Pre-market action: Here's the trade setup for today's session

Indian equities recouped early losses to end flat on Wednesday. Q1 results due today include Axis Bank, Wipro, Jio Financial, LTI Mindtree, HDFC AMC, Indian Hotels, among others. Analysts expect markets to consolidate with a positive bias, supporting improving rural and healthcare trends, and any progress on India–US trade negotiations.

Stock-specific action will likely continue as the earnings season gathers pace.

STATE OF THE MARKETS
GIFT Nifty (Earlier SGX Nifty) signals a positive start
GIFT Nifty on the NSE IX traded higher by 40 points, or 0.16 per cent, at 25,271, signaling that Dalal Street was headed for positive start on Thursday.

• Tech View: As long as Nifty remains above 25,000 on a closing basis, the sentiment is likely to stay bullish, with a "buy on dips" strategy appearing favourable. On the higher side, a decisive move above 25,260 could trigger a rally towards 25,500 and beyond.
• India VIX: India VIX, which is a measure of the fear in the markets, fell 2% to settle at 11.24 levels.

US stocks end higher
Wall Street benchmarks closed modestly higher on Wednesday, with the Nasdaq Composite achieving its latest record finish, despite a chaotic half hour when news reports suggested U.S. President Donald Trump was set to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

• Dow 0.53%,
• S&P 500 0.32%,
• Nasdaq 0.26%

Asian shares mixed
Asian stocks struggled for direction at the open after US markets had a volatile session amid speculation about the future of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

• S&P 500 futures fell 0.2% as of 9:08 a.m. Tokyo time
• Hang Seng futures rose 0.2%
• Japan’s Topix was little changed
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.4%
• Euro Stoxx 50 futures fell 0.8%

Oil rises
Oil prices rose in early trade on Thursday, reversing the previous session's losses, buoyed by stronger-than-expected economic data from the world’s top oil consumers and signs of easing trade tensions.

Dollar shaky
The dollar was on a fragile footing on Thursday having lost ground overnight as concerns U.S. President Donald Trump was preparing to fire the Federal Reserve chair shook confidence in U.S. markets.

Stocks in F&O ban today
Angel One
Hindustan Copper

Securities in the ban period under the F&O segment include companies in which the security has crossed 95% of the market-wide position limit.

Rupee
The rupee appreciated 16 paise to close at 85.76 against the US dollar, tracking a weak greenback in the overseas market and a decline in global crude oil prices.