Flat Start for markets, Infosys will be in limelight

After a blockbuster Thursday, the bulls would like to continue their supremacy and aim for the all-time high levels. However, today, the Indian markets will be riding on three main planks: Global cues, macro data, and corporate results. The overnight cues from Wall Street are cheerful, as major indices recorded record closing high. On macroeconomic front, the industrial production data for November will be announced today while on corporate earning front, IT bellwether, Infosys, will kick off the Q3 earning season. The SGX Nifty is currently trading three points down, indicating a flat opening for the day. All-in-all, it would be a day full of action.

The Asian markets are trading mixed this morning. Japan’s Nikkei 225 is up by 0.30 per cent, whereas, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and China’s Shanghai Composite are trading with modest losses of 0.07 and 0.13 per cent, respectively.

Back home, Thursday turned out to be a phenomenal day for the equity markets, as key benchmark indices rose over one and half per cent and managed to close around the day’s high. The surge was mainly due to the easing geo-political tensions. The broader markets also ended in green, with Nifty Midcap and Smallcap surging 1.44 per cent and 2.10 per cent, respectively. On the sectoral front, barring Nifty IT, all other sectoral indices ended in the positive. Nifty Realty, Nifty Auto, and Nifty PSU Bank were the major advancers.

In the US, the stock market started positively on Thursday, as market participants believed that the worst of the US-Iran geopolitical tensions is left behind now. Since no news is good news on this front, it was quite a good sign. Further, the Jobless claims dropped more than expected, aiding the bullish sentiment. All three major indices ended the session at new record closing highs. The Dow rose 212 points, the S&P 500 advanced 22 points, and NASDAQ jumped 74 points. The European markets, too, rallied on Thursday amidst expectations of the US and China signing the phase-one trade deal and geopolitical tensions between the US and Iran easing up.