Positive start for the markets likely following upbeat mood among Asian peers

A firm start is in the offing for the Indian markets as leads from the Asian peers are supportive. The bullish trend in SGX Nifty suggests that Nifty could open higher by 40 points around the level of 11,614. 
  
Asian markets edged higher on the first trading session of the week following S&P 500 and Nasdaq closing at record highs after comments by the US Federal Reserve Chairman. Hong Kong's Hang Seng has climbed 1.21 per cent, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index has risen 0.85 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite has added 0.68 per cent.   
  
Back home, after witnessing a good run throughout the week, the key benchmark indices ended the last trading session of the week with modest losses. The broader indices also witnessed some profit-taking with Nifty Mid-cap and Small-cap indices ending the day with a loss of 0.29 per cent each. Sectorwise, most of the sectors turned southward with Nifty Pvt Banks and PSU Banks shedding the most, while Nifty Metal ending the session with handsome gains of about 1.90 per cent.   
  
The US stock market indices jumped on Friday, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closing at record highs. The strength on Wall Street was seen on the back of remarks by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell at an annual conference of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming; where he struck a measured tone about the economy and said the Fed plans to stick with a gradual pace of rate hikes. Meanwhile, the US commerce department said that durable goods orders fell 1.7 per cent in July, the third decrease in the past four months. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 133 points to finish at 25,790; the S&P 500 index gained 18 points to close at 2,8875 and  the tech-laden Nasdaq Composite index jumped 68 points to end at 7,946 lifted by gains in Netflix which surged by about 5.8 per cent.  
  
The European markets eked out modest gains on Friday as the focus was on the speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. The DAX of Germany added 0.23 per cent; CAC 40 of France gained 0.24 per cent and the UK’s FTSE 100 rose 0.19 per cent.