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

In a highly volatile session, domestic equities ended with gains on Thursday, tracking positive cues from Asian markets and US equity futures. Looking ahead, analysts expect the market to remain range-bound, with sector rotation and stock-specific movements driven by the final set of Q4 results on Friday, macro-economic indicators, and developments on the US tariff front.

STATE OF THE MARKETS
GIFT Nifty (Earlier SGX Nifty) signals a muted start
GIFT Nifty on the NSE IX traded higher by 10 points, or 0.04 per cent, at 24,947, signaling that Dalal Street was headed for muted start on Friday.

• Tech View: The next crucial support is at 24,670. If the index falls below this level, a sharp correction may occur, potentially dragging the index down to 24,400/ 24,300.
• India VIX: India VIX, which is a measure of the fear in the markets, fell 8.5% to settle at 16.42 levels.

US stocks end higher
US stocks ended higher on Thursday as shares of Nvidia gained after its quarterly results, while investors digested a late-afternoon court ruling that reinstated the most sweeping of President Donald Trump's tariffs.
Dow up 0.3%,
S&P 500 rises 0.4%,
Nasdaq gains 0.4%


Asian shares down
Asian stocks were set to decline as investors pared optimism due to legal uncertainties around President Donald Trump’s trade war and a slowing US economy.

• S&P 500 futures fell 0.2% as of 8:16 a.m. Tokyo time
• Hang Seng futures fell 0.7%
• S&P/ASX 200 futures fell 0.2%

Stocks in F&O ban today

NIL

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 net bought shares worth Rs 884 crore on Thursday. DIIs, meanwhile, were net buyers at Rs 4,286 crore.

Rupee
The rupee declined 10 paise to close at 85.48 against the US dollar on Thursday due to a strong American currency against major crosses overseas and rising global crude oil prices.

FII data
The position of FIIs in the futures market reduced from a net short of Rs 78,987 crore on Wednesday to Rs 77,963 crore on Thursday.