Ahead of Market: 10 things that will decide stock market action on Thursday

Indian benchmarks Sensex and Nifty closed marginally higher on Wednesday but gave up most intraday gains, with Nifty ending near 24,000 after touching 24,220. Softer US inflation data and the Feds balanced stance supported sentiment, while higher crude prices on West Asia tensions triggered profit booking. Sectoral trends were mixed, with PSU banks and textile stocks advancing on the India-UK trade deal going live, while metals declined on weak China GDP data and IT underperformed following IBMs weak results. Technical analysts from Bajaj Broking expect Nifty to consolidate in the 23,800 to 24,350 range.