Market may open slightly higher

Trading of Nifty 50 index futures on the Singapore stock exchange indicates that the Nifty could rise 8 points at the opening bell.

Overseas, Asian stocks were trading higher after a surge in oil lifted US stock indexes to fresh highs. In US, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite closed at fresh records yesterday, 15 May 2017 as a jump in oil prices to a two-week high lifted Wall Street sentiment. Crude rose for a fifth day, topping $49 a barrel, after Saudi Arabia and Russia supported an extension of output cuts.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 85.33 points, or 0.4%, to close at 20,981.94. The S&P 500 index added 11.42 points, or 0.5%, to finish at 2,402.32. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 28.44 points, or 0.5%, to end at 6,149.67.

In economic data, a gauge of New York-area manufacturing slumped into negative territory for the first time since the presidential election. The Empire State manufacturing index for May fell to negative 1, from positive 5.2 in April. Separately, sentiment among home builders rebounded in May, buoyed by optimistic views of demand for housing.

Back home,the key benchmark indices logged modest gains to settle at record closing high yesterday, 15 May 2017 as hopes rose of a possible interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) after the latest data showed a sharp fall in headline retail inflation. The Sensex rose 133.97 points or 0.44% to settle at 30,322.12, a record closing high.

The trading activity on that day showed that the foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 235.33 crore yesterday, 15 May 2017, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 65.77 crore yesterday, 15 May 2017, as per provisional data.

Among corporate news,Tata Steel, Oracle Financial Services Software, Punjab National Bank (PNB), among others will announce their March 2017 quarterly result today, 16 May 2017.

Oil marketing companies, oil exploration stocks, auto and aviation stocks will be in focus after petrol prices were slashed by Rs 2.16 per litre, while diesel prices were cut by Rs 2.1 per litre with effect from today, 16 May 2017.

Infosys will be watched. Infosys Finacle, part of EdgeVerve Systems, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Infosys and MauBank, a leading bank in the Republic of Mauritius announced the bank's successful adoption of Finacle's leasing solution for its strategic leasing services business. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 15 May 2017.

Yes Bank announced the appointment of Debjani Ghosh as an additional (non executive) director on the board of the bank with effect from 15 May 2017. The shareholders' of the bank would consider the appointment of Debjani Ghosh as an independent director on the board in the ensuing Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the bank scheduled on 6 June 2017. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 15 May 2017.

On the macro front, India's merchandise exports grew in double digits for the third consecutive month in April. Data released by the government yesterday, 15 May 2017 showed that exports grew 19.77% in April while imports rose 49.07%, leaving a trade gap of $13.2 billion.

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