Markets may open in the green tracking firm global cues

Indian markets are expected to open on a positive note amid firm global cues. The SGX Nifty is indicating that the Nifty could open with gains of 21 points around 10,407 at the opening bell.  

Asian markets were trading in positive territory on Friday following positive leads overnight from the Wall Street. The Japanese stock market has gained 86 points, Hang Seng has surged 378 points, while Shanghai’s market has added 23 points.  

Back home, markets began the expiry day on a cautious note and, thereafter, markets traded within a defined range and volatility too remained confined within a range. Finally, the BSE Sensex closed at 33,820, down by 0.07%, and Nifty ended the day at 10,382.70, with modest cut of 0.14%. The broader markets underperformed the benchmark indices as Nifty Mid-cap and Nifty Small-cap shed 0.51% and 0.48%, respectively. Among the sectors, Nifty IT, Nifty Realty and Nifty Pvt Bank were the top gainers.  

In the US, stock markets ended on a mixed note, with the Dow and the S&P 500 closing higher, whereas, the tech-heavy Nasdaq edged modestly lower on Thursday. The strength on the Wall Street followed the upbeat data on the labour market, which may have for a short time wracked investors' nerves over rising inflation and rising bond yields. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 165 points to close at 24,962 and the S&P 500 rose 3 points to settle at 2,704. On the other hand, the Nasdaq Composite index dipped 8 points to finish at 7,210.   

The European markets ended Thursday’s session with modest losses. Market participants’ sentiment took a hit following the release of the weaker-than-expected German business confidence report. Minutes from the European Central Bank’s meeting showed officials thought it was “premature” to change its forward guidance as inflation remained too far from the ECB’s target of just below 2%. Nevertheless, the account also showed that the ECB could revisit its forward guidance on quantitative easing early this year.  Germany’s DAX dropped 0.07%, FTSE 100 of the UK lost 0.40%, but CAC 40 of France added 0.13%