Sensex, Nifty likely to open flat amid mixed global cues

Indian benchmark indices are likely to open on a flat to negative note today as SGX Nifty quoted at 17,264 (up 16 points) at 8:40 am.

Singapore Nifty (SGX Nifty) is the Indian Nifty index that is traded in the Singapore Stock Exchange and is considered to be the first indication of the opening of the Indian market.

Benchmark indices ended higher on Thursday, tracking gains in index majors such as Infosys, Reliance Industries and Bajaj Finance amid positive global cues.

Sensex rose 113.11 points to settle at 57,901 and Nifty rose 27 points to 17,248.

Bajaj Finance was the top Sensex gainer rising 2.61 per cent, followed by Infosys, Titan, Reliance Industries and HCL Tech.

Gaurav Ratnaparkhi, Head of Technical Research, Sharekhan said, "The Nifty, with an opening gap, opened right into the near term hurdle zone of 17350-17400. It attracted a fresh round of selling over there and moved down as the day progressed. Nevertheless, the selling pressure was absorbed near the junction of the hourly lower Bollinger Band and the 61.8% retracement of the recent leg of the rise, which is near 17,170."

"Hereon, the Nifty looks poised to test the barrier of 17350-17400 again in the coming sessions. Overall, 17000-17600 is the broad short-term range for the Nifty & within that, 17170-17400 will be the tight range over the next few sessions," he added.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs 1,468.71 crore on December 16, and domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs 1,533.15 crore, as per provisional data available on NSE.