Nifty likely to open flat with positive bias; China gains

The Nifty is likely to open flat with a mildly positive bias, with indicator SGX Nifty trading at 8200.50, up 1.50 points at 7.45 AM. The Sensex ended up 102.97 points or 0.4 percent at 27035.85 on Wednesday, while the Nifty too was up 24.50 points or 0.3 percent at 8177.40. About 1660 shares advanced, 1081 shares declined and 114 shares were unchanged.

In morning trade, Asian stocks traded mostly higher on Thursday following a positive lead from Wall Street, with Chinese equities leading gains after mainland markets resumed trade after a week-long holiday. The key focus today will be on the Chinese markets, which reopened after National Day holidays. The Shanghai Composite opened up 3.5 percent at 3,158.90. Elsewhere in Greater China, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slipped 0.5 percent and Taiwan's Taiex edged down 0.1 percent.

Meanwhile, major US indexes closed higher overnight, helped by a recovery in health care stocks and gains in energy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.7 percent, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite gained 0.8 and 0.9 percent, respectively.

But stocks in Europe pared gains to close flat, with auto stocks and miners outperforming after some recovery in oil prices. German Dax outperformed to close up 0.70 percent higher, boosted by auto stocks, which make up a comparatively large part of its index.

In the currency space, dollar gained against euro, franc on greater appetite for risk. While in the commodities and the precious metals space, crude prices slipped in volatile trade after the US  Energy Information Administration said that crude inventories in the country rose by 3.1 million barrels last week, versus a 2.2 million-barrel build expected by analysts. Gold prices too fell from a two-week high on firmer dollar, but losses were capped on expectations that the US Federal Reserve will delay raising interest rates until next year.