Market may remain volatile ahead of F&O expiry

Trading of Nifty 50 index futures on the Singapore stock exchange indicates that the Nifty could rise 59 points at the opening bell. Trading could be volatile as traders roll over positions in the F&O segment from the near month February 2019 series to March 2019 series. The February 2019 F&O contracts expire today, 28 February 2019.

On the economic front, the government will announce data on infrastructure output for January today, 28 February 2019. The government will also announce data on fourth quarter gross domestic product (GDP) today, 28 February 2019. The Indian economy advanced 7.1% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2018, well below 8.2% in the previous period.

Overseas, Asian stocks are trading lower on Thursday after cautious comments from US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer dented some of the recent optimism towards China-US trade relations. US President Donald Trump is holding a high-stakes summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi.

U.S. stocks bounced off intraday lows but still closed mostly lower Wednesday as investors focused on separate congressional testimonies from U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on U.S.-China trade negotiations and a second day of Congressional hearings featuring Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell.

Powell testified in front of the House, a day after he affirmed the central bank's wait-and-see approach to rate increases, citing slower global growth and its effect on the U.S. Lighthizer appeared before the House Ways and Means Committee on U.S.-China trade to provide more insight into the progress of negotiations between the world's two largest economies. He also said the U.S. plans to officially abandon an increase in tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods to 25%, from 10% currently.

In economic data, the U.S. trade deficit rose 12.8% in December to $79.5 billion, the Census Bureau said. Pending home sales jumped 4.6% to a reading of 103.2 in January, the National Association of Realtors said. Sales were 2.3% lower than a year ago, making January the 13th straight month of year-over-year declines.

In Europe, investors have been keeping tabs on Britain's tumultuous exit from the European Union with a March 29 deadline looming. British Prime Minister Theresa May on Tuesday said she would look to delay Brexit if a departure deal isn't agreed upon.

Back home,key equity indices ended with small losses yesterday, 27 February 2019 after witnessing wild intraday swings. The Sensex ended below the psychological 36,000 level after moving above and below that level in intraday trade. The Nifty held above 10,800 mark. Intraday volatility was high amid escalating geopolitical tensions between India and Pakistan. The Sensex fell 68.28 points or 0.19% to settle at 35,905.43.

The trading activity on that day showed that the foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 423.04 crore yesterday, 27 February 2019 as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 66.81 crore yesterday, 27 February 2019, as per provisional data.

Among corporate news,Wipro and Alight Solutions, a leader in technology-enabled health, wealth and Human Capital Management (HCM) solutions, have agreed to expand their relationship by signing a definitive agreement to divest Wipro's Workday and Cornerstone OnDemand business to Alight for cash consideration of up to $110 million, of which $100 million would be payable at closing and the balance, $10 million, would be a deferred consideration payable at the end of 12 months based on the achievement of performance targets. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 27 February 2019.

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