Market opening hinges on bulls keeping the momentum going
It would be interesting to see whether or not bulls continue their last session momentum on Friday. Early cues from the SGX Nifty indicates that Nifty may open the session on a lacklustre note as SGX Nifty is trading lower by 17 points at 11,287. Nifty has an immediate hurdle at 11,300 and a breakout above this level would provide the much-needed impetus to the bulls. On the earnings front, Bajaj Auto, CESC, CUB, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Engineers India, IOC, Sobha and UPL will report their results today.
A majority of the indices in Asia were trading in the green on Friday following overnight gains on Wall Street. The Japanese stock index Nikkei 225 has climbed 1.16 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has added 0.02 per cent, while China’s Shanghai Composite was trading flat.
Back home, Thursday turned out to be a fabulous day for the key benchmark indices with BSE Sensex and Nifty reclaiming their crucial psychological levels of 37,300 and 11,250, respectively. In the initial half of the trading session, key benchmark indices saw a tug-of-war between the bulls and the bears as the indices oscillated in a defined range. However, the second half of the trading session was dominated by the bulls and the indices settled around the day’s high. The broader market indices ended in the green with Nifty Midcap and Smallcap adding 0.30 per cent and 0.58 per cent, respectively. Among sectoral indices, barring Nifty Pharma, all other indices ended in the green, with Nifty Media, Nifty Metal, Nifty Realty and Nifty IT gaining the most.
Bulls hit a hat trick on the Wall Street as major indices extended their winning streak for the third consecutive day on Thursday. The rally was seen following some upbeat earnings and better economic data. Dow members Walmart and Cisco Systems reported positive earnings, while on the economic front, initial jobless claims dropped more than expected, housing construction and building permits beat forecasts and regional manufacturing activity expanded further. The Dow Industrial Average advanced 0.8 per cent, the S&P 500 climbed 0.9 per cent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq surged 1 per cent.
European stocks ended Thursday’s session in the positive terrain. Germany’s benchmark DAX jumped 1.27 per cent, France’s CAC 40 index rose 1.37 per cent and the UK’s FTSE ended stronger by 0.78 per cent.