Muted opening likely amid mixed cues from Asian peers

Indian markets are expected to witness a soft opening as cues from Asian peers are mixed. The trend on SGX Nifty indicates Nifty is set to open with a marginal loss of 10 points around 10,933. The key earnings to watch out today are DCB Bank, HT Media and MindTree.  
  
Asian markets are lacking clear direction on Wednesday in spite of positive leads overnight from the Wall Street as market participants digested news that British lawmakers have soundly rejected Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index has slipped 0.69 per cent and Hong Kong’s index Hang Seng has dipped 0.32 per cent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index is almost unchanged.   
  
Back home, after being hammered by bears for the past three trading sessions, bulls bounced back strongly on Tuesday and ended the day with strong gains. The Nifty surged 1.39 per cent to close at 10,887 and the BSE Sensex jumped 1.30 per cent to finish at 36.318. The broader indices ended in the green as well, with Nifty Mid-cap and Small-cap gaining 0.67 and 1.13 per cent, respectively. Talking about the sectoral performance, all indices closed in the green with Nifty IT being the top gainer.  
  
The US stocks rallied on Tuesday on comments out of China suggesting stepped-up stimulus measures after softer trade figures in December were issued and the video streaming giant surging over 6 per cent after the company revealed biggest increase in subscription prices. Meanwhile, traders shrugged off mixed results as earnings season unfolds and a defeat in the historically decisive Brexit vote. The tech-heavy Nasdaq outperformed its counterparts and climbed 1.71 per cent to 7,024, the S&P 500 index advanced 1.07 per cent to 2,610 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.65 per cent to 24,066. 
  
European equities finished higher on Tuesday. The markets registered gains despite report indicating Germany’s economy grew by 1.5 per cent in 2018, compared with 2.2 per cent in 2017 to record its slowest annual growth rate since 2013. After the markets closed, the fate of Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal vote was soundly defeated  by the UK parliament. The DAX of Germany rose 0.33 per cent; the CAC of France ended with a gain of 0.58 per cent and the FTSE 100 of the UK surged 0.6 per cent.