Benchmark indices may open in the green

Key Indian stock market indices are likely to open a tad higher on Friday, following mixed cues from Asian peers. The SGX Nifty indicates that the Nifty could open at 10,542 with gains of 9 points at the opening bell.   

Asian stock markets are lacking clear direction on Friday. Japan’s Nikkei index gained 41 points. On the other hand, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has shed 22 points and China’s Shanghai Composite has lost 5 points.  

Back home, after trading range-bound for the initial half of the session, markets marched higher in the second half to end near the highest point of the day. The broader indices ended with decent gains, with the NSE Mid-Cap and Small-Cap indices rising 0.98% and 0.91%, respectively. Sector-wise, Nifty Metal showed buoyant performance as it surged 2.79%, followed by Nifty PSU Bank. To conclude, Nifty ended above its important psychological mark of 10,500, while the BSE Sensex closed at 33,970, up by 176 points.  

On Wall Street, all three indices closed at all-time highs on Thursday, while the Dow Jones closed above the landmark of 25,000 for the first time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 152 points to settle at 25,075, Nasdaq rose 12 points to close at 7,078 and the S&P 500 added 11 points to end at 2,724.  

The European indices ended Thursday’s session on a firm note. Solid economic data contributed to the positive mood as the Eurozone private sector expanded the most since early 2011.  The CAC 40 of France climbed 1.55%, DAX of Germany edged up 1.46% and the FTSE 100 of the UK rose 0.32%.