Gap-up opening likely following positive global cues

Indian shares look set to open higher on the final trading session of the week as positive cues from global markets may lift investor’s sentiments. The SGX Nifty has surged 49 points to 11,092, indicating a gap-up start to the day. The government and the RBI are scheduled to finalise the borrowing calendar for the second half of the current fiscal today.  
  
The shares in Asia inched higher in early deals on the last trading session of the week following upbeat close on the Wall Street. The Japanese market outperformed its counterpart in Asia as it has jumped over a per cent, while Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng has gained 0.31 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite has added 0.24 per cent.  
  
Back home, it was a dreadful September series expiry for the Indian benchmark indices, which extended their losing streak for the second straight day and frontline indices ended below their important psychological levels of 11,000 (Nifty) and 36,400 (BSE Sensex). After starting the session on a flat note, indices pared gains in no time, and thereafter, they remained under selling pressure throughout the session. The broader markets witnessed a huge sell-off, as both the Nifty Mid-cap and Small-cap indices were down 2.29 per cent and 2.52 per cent, respectively. Talking about sectoral performance, barring Nifty IT, which gained 0.54 per cent, all other sectoral indices ended in the red with Nifty Realty leading the loser list as it slumped 2.76 per cent.  
  
The US stocks pulled back off their highs of the session, but managed to close Thursday’s session in the positive territory, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index outperforming its counterparts. The Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 52 points to close at 8,042, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 55 points to end at 26,440 and the S&P 500 Index rose 8 points to finish at 2,914. A slew of upbeat economic data were reported, including a report from the US commerce department showing a much bigger-than-expected jump in durable goods order in the month of August and an unrevised second-quarter US GDP growth at an annual rate of 4.2 per cent. But not all was rosy as the National Association of Realtors released a report showing pending home sales dropped much more-than-expected in the month of August. Meanwhile, weekly initial jobless claims increased by 12,000 to 214,000, versus estimates expecting for a rise to 210,000 with the prior week’s figure revised higher by 1,000 to 202,000.  
  
The European indices ended Thursday’s session in the green. In economic news, German consumer confidence and consumer price inflation figures came in above expectations, while Eurozone economic sentiments weakened further in September. On the other hand, Italy’s budget discussion hit another hurdle with the budget announcement postponed as coalition partners failed to reach an agreement over the government’s spending and borrowing targets. The DAX of Germany advanced 0.40 per cent; the CAC 40 of France increased 0.50 per cent and UK’s FTSE 100 finished higher by 0.45 per cent.