Indian stocks likely to open flat today

The Indian benchmark indices are likely to open on a flat note today as SGX Nifty rose 4 points to 17,090 level amid mixed global cues. Singapore Nifty SGX Nifty is the Indian Nifty index that is traded in Singapore Stock Exchange and considered to be the first indication of the opening of the Indian markets.

The Indian market was higher in volatile trade on Monday, backed by gains in Reliance Industries, Kotak Bank and HCL Tech. Sensex ended 153 points higher at 57,260 and Nifty gained 27 points to 17,053. Kotak Bank was the leading Sensex gainer, soaring 2.92 per cent, followed by HCL Tech, TCS, Titan, Bajaj Finance and Reliance Industries.

Shrikant Chouhan, head of equity research retail Kotak Securities, said investors are trading with caution because of reports of a rising threat of a new South African coronavirus variant. For day traders, the Nifty has support at 16,950 and above the same, a pullback rally could lift the index up to 100 day simple moving average or 17115. The index may go up to 17200 if the move continues. On the flip side, the dismissal of 16950 could potentially open up another correction leg up to 16,830 -- 16,780 levels. Domestic institutional investors DIIs bought shares worth Rs 4,611 crore, as per provisional data available on the NSE, and foreign institutional investors sold shares worth Rs 3,332 crore on November 29.

Australia's S&P ASX 200 was trading 77 points higher at 7,316. Nikkei went up 210 points to 28,493 and Shanghai Composite was trading 5 points higher at 3,568. The Hang Seng index fell 297 points to 23,555. The S&P 500 ended up 60 points higher at 4,655 on Wall Street, the Nasdaq gained 291 points to 15,782 and the Dow Jones rose 236 points to 35,135.