Pre-market: Key triggers you must know before the Opening Bell on Dalal Street

Good morning, ETMarkets Readers!

Will a weak IMF forecast on domestic GDP growth, delay in GST implementation and a rise in wholesale price inflation cast shadow on the positive momentum on Dalal Street? Or would an upbeat third quarter earnings season led by another quarter of billion dollar profit from Reliance Industries keep the bears at bay?

Let’s check out what might matter to the market on Tuesday.

Cues from Singapore positive
At 6.15 am, Nifty50 futures on the Singapore Stock Exchange were trading 15.50 points higher at 8,448, indicating a higher opening for the domestic market. "The Nifty50 has broken critical area of 8,250 and have decisively held on to the gains. There is a little bit of congestion around 8,500 and that is going to be tested now. I do not expect the market to rally ahead of the budget. A short-term trader should take some profits off the table. The trajectory, though, looks positive for now," said Kunal Saraogi of Equity Rush.

RIL spreads feel-good factor
RIL reported a 4.12 per cent QoQ rise in standalone net profit to Rs 8,022 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2016. The numbers came in higher than Rs 7,856 crore anticipated by analysts polled in an ETNow survey. The largest private sector player in terms of profit had reported a net profit of Rs 7,704 crore for the September quarter. Gross refining margin (GRM) for the quarter came in at $10.8/bbl, falling below analyst estimate of $11.5 a barrel. The number was higher than $10.1 a barrel reported for the previous quarter.

IMF cuts GDP growth estimate
IMF has cut India's growth rate for this financial year to 6.6 per cent from 7.6 per cent earlier due to the "temporary negative consumption shock" of demonetisation. This has come days after World Bank slashed India's growth estimates. In 2017, IMF has projected a growth rate of 7.2 per cent as against its previous forecast of 7.6 per cent. The Indian economy is likely to revive to go back to its previously estimated growth rate of 7.7 per cent in 2018, according to the World Economic Outlook update.

Nifty50 maybe in a bullish setup
The Nifty50 on Monday saw lacklustre trading, with the index trading in a narrow 50-odd points range throughout the session, to eventually end up forming a small bull candle on the daily chart. While, the upside looks limited, the index is likely to trade with a positive bias going ahead. “The hourly chart now looks a bit encouraging and thus, we expect the index to extend Monday’s rally at least towards the downside gap area of 8,460-8,510. On the downside, the 8,370-8,350 range should be seen as an immediate support zone,” said Sameet Chavan, Chief Analyst for Technical & Derivatives, Angel Broking.

Asian markets trade mixed
Japanese Nikkei, Australian S&P/ASX 200 and the Korean Kospi were trading positive in morning trade. Other Asian markets were set to open on a cautious note ahead of Japanese industrial output data. UK Prime Minister Theresa May was scheduled to deliver a speech later in the day, where she was expected to talk about Brexit.

Wall Street to resume trade
US markets, which were closed on Monday on account of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, will resume trade on Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average index had slipped 5.27 points to settle at 19,885 on Friday. The S&P500 index had edged 4.20 points, or 0.2 per cent, higher at 2,274. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 26.63 points, or 0.48 per cent, to 5,574 on Friday.