Markets likely to start the week on a positive note

Indian markets are likely kick off the week on a cheerful note today on the back of positive global cues and big positive surprise from the IIP front, which grew by 8.4% for the month of November. The SGX Nifty indicates that the Nifty could open higher by 37 points around 10,723.   

Delta Corp, Federal Bank and Zee Learn are some of the key companies to announce their results today.  

Asian stock markets have edged higher on Monday to extend the global rally spurred by gains on Wall Street. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has jumped 241 points, China’s Shanghai Composite has climbed 12 points and Japan’s Nikkei index has gained 55 points.   

Back home, the stock markets ended the week at record highs. However, Friday's session was highly volatile, as sudden selling pressured emerged  in the afternoon session, but the bulls bounced back and erased entire losses to close on a positive note. The BSE Sensex advanced 89 points to settle at 34,592 and the Nifty rose 30 points to close at 10,681.  

In the US, all the three main indices climbed to new record closing high on the back of a healthy economic outlook and optimism about the earnings season. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 228 points to close at 25,803, S&P 500 added 19 points to finish at 2,786 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 49 points to settle at 7,261. The US stock markets will be closed on Monday on account of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.  

The European indices ended the last trading session of the week with modest gains as the continued rise in the value of the euro kept the markets in check. The euro rallied to a 3-year high against the dollar. The CAC 40 of France gained 0.52%, DAX of Germany advanced 0.32% and FTSE 100 of the UK climbed 0.20%.