Stocks geared for soft opening today

• Follow

Trading of Nifty 50 index futures on the Singapore stock exchange indicates that the Nifty could fall 20 points at the opening bell. Overseas, Asian stocks traded mixed on Tuesday as investors weighed a record-breaking run in the Dow and S&P 500 against concerns that the delta virus variant will choke global growth. Investors continue to monitor the Covid situation in Australia, with the country’s largest cities currently under lockdown.

In the US, stocks ended at records Monday with the Dow and S&P 500 closing at record highs despite earlier losses tied to weaker-than-forecast Chinese economic data and the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. Investors will look ahead to US retail sales data, set to be released Tuesday stateside by the Census Bureau.

Domestic markets: Back home, benchmark indices settled with decent gains on Monday. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, advanced 145.29 points or 0.26% at 55,582.58. The Nifty 50 index rallied 33.95 points or 0.21% at 16,563.05. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 1,088.32 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net buyers to the tune of Rs 506.21 crore in the Indian equity market on 16 August, provisional data showed.

Stocks to watch

Chandan Taparia, vice president, analyst-derivatives Motilal Oswal Financial Services said, “On stocks front, Bullish setup was seen in Apollo Hospital, Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel, IOC, M&M, Vedanta, Bajaj Finserv, Piramal Enterprises, JSW Steel,  Reliance, HDFC, HUL, HCL Tech and Axis Bank while weakness in Cadila, Aurobindo Pharma, TVS Motor, Maruti Suzuki, Sun Tv, Eicher Motors, Exide Ind, Ultratech Cement, LIC Housing Finance, Hero Motocorp and Biocon.”