Markets likely to begin steady following positive cues from Asian peers

We expect Indian markets to witness a stable start on Monday as cues from Asian peers are supportive. The SGX Nifty Index Future indicates that Nifty may open with gain of 11 points around the level of 10,566.  
  
The stocks in Asia surged on Monday shrugging off weak cues from the Wall Street over the weekend. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has climbed 1.05 per cent, Japanese stock market Nikkei 225 rose 0.57 and China’s Shanghai Composite index has added 0.06 per cent.  
  
Back home, Indian equities extended their southward movement for the third day in a row on Thursday. The BSE Sensex settled below the psychological 35,000 level and Nifty slipped below 10,550 level. The broader markets ended in the red too, with Nifty Mid-cap and Small-cap losing 0.91 per cent and 0.37 per cent, respectively. Talking about sectoral performance, barring Nifty Media which gained 1.42 per cent, all other sectoral indices ended in the red with Nifty Metal and Nifty PSU Bank being the top losers.  
  
The US stocks closed lower on the final trading session of the week with energy stocks leading the way down on the day amid falling oil prices. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.73 per cent, the S&P 500 shed 0.66 per cent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.48 per cent.   
  
A majority of the European gauges ended Friday’s session with modest gains. In the economic news, Eurozone private sector grew at the slowest pace in nearly four years in November. The DAX of Germany added 0.49 per cent, the CAC of France rose 0.18 per cent, while the UK’s FTSE 100 declined 0.11 per cent.