Markets likely to open with a gap-up following upbeat global cues

Indian equity indices are expected to kick-start the week with a gap-up opening following the rally on the Wall Street on Friday and both the US and China expressing optimism ahead of new round of trade talks. The SGX Nifty suggests that Nifty may witness a gap-up opening of 0.97 per cent around the level of 10,883.  
  
Asian stock markets were seen surging higher on Monday morning after the rebound on Wall Street on Friday on the back of upbeat job data and optimism about the US and China trade talks which begin today boosted sentiments. The Japanese stock market Nikkei 225 index has soared 2.75 per cent; Hong Kong Index Hang Seng has gained 1.05 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite index has added 0.40 per cent.  
  
Back home, the benchmark indices made a stable start and, thereafter, it attempted to move up during the initial part of the trading session. However, the indices slipped into a sharp decline during the mid-session as India’s services sector activity slowed slightly in the month of December as new work orders and business activity moderated from November’s recent high. In the last leg of the session, benchmark indices bounced back to end near the high point of the day with Nifty registering gain of 0.52 and BSE Sensex of 0.51 per cent. The broader indices ended in the green as well, with Nifty Mid-cap and Small-cap soaring 0.61 and 0.37 per cent, respectively. Talking about the sectoral performance, barring Nifty IT, all other sectors ended in the green with Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty Metal gaining the most.   
  
The major US stock indices bounced back into green on the last trading day of the week on the back of a better-than-expected employment data, which was followed by comments made by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, in which he indicated that the central bank was prepared to be flexible with monetary policy and this undoubtedly helped set the tone for the bulls. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 3.29 per cent to 23,433, the S&P 500 index spiked 3.43 per cent to 2,532 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 4.26 per cent to 6,739.   
  
The European stock markets ended Friday’s session firmly in the positive terrain. The DAX of Germany surged 3.37 per cent; the CAC of France gained 2.72 per cent and the FTSE 100 of the UK finished higher by 2.18 per cent.