US Fed chair Jerome Powell’s comments on the job market outlook, pullback on the bond-buying programme, and interest rate trajectory will dictate the market trends on Thursday.
Investors had discounted an indication towards paring back of the $120-billion treasuries programme, with hints of a likely withdrawal in November or December.
Therefore, bouts of volatility may put market participants on the edge today.
Meanwhile, Chinese real estate developer Evergrande’s assurance that it will honour interest payments due today could soothe investor nerves.
However, investors now await Beijing’s stand on the issue and will track if the government would step in.
Back home, weekly F&O expiry, stock-specific news flow, FII trends, and primary market action will sway the market mood.
The initial public offering of Paras Space and Defence Technologies, which has received a stellar response from market participants so far, will close later today.
So far, the issue has been subscribed over 40 times, with the retail investors’ quota witnessing a whopping 68x subscription.
On Wednesday, investors on Dalal Street ditched the large-cap stocks for mid- and small-cap players as valuation concerns lingered at the benchmark level.
The Nifty Midcap 50 jumped 2.74 per cent, while the Nifty Midcap 100 was up 1.67 per cent over previous close. At the same time, the Smallcap 100 pack was up 1.4 per cent.
Against this, the NSE Nifty settled 15 points lower than Tuesday at 17,547, while its BSE counterpart Sensex settled at 58,927, down 78 points.
Sectorally, the Nifty Media pack hogged the limelight, surging 13.57 per cent, following a sharp rally in index heavyweight Zee Entertainment.
The shares of Zee surged over 30 per cent after the media company's board unanimously provided an in-principle approval for its merger with Sony Pictures Networks India.
The deal, analysts say, should put to rest the investors’ concerns over corporate governance issues, and can result in significant re-rating for the stock going ahead.
 "Market Ahead Podcast, September 23: Factors that could guide markets today")
