NIFTY50, SENSEX today: Wall Street cues, FII activity, key things to know before markets open on January 28

The Indian equity benchmarks are set to open higher on Wednesday, January 28, as indicated by GIFT NIFTY futures. NIFTY futures at GIFT City in Ahmedabad advanced 19 points to 25,446 amid positive cues from Asian markets.

The Indian equity benchmarks ended Tuesday's highly volatile session higher powered by gains in banking heavyweights like HDFC Bank, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank.

The SENSEX ended 320 points higher at 81,857 and NIFTY50 index advanced 127 points to close at 25,175.

In the January F&O series NIFTY50 index dropped nearly 3%, data from the National Stock Exchange (NSE) showed.

Asian markets

Most of the Asian markets were trading higher after S&P 500 hit record high in the previous session. China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.23%, South Korea's KOSPI advanced 1.4%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 1.06% while Japan's Nikkei fell 0.6%.

Wall Street update

Overnight, S&P500 closed at fresh record high on Tuesday ahead of the crucial Federal Reserve’s policy outcome.

S&P 500 advanced 0.4%, Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.8% and tech heavy Nasdaq advanced 0.9%.

However, investors remain sceptical about the US stock market rally as the US Dollar index continued to slide to nearly 4-year low levels. The Federal Reserve will announce its policy outcome later on Wednesday evening. The consensus estimates suggest that the policy rates will remain unchanged, considering robust GDP numbers and a controlled labour market situation.

FII/DII activity

Foreign institutional investors sold shares worth ₹3,068 crore on Tuesday while domestic institutional investors bought shares worth ₹9,000 crore, data from the National Stock Exchange showed.

The FIIs have so far this month sold shares worth ₹36,811 crore, according to the data from National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL).

Stocks to watch

The company posted a net loss of ₹6,609 crore in the year-ago period, according to a regulatory filing.

The company's subscriber base declined by 3.4% on a YoY basis to 19.29 crore from 19.98 crore. However, Vi saw an increase in postpaid and 4G/5G subscribers.

Under the agreement, ABB India will support the design, manufacture, supply, testing, installation supervision and commissioning of propulsion systems, along with the transfer of technology for the train control and monitoring system (TCMS) for 25 kV AC metro applications, the TRSL informed the bourses.

The framework also provides for a gradual transfer of manufacturing and co-production of converters and traction motors, it said.

Its net profit stood at ₹147.96 crore in the year-ago period.

Total income grew to ₹900.51 crore in the October-December period of this fiscal from ₹683.44 crore in the corresponding period of the preceding year, according to a regulatory filing.

The centre in Londrina, Brazil, will be a major delivery and innovation centre, and create 1,600 new jobs, as per a statement.

The Tata group company -- India's biggest IT services player -- said this is one of its largest investments in Latin America and the centre is expected to be completed by 2027.

Trade setup

On the technical charts, the NIFTY50 closed above the 200-EMA level on Tuesday, after the bounce back in closing hours. The closing above the 200-EMA level of 25,162 indicates buying strength from lower levels. Experts believe the index could remain in the range of 200-EMA ahead of the budget announcement on the weekend.

On the options data front, the initial open interest buildup for 03 Feb expiry indicates 25,000 as the crucial and strong support with the highest open interest on the downside. On the upside, 25,500 calls continued to held the highest open interest, indicating a strong resistance.