Indian Market Likely To Open Flat

Indian equities indices surged nearly 3% to snap four-week losing streak led by rate-sensitive shares, ahead of the central bank's policy meet early next week and renewed buying interest in pharmaceutical shares. During the last week, the Sensex opened higher at 27,655.79 and hovered in a wide range of 28,298.34 and 27,624.76 before concluding at 28,260.14, witnessing a sharp recovery of 801.50 points, or 2.92%. It had dropped by 1,990.31 points, or 6.76%, in the previous three weeks. The Nifty also rose by 244.85 points, or 2.94%, to close at 8,586.25. It had dropped by 596.35 points, or 6.67%, in the previous three weeks.

In the broader market, Small-cap and mid-cap counters too attracted heavy buying interest from retail investors as their indices out-performed the Sensex. The BSE Mid-cap Index gained 3.76% to settle at 10,750.42, while the Small-cap Index surged 6.76% at 11,146.72.

Major U.S. stock indexes closed slightly higher on Thursday, rebounding from a two-day slide as investors looked ahead to the start of the next round of corporate earnings beginning next week. U.S. employers added 126,000 jobs in March, marking the smallest gain since December 2013, the Labor Department said Friday. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.5%. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 65.06 points, or 0.4 percent, to 17,663.24. The S&P 500-stock index rose 7.27 points, or 0.4%, to 2,066.96. The Nasdaq added 6.71 points, or 0.1%, to 4,886.94.

European equity markets closed mixed on Thursday ahead of the long Easter holiday weekend and on the eve of crucial US jobs data. London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index of top companies ended the day up 0.35% to 6,833.46 points and the CAC 40 in Paris rose 0.24% to 5,074.14 points. Frankfurt’s DAX 30 index dipped 0.28% to 11,976.39 points erasing Wednesday’s gains, hit partly by ongoing worries over Greece. All three main European stock markets will remain closed Monday for public holidays.

Asian stocks posted a mixed open on Monday, following a dismal U.S. jobs report pushed down U.S. Treasury yields as investors pared bets the U.S. Federal Reserve would hike interest rates anytime soon. Thinner trade is expected throughout Monday, as Australia and New Zealand remain closed for Easter Monday. Bourses in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan are shut for the Ching Ming Festival, while Bangkok celebrates the Chakri Memorial Day.

The Japanese stock market opened lower on Monday following the release of weaker than expected U.S. non-farm payroll employment data on Friday. Currently Nikkei 225 Index is down 71 points or 0.37% to 19,364, after touching a low of 19,241 earlier. In South Korea, The benchmark Kospi index was up by 0.21% at 2,050 points.

SGX Nifty is marginally down by 6 points. Lackluster quarterly earnings, coupled with an expected status quo on the monetary policy by RBI, might lead to subdued market conditions during a week. The data on Services PMI is due on Monday, while investors will closely watch the Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy review on April 7. Further, February IIP data will be released on 10 April.