Markets may begin on a cautious note following negative cues from Asian peers

Indian markets are likely to make a cautious start mirroring the nervousness in the global markets. Market participants will also react to industrial output data which was released post market hours on Friday. The Industrial output growth plunged to a 17-month low of 0.5 per cent in November. Going ahead, investors will be eyeing WPI inflation data and CPI inflation data which are due to be released today. The trend on SGX Nifty indicates Nifty will open almost unchanged at 10,825.  
  
Majority of the Asian stock markets were trading in the red on Monday. Hong Kong’s index Hang Seng has lost 1.29 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite index has dropped 0.29 per cent, while Japanese stock market is closed for a public holiday.  
  
Back home, equity benchmark indices made an optimistic start and, thereafter, the indices turned lacklustre and remained weak for the rest of the session. However, a rebound in the last hour trading trimmed losses and the indices ended marginally lower on Friday. The BSE Sensex lost 0.27 per cent to end at 36,010 and Nifty slipped 0.25 per cent to close at 10,795. The broader indices moved in line with benchmark indices and ended in the negative terrain with Nifty Mid-cap and Small-cap shedding 0.20 and 0.29 per cent, respectively. Talking about sectoral performance, barring Nifty FMCG and Nifty Financial Services, all other sectoral indices ended in the red, with Nifty Realty and Nifty PSU Bank ending as top losers.  
  
In the US, after opening lower and trading with losses in the early part of the trading session, stock indices climbed well off their worst levels of the session and ended the day with modest losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.02 per cent to close at 23,996, the S&P 500 index slipped 0.01 per cent to finish at 2,596 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed 0.21 per cent to end at 6,971. It was a quiet day for economic news, with the CPI dipping 0.1 per cent month-on-month in December, in line with the Bloomberg estimate.    
  
Majority of European shares eked out modest gains on Thursday. The DAX of Germany closed with a 0.26 per cent gain; the CAC of France dipped 0.16 per cent and the FTSE 100 of the UK advanced 0.52 per cent. The UK manufacturing and industrial production unexpectedly declined in November, while the nation’s three-month GDP growth decelerated to the slowest pace in six months.