Markets may open on a positive note following upbeat global cues

The markets are all set to witness a jubilant start on Thursday as cues from the Asian markets are positive after Wall Street posted its largest single-day gain in history. The SGX Nifty Index Future was trading higher by 36 points at 10,798.  
  
Asian bourses are firmly higher following strong cues from the Wall Street as investors cheered signs of easing US-Sino trade tensions and stronger-than-expected US economic data. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has risen 0.64 per cent, China’s Shanghai Composite index has increased 0.64 per cent and the Japanese Nikkei 225 has surged 3.46 per cent.   

Back home, the equity benchmark indices witness gap-down opening following weakness seen across Asian markets and as the US equity futures pointed to substantial fall on the Wall street. However, in the second-half of the trading session, markets pared all of their losses to close the day in the positive terrain. Nifty surged 0.62 per cent to 10,729.85 and the BSE Sensex rose 0.51 per cent to 35,650. The broader indices underperformed the frontline indices as Nifty Mid-cap ended with modest loss of 0.09 per cent, while Nifty Small-cap registered miniscule gain of 0.06 per cent. Among the sectoral indices, Nifty IT and Nifty Pharma ended as top losers, while Nifty Media and Nifty Bank gained the most.   

The US market experienced its largest single-day gain in history as bargain hunting contributed to the rally on Wall street. The shoppers delivered the strongest holiday sales increase for the US retailers in six years according to MasterCard Spending Pulse. Meanwhile, the White House Council of Economic Advisers chairman Kevin Hassett told reporters that the Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell’s job was 100% safe. At the end of the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 4.98 per cent, the S&P 500 surged 4.96 per cent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq soared 5.84 per cent.  

Most of the European equity markets were closed on Wednesday due to Boxing Day holiday, while Germany’s market was closed due to second day of Christmas.