Sensex, Nifty to rise; IndiGo, Zydus Lifesciences, CG Power, Blue Star shares in focus

The BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty are set to open higher on Thursday, following strong cues from Asia and on Wall Street. Shares in the Asia-Pacific region were trading higher, following rally on Wall Street overnight as crude prices and U.S. Treasury yields declined. The positive trends on SGX Nifty also indicated a gap-up opening for the domestic bourses, with SGX Nifty futures trading 130 points, 0.73%, higher at 17,760 levels on the Singapore Stock Exchange at 8:10 AM.

On Wednesday, the Indian equity benchmarks ended lower for the second straight session, following weak cues from global peers, amid growing fear about aggressive rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve. The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 168 points, or 0.28%, to settle at 59,029, while the broader NSE Nifty slipped 31 points, or 0.18%, to 17,624. From the Sensex pack, IndusInd Bank was the worst performer, followed by Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki India, Bharti Airtel, State Bank of India, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, and HDFC among others. On the gaining side, UltraTech Cement topped the chart, while Tata Consultancy Services, Sun Pharma, Wipro, and Bajaj Finance also ended in positive terrain. In the broader market, the BSE smallcap and midcap index advanced 0.73% and 0.46%, respectively. Among the BSE sectoral indices, auto and power declined the most, while utilities and bank led the gainers chart.

Stocks to watch

IndiGo: Rakesh Gangwal, co-founder of IndiGo, and his family are planning to sell a 2.8% stake in InterGlobe Aviation, the holding company which runs IndiGo airlines, via a block deal.

Zydus Lifesciences: The pharma company has achieved positive proof-of-concept in its Phase 2 clinical study of NLRP3 inhibitor, ZYIL1 in patients with cryopyrin associated periodic syndrome (CAPS).

CG Power and Industrial Solutions: Standard Chartered Bank (Singapore) has sold 1.38 crore shares, or 0.9% stake, of the company for ₹298 crore on Wednesday through an open market transaction.

Duroply Industries: Renowned investor Porinju Veliyath & Litty Thomas has acquired an additional 2.12% stake in the company via preferential allotment, extending its shareholding to 7.01%, from 4.89% earlier.

Blue Star: SBI Funds Management has purchased additional 2.67 lakh equity shares or 0.28% stake in the company via open market transactions on September 2.

Delta Corp: The company will be under NSE F&O ban for the second day on Thursday.

Here are the key things investors should know before the market opens today:

Wall Street ends higher

In the overnight trade, all three major indices closed higher as U.S. Treasury yields corrected lower, reversing previous day’s strong rally, following drop in oil prices, which eased inflation fear and concerns about aggressive rate hikes by the Federal Reserve. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.4%, the S&P 500 gained 1.8%, and the Nasdaq Composite rallied 2.1%. The market rally was also supported by strong gains in airline stocks after index heavyweight United Airlines raised its sales forecast.

Asian shares rise

Shares in the Asia-Pacific region were trading mostly higher in opening trade on Thursday, barring Hong Kong, following strong finish on Wall Street overnight. The market sentiment was also lift by fall in commodity prices, especially crude price which dropped below $85 a barrel for the first time since January this year.

Regional heavyweight Japan’s Nikkei 225 was the best performer in the region with a 2% gain after Gross domestic product (GDP) in the world's third-largest economy rose at an annualised 3.5% in the second quarter. It was followed by Australia's ASX 200, which rallied over 1% after data showed that GDP grew strongly in the June quarter.

South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.4%, the Straits Times in Singapore climbed 0.85%, Taiwan Weighted index added 0.6%, and Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite jumped 0.9%.

Bucking the trend, the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong fell 0.3%.

Markets in mainland China were trading mixed, with the Shanghai Composite rising by 0.06%, while the Shenzhen Component falling by 0.2%.

FIIs emerge as net buyers, DIIs net buyers

The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) emerged as net buyers in the Indian equity market on September 7, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) turned net sellers. As per the exchange data, FIIs net brought shares worth ₹758.37 crore, while DIIs net sold stocks worth ₹138.67 crore.

Crude prices slip below $85

The crude price fell below $85 to hit its lowest since January in the overnight trade as investors weighed slowing demand in China and uncertainty regarding global economy growth. In the overnight trade, U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) slipped below $85 while the global Brent benchmark fell below $90 even as oil producing countries’ decision to lower output target cut failed to lift sentiments. In a meeting on Monday, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) agreed to reduce output for October by 100,000 barrels per day (bpd), amounting to only 0.1% of global demand.

In early Asian trading hours on Thursday, the Brent oil for November delivery rose 0.6% to $88.54 per barrel, while the U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude October futures rose 0.8% to $82.58 a barrel.