Optimism to continue on D-street

The early trend on SGX Nifty indicates that the optimism on the D-street will continue to be the order of the day. At this moment, it is up by 41 points and signaling an opening around 12,332 levels. Further, if we look, the markets have entered into a data -heavy week, as heavyweights, such as HDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank, and Wipro are scheduled to announce their results during the week. Apart from the Q3 earnings, a host of macro-economic data will be on the serving during the week. Moreover, phase-one deal between the US and China is likely to be signed on January 15 and the emerging situation in Iran would be under the lenses of market participants as well.

The Asian markets were somewhat mixed on Monday on the back of negative close on Wall Street on Friday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 has edged up 0.47 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite was down by 0.25 per cent.

Back home, on Friday, markets started off the session with an upbeat sentiment; however, in the second half of trading session, the profit taking was witnessed and key benchmark indices trimmed the gains. At the closing bell, Nifty ended with a 0.33 per cent increase at 12,257 and BSE Sensex rose 0.36 per cent at 41,600. In the broader markets, Nifty Midcap and Small-cap closed with 0.39 and 0.84 per cent respective increase Talking about sectoral performance, barring Nifty Private Bank, all other indices ended in green, with Nifty Realty and Nifty Metal becoming the top gainers.

As for global happenings, the US markets retreated from higher levels and ended the day in the red, as US announced fresh sanctions on Iran and somewhat disappointing nonfarm payrolls report also soured the mood. At the close, the Dow lost 0.50 per cent, the S&P 500 shed 0.30 per cent, and Nasdaq fell 0.30 per cent. The mood was also negative in the European markets.