Pre-market: Nifty seen opening higher; may reclaim 8500 levels

NEW DELHI: The 50-share Nifty index is expected to open flat-to-higher on Tuesday, following positive trend seen in other Asian markets. Tracking the momentum, the index may reclaim its crucial psychological level of 8,500 in trade today.

At 08:00 A.M., Nifty India stock futures in Singapore were trading 18 points higher at 8,502 indicating a flat-to-higher opening on the domestic market.

Benchmark indices ended lower as a lacklustre parliament session and the absence of any positive earnings trigger weighed on sentiment. The BSE index ended 0.67 per cent lower, while the NSE index shed 0.48 per cent.

"Monday was not a very active trading day. Nifty broadly maintained 8,350. Traders should look at the 8,440-8,450 region as some kind of pivot level," says Mitesh Thacker, Technical Analyst, miteshthacker.com.

"One must stay positive above that range. Broadly, it still looks like a market which might not do much. On the downside 8,350 should hold out nicely for the next couple of weeks," he added.

Thacker is of the view that on the upside, it difficult to see Nifty getting past 8,600 level. So, it is a market which will be very stock-specific and we will keep trading with that kind of strategy.

Overnight, US stocks ended higher after strong economic data boosted the housing sector and as investors bought recently battered shares in biotech and media.

"Housing stocks rose after data showed U.S. homebuilder sentiment rose in August to its highest since a matching reading almost a decade ago," Reuters said in a report.

"The data more than offset earlier concern over a surprise fall in manufacturing activity in New York state in August," added the report.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 67.78 points, or 0.39 per cent, to 17,545.18, the S&P 500 gained 10.9 points, or 0.52 per cent, to 2,102.44 and the Nasdaq Composite added 43.46 points, or 0.86 per cent, to 5,091.70.

Asian shares were trading with a positive bias, after strong U.S. housing data offset concerns from a weak U.S. manufacturing report.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index which was trading 0.11 per cent higher at 20,644, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was trading 0.50 per cent higher at 23,932, and China's Shanghai index was trading 0.27 per cent lower at 3,982.