Trading of Nifty 50 index futures on the Singapore stock exchange indicates that the Nifty could gain 12.30 points at the opening bell amid mixed trend in Asian stocks.

Overseas, Asian stocks were mixed. US financial markets remained closed yesterday, 16 January 2017, for Martin Luther King Jr. Day crimping market activity.

British Prime Minister Theresa May will address speech today, 17 January 2017. Investors will scrutinise May's speech for clues to whether she plans to prioritise immigration controls in a "hard Brexit" that some say could hurt UK's economy.

Among corporate news, TCS announced a partnership with Aurus, Inc., a global leader in innovative payments technology, to deliver payment solutions for retailers using TCS OmniStore, a first of its kind unified store commerce platform. The omnichannel payment solution facilitates transactions across channels and delivers unmatched convenience and security to both end consumers and retailers.

Through this partnership with Aurus, retailers using TCS OmniStore will be able to easily process multiple payments across channels. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 16 January 2017.

HCL Technologies after market hours yesterday, 16 January 2017, issued a clarification to the stock exchanges on a law suit filed against HCL America Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the company. CultureSphere Inc., a California based corporation, has made certain claims and allegations against HCL America Inc and has filed a suit against HCL America Inc in Santa Clara County Superior Court.

While the matter is sub-judice and the company will respect the legal outcome, the company, in the interest of its stakeholders, would like to clarify that the allegations in the lawsuit are totally baseless, and there have been no agreements written or unwritten between the parties, HCL Technologies said. The company added that it will defend its position accordingly.

Infosys announced its internal carbon price at $10.5 per ton of CO2e, at an event organized by the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition (CPLC) in Zurich. A significant milestone for Infosys, the price will be applicable for a period of two years and will represent the cost of decarbonizing 1 ton of CO2e.

Infosys has been working towards building a clean energy future and has been on track to meet its commitment of becoming carbon neutral in 2018. In addition, Infosys has also committed to reduce its per-capita electricity consumption by 50% from the 2008 level and use 100% renewable power for electricity by 2018. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 16 January 2017.

On a consolidated basis, Reliance Industries (RIL) net profit rose 3.6% to Rs 7506 crore on 16.1% increase in turnover to Rs 84189 crore in Q3 December 2016 over Q3 December 2015. Profit before depreciation, interest, and taxes (PBDIT) increased by 3.9% to Rs 14215 crore in Q3 December 2016 over Q3 December 2015.

Profit Before Tax increased by 3.7% to Rs 10213 crore in Q3 December 2016 over Q3 December 2015. Cash Profit increased by 2.3% to Rs 10586 crore in Q3 December 2016 over Q3 December 2015. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 16 January 2017. The result is as per Indian Accounting Standards (Ind AS).

Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) said that it received in-principle approval for merger of Petronet CCK (PCCKL) with itself. PCCKL is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BPCL. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 16 January 2017.

Meanwhile, key benchmark indices settled with small gains yesterday, 16 January 2017, shrugging off weak trend in global stocks as domestic data showing fall in trade deficit in December extended support amid another data showing slight rise in wholesale inflation. The Sensex rose 50.11 points or 0.18% to settle at 27,288.17, its highest closing level since 10 November 2016.

Trading activity on Monday, 16 January 2017 showed that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 347.25 crore, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 203.45 crore on Monday, 16 January 2017, as per provisional data.