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

Indian equities closed higher on Wednesday, with the Nifty rising 0.4% to end at 24,667 – buoyed by a late surge in buying interest during the final hour of trade. Analysts expect the positive momentum in Indian markets is likely to persist, supported by easing geopolitical tensions, progress on trade agreements, and improving signs of macroeconomic stability.

STATE OF THE MARKETS
GIFT Nifty (Earlier SGX Nifty) signals a positive start
GIFT Nifty on the NSE IX traded higher by 42.50 points, or 0.17 per cent, at 24,757, signaling that Dalal Street was headed for positive start on Thursday.

• Tech View: On a positive note, the index is still holding above the golden retracement level of the entire decline from the all-time high, as well as the bullish gap formed on Monday. This reinforces our positive bias, favouring a strategy of buying on dips and booking profits near key resistance levels. For now, the immediate support is seen at 24500, while resistance is placed around 24800
• India VIX: India VIX, which is a measure of the fear in the markets, fell 5.6% to settle at 17.18 levels.

US stocks mixed
The S&P 500 closed slightly higher after flitting between gains and losses during Wednesday's lackluster session as investors waited for the next batch of economic data after a robust start to the week spurred by soft inflation data and a U.S.-China tariff truce.

• Dow off 0.21%,
• S&P 500 up 0.10%,
• Nasdaq rises 0.72%

Asian shares decline
Stocks in Asia fell on Thursday for the first time in five sessions as the rally on Wall Street sparked by US-China trade talks showed signs of exhaustion.

• S&P 500 futures fell 0.2% as of 9:15 a.m. Tokyo time
• Japan’s Topix fell 0.6%
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.2%
• Euro Stoxx 50 futures fell 0.2%

Oil slips
Oil prices lost nearly $1 in early trade on Thursday on expectations of a potential U.S.-Iran nuclear deal, while an unexpected build in U.S. crude oil inventories last week heightened investor concerns about oversupply.

Gold gains
Gold prices edged higher on Thursday as investors took advantage of lower levels after the metal hit a one-month low in the previous session, while market participants now await U.S. Producer Price Index data for clearer economic direction.

Stocks in F&O ban today

1) CDSL

2) Manappuram

3) 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.

FII/DII action
Foreign portfolio investors net bought shares worth Rs 932 crore on Wednesday. DIIs, meanwhile, were net buyers at Rs 316 crore.

Rupee
The rupee reversed early gains to settle flat at 85.36 against the US dollar on Tuesday, as rising crude oil prices prompted importers to raise hedging amid weakness in Asian currencies.

FII data
The position of FIIs in the futures market reduced from net short of Rs 36,500 crore on Tuesday to net short of Rs 34000 crore on Wednesday.