Hang Seng was down 1.8%. Japan's Nikkei was down 1.2% and Straits Times was up 1.1%.

US stocks rebounded sharply in late trades on Thursday helped by a recovery in crude oil prices. Telecom and financials were among the top gainers in the S&P 500. The Dow Jones industrial average ended up 1.3% at 16,697, the broader S&P 500 gained 1.1% at 1,952 and the tech-laden Nasdaq ended up 0.9%.

STOCKS IN FOCUS

State-owned banks may stage a recovery after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday made it easier for banks to exit from Strategic Debt Restructuring (SDR) cases but at the cost of increased provisioning.

United Spirits may gain on exit of Vijay Mallya after a deal with its majority owner Diageo. Diageo will pay $75 million or nearly Rs 500 crore over five years to Mallya to bind him with a non-interference, non-compete contract. The stock will be included in the  F&O segment from today.

PC Jeweller may see some action after the company announced the opening of the 60th showroom at Udaipur in the state of Rajasthan. he stock will be included in the  F&O segment from today.

Other stocks that will be included in the F&O segment include, Tata Elxsi, Granules India, Cummins, and KPIT Tech.

Tata Steel may see some pressure after an earlier iron ore mine allotted by the Chhattisgarh government in Dantewada district has been cancelled, for not completing the prospecting work within the stipulated period.