At 7:30 am, the Nifty futures were trading lower by 0.4 per cent on Singapore Stock Exchange.The domestic stock markets are likely to open on a cautious note after closing at record highs in the previous session, amid eight straight days of gains.

Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a negative opening for the index in India with a 47 points loss.

At 7:30 am, the Nifty futures were trading at 12,747, lower by 47 points or 0.4 per cent, on the Singapore Stock Exchange.Stocks in Asia were set to continue their gains on Thursday, buoyed again by continued global stimulus efforts and hopes of a coronavirus vaccine.

Australian S-P/ASX 200 shares rose 0.29 per cent in early trading, while Japan's Nikkei 225 futures fell 0.2 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index futures rose 0.56 per cent.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed 0.01 per cent higher.The Nasdaq closed up 2 per cent on Wednesday as investors switched back to technology stocks and away from economically sensitive sectors as they weighed COVID-19 vaccine progress against a virus surge and likely timing for a economic rebound.The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.08 per cent, while the S-P 500 gained 0.77 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite added 2.01 per cent.Meanwhile, brent rose on Wednesday, briefly touching a more than two-month high above $45 a barrel on hopes of a COVID-19 vaccine that could boost demand and later pulling back as concerns about rising cases overtook bullish news.Brent settled up 19 cents, or 0.4 per cent, at $43.80 a barrel, after earlier trading at a session peak of $45.30 - the first time it has cleared the $45 threshold since early September.

U.S.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude settled up 9 cents at $41.45, after setting a session high of $43.06.Eicher Motors, Engineers India, Grasim Industries, HUDCO, Infibeam Avenues, IRCTC, IRB Infrastructure Developers and Jubilant FoodWorks are among the companies to declare their Q2 numbers during the day.The benchmark indices had ended at record highs on Wednesday, rallying for the eighth session in a row; the BSE Sensex had ended higher by 316 points or 0.73 per cent to close at 43,594 and NSE Nifty had climbed 118 points to settle at 12,749.