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

Benchmark Nifty ended higher in a volatile trading session on Wednesday. Analysts say the Indian market showed resilience, despite the global market cues being flat to negative as US tariff uncertainties persist.

"We expect continued positive momentum for Indian markets on the back of progress in US-India trade settlement as the two countries signed the terms of reference for the first part of the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA). However, the escalation of tariff war between US and China could induce some volatility," said Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Research, Wealth Management, Motilal Oswal.

STATE OF THE MARKETS
GIFT Nifty (Earlier SGX Nifty) signals a negative start
GIFT Nifty on the NSE IX traded lower by 140 points, or 0.60 per cent, at 23,329, signaling that Dalal Street was headed for negative start on Thursday.

• Tech View: Support is now placed at 23,300, and a positive sentiment is likely to prevail as long as it remains above this level. A decisive fall below 23,300 might trigger a correction towards 23,150/23,000. On the higher side, resistance is visible at 23,650.
• India VIX: India VIX, which is a measure of the fear in the markets, fell 1.6% to settle at 15.86 levels.

US stocks end lower
U.S. stocks ended sharply lower on Wednesday as Nvidia warned about steep charges from new U.S. curbs on its chip exports to China and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said U.S. economic growth appears to be slowing. Powell, in remarks for the Economic Club of Chicago, said larger-than-expected tariffs likely mean higher inflation and slower growth. But he said the Fed would wait for more data on the economy's direction before making any changes to interest rates.

• Dow dips 1.7%;
• S&P 500 down 2.2%;
• Nasdaq falls 3.1%

Asian stocks fall
Asian equity-index futures fell on Thursday, tracking losses in US stocks, after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned that trade tensions risked undermining the central bank’s employment and inflation goals.

• S&P 500 futures were little changed as of 8:25 a.m. Tokyo time
• Hang Seng futures fell 1%
• S&P/ASX 200 futures fell 0.3%

Gold extends rally
Gold extended its record rally on Thursday as investors sought refuge in safe-haven assets amid an intensifying global trade conflict between the United States and its trading partners.

Dollar slides
The dollar looked set to notch a fourth straight weekly loss on Thursday as tariffs drive investors from U.S. assets, though it lifted off a seven-month low against the yen as U.S.-Japan trade talks have so far steered clear of any currency discussion.

Oil gains
Oil prices extended gains on Thursday on the prospect of tighter supply after Washington imposed further sanctions to curb Iranian oil trade and as some OPEC producers pledged further output cuts to compensate for pumping above agreed quotas.

Stocks in F&O ban today

1) BirlaSoft

2) Hindustan Copper

3) Manappuram

4) Nalco

5) IREDA

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 turned net buyers at Rs 3,936 crore on Wednesday. DIIs bought shares worth Rs 2,513 crore.

Rupee
The rupee sustained its rally for the third straight session and settled with a gain of 12 paise at 85.68 (provisional) against the US dollar on Wednesday, boosted by the renewed inflow of foreign funds and a weak American currency.

FII data
The net short of FIIs reduced from Rs 87,347 crore on Tuesday to Rs 86,069 crore on Wednesday.