Gap-up opening likely amid positive cues from Asian peers

Benchmark indices are likely to make gap-up opening tracking firm cues from Asian peers. Traders will be getting encouragement with the CPI inflation for December coming in at 2.19 per cent, which is close to the lower end of the RBI comfort zone and this is the lowest inflation recorded in the last 18 months. The positive trend on SGX Nifty indicates Nifty is likely to open with a gain of 52 points around 10,822. The key earnings to watch out today are ZEEL, MCX, TV18 BRDCT, MCX and KPIT.   
  
Asian stock markets were trading firmly in the positive terrain on Tuesday, shrugging of weak cues from the Wall Street. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has surged 1.45 per cent, Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 0.91 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite index has added 0.41 per cent.  
  
Back home, it was not a desired start to the week  for the bulls as global cues were weak and the hangover of weak IIP data gripped the market as markets opened in the negative territory and remained so for the rest of the session. However, a pullback in the last leg of the session helped indices to recoup some of the losses. In the end, BSE Sensex ended lower by 0.43 per cent at 35,854 and the Nifty slipped 0.53 per cent to 10,738. The broader indices also ended in the red with Nifty Mid-cap and Small-cap ending down by 0.39 and 0.29 per cent, respectively. Among sectoral performances, barring Nifty Pharma, all other indices ended in the negative terrain with Nifty Metal and Nifty Media being the top losers.  
  
The US stocks recovered from the worst levels, but closed mostly lower on the first trading session of the week. The initial set-back on Wall Street was seen on the back of soft trade data from China. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.36 per cent to close at 23,910, the S&P 500 index dropped 0.53 per cent to finish at 2,583 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 0.94 per cent to end at 6,906.  
  
The equity markets in Europe ended lower on Monday as China reported weak trade performance and that seemed to stoke global growth fears. Also, Brexit continued to be in focus, with British lawmakers set to vote on a controversial divorce deal today. In the economic news, Eurozone industrial production decreased at a faster pace than expected in November. The DAX of Germany ended lower by 0.29 per cent gain; the CAC of France shed 0.39 per cent and the FTSE 100 of the UK dropped 0.91 per cent.