Indian equity benchmarks are likely to start Thursday's session on a muted note amid a mixed trend in global markets. At 8:58 am, Singapore Exchange (SGX) Nifty futures -- an early indicator of the Nifty index -- were down 18 points or 0.1 percent at 17,790.5.

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Shares in other Asian markets were mixed amid persisting concerns about global growth and geopolitical tensions.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.3 percent at the last count. Japan's Nikkei 225 was down 1.2 percent. South Korea's KOSPI was up 2.1 percent, and Singapore's Straits Times up 1.8 percent.

Several markets, including China and Hong Kong, remained shut for Lunar New Year holidays.

S&P 500 futures were down 1.1 percent, after the three main Wall Street indices ended a choppy session 0.5-0.9 percent higher boosted by upbeat earnings.

CNBC-TV18’s in-house panel of experts has picked a list of stocks for investors to buy/sell in trade today. Here are the top buy-sell calls by market experts:

Sudarshan Sukhani of s2analytics.com

Buy IGL with a stop loss at Rs 390

Buy PI Industries with a stop loss at Rs 2,370

Buy DRL with a stop loss at Rs 4,300

Sell MCX with a stop loss at Rs 1,590

Mitessh Thakkar of earningwaves.com

Buy Biocon for a target of Rs 405 with a stop loss at Rs 379

Buy Can Fin Homes for a target of Rs 690 with a stop loss at Rs 648

Buy LIC Housing Finance for a target of Rs 416 with a stop loss at Rs 393

Sell HPCL for a target of Rs 278 with a stop loss at Rs 296

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