Market Ahead, November 24: All you need to know before the opening bell

The SGX Nifty was trading 36 points higher at 12,989 levels at 7:30 AM, indicating a positive open for the Indian markets today amid favourable global cues. Asian stocks opened higher on Tuesday as Covid-19 vaccine progress shored up global sentiment and US President-elect Joe Biden was given the go-ahead to begin his White House transition.

US General Services Administration chief Emily Murphy wrote in a letter to Biden on Monday that he can formally begin the hand-over process. That helped futures for the S&P 500 up 0.5 per cent in early Asian trade while Japan’s Nikkei was 1.8 per cent higher and Australia’s ASX 200 1.11 per cent stronger.

Those gains followed an upbeat Wall Street session that was driven by positive vaccine news.

AstraZeneca said its Covid-19 vaccine, cheaper to make, easier to distribute and faster to scale-up than its rivals, could be as much as 90 per cent effective.

US stocks got an extra boost after reports that Biden plans to nominate former Federal Reserve Chair, Janet Yellen, to become the next Treasury Secretary.

Overall, the Dow rose 1.12 per cent, the S&P 500 gained or 0.56 per cent while the Nasdaq Composite added only 0.22 per cent.

In commodities, oil prices added to last week’s gains as traders anticipated the vaccine news would spur a recovery in energy demand. Brent was at $45.83, up 1.94 per cent on the day. Gold futures, meanwhile, finished 1.8 per cent lower on Monday as vaccines and treatments for Covid-19 may momentarily undercut demand for precious metals.

Back home, the Indian markets are likely to ride higher on the favourable global cues although the impending derivative contracts expiry on Thursday might inject volatility. And amid lack of any other key domestic trigger, investors might choose to stick to stock-specific moves.

Besides, they will also track the Covid-19 trends and vaccine related newsflow, the Rupee's trajectory and oil price movement.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to today review the Covid-19 situation with the Chief Ministers. He will also discuss the rollout of the vaccine programme in the states. The Centre is preparing on a war footing the vaccine delivery system as the Covid cases in the country have risen to 91.77 lakh while total deaths have surpassed 1.34 lakh.

Stocks of diagnostic and healthcare tests firms would be under investors' radar after the Maharashtra government on Monday said all air and rail passengers arriving from Delhi, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Goa need to carry Covid-19 test report before entering the state.

IIFL Finance and Indiabulls Housing Finance may come under pressure in today's session after Moody's Investors Service said the asset quality in both the NBFCs is "vulnerable" due to the economic contraction.

On technical charts, Nifty is likely to remain range-bound with positive bias. A sustainable move above 13,000 levels would lead to a sharp up-move, which could later pull Nifty towards 13,500-13,600 levels in the near-term, analysts say. Immediate support is placed at 12,800-12,750.