Markets Live: SGX Nifty Indicates Gap-Up Open; RIL, Indian Oil, Auto Sales In Focus

Indian equities are likely to rebound from their worst drop in nine months. The decline on Feb. 26 also pushed the benchmarks to their second straight weekly loss.

Yet, the S&P BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty 50 posted their best February in at least two decades. Most sectoral indices, too, reported their best February on record.

Futures are indicating a gap-up opening to Monday's trade. The Singapore-traded SGX Nifty, an early indicator of the Nifty 50 Index’s performance in India, rose 1.5% to 14,746 as of 7:50 a.m.

Auto stocks will be in focus as companies begin to report sales for February. Brokerages are estimating a subdued performance, courtesy higher input costs and waning pent-up demand.

India will also report its manufacturing PMI data for February.

Equities in Japan, Hong Kong and Australia jumped this morning after sovereign bonds extended a rebound after last week's slide, which sparked a sell-off in global markets.

Futures on the Dow Jones are trading 250 points higher. The index fell 1.5% on Friday.

West Texas Intermediate crude is up 2.2% at $62.83 per barrel after Friday's 3.2% fall. Both Brent and WTI crude had their best first two months of the year on record.

Short on time? Well, then listen to this podcast for a quick summary of All You Need To Know before the opening bell.